I saw an a capella concert last night, and it was cute. A capella is always pleasant, it can't help but be pleasant. I think it's because their arrangements have to pay so much attention to harmony.
Over the years, it's become apparent that I have a condition called Harmony-Induced chills. If I hear even a two-part harmony done well, there's a good chance that I'll get a chill down my spine. It's a nice feeling, and a capella groups evoke it more often than not.
The effect a harmony can have on the performance of a song is profound. Without a harmony, you're basically just listening to highly-coordinated karaoke. In fact, one person singing the melody over a group sounds plain and amateur, but even two people singing a third apart can induce the chills.
For some reason, though, a capella groups all have this inexplicable fixation with beat-boxing. The group last night explained it away by saying "a drum beat can completely change the way a song sounds", and they were right: beat-boxing makes the song sound ridiculous. Especially if you're even whiter than me, which is tough to do.
To wit: No beat-box = totally sweet. Beat-box = unnecessary.
For future reference, please abstain from beat-boxing unless you are one of the following:
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- Don
- 5th year Grad Student at Rutgers, in the Biomechanics and Rehabilitation Engineering Lab. I race my bikes and sit in my lab, pondering neuromotor control and concocting blog posts. When the opportunity arises, I partake in Karaoke.
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