Nevermind, eh.  I’ll just have to start my own.  So, tomorrow, I will be meeting up with another interested student to discuss the possibility of this new club.  At last I might be singing again!

There are a number of issues that you have to think about when setting up a new a cappella group.  When Jimmy and I set up Head Row last year, we came upon those problems and managed to overcome them pretty easily. I perceive our difficulties being:

1. Music – It’s always best if a group produces its own vocal arrangements for an a cappella group.  It gives the group credibility.  However, the number of people who can do this well are few, and hard to find.  Failing that, you have to look for music elsewhere.  Usually having a good number of contacts is the best method (most of Head Row’s music came from Jimmy’s past musical directors and friends), or failing that, finding stuff on the internet or for sale.  Music can be expensive though, and, being something already performed by other groups, you can lose some of that originality that comes from doing your own individual arrangements.
2. Rehearsal Space – I doubt that the music department here will be happy with a music group that is completely independent of the department waltz in to one of their practice rooms once or twice a week and just take over without any return.  They’ll probably want money, or at least severely restrict the hours that we can be there.  Other places may be able to offer rooms for free, such as the residence halls, but permission would have to be sought and not guaranteed.
3. Members – Getting enough members to form a group is not hard.  There are enough people who want to sing around that I don’t see a problem in getting enough people that are interested.  The problem is getting people who are good enough, dedicated enough and who blend well as a group.  This can be very challenging indeed, especially when you have to turn away competant singers.  One method is audition, but often an audition is too short a time to judge someone’s full capability.  The other method is recommendation and invitation, but for this, you or someone you trust has to have sung with those people before.  There is also recommendation and audition, but at some stage you may run out of recommendees.  Head Row was basically by recommendation, but this process meant that the members were only brought together once the group had formed, and therefore the blend wasn’t perfect.  The number of members is a big issue too.  Four members is more manageable but limited to four part music.  A 20 strong choir is versatile and can perform various types of music but is harder to manage as a group.  I am looking at eight to ten for this group.
4. Directing – Its a difficult job, and the hardest part from my experience last year was keeping up attention and concentration within the group.  The director really needs to know the music beforehand to be able to effectively teach it and the members need to be ready to follow what the director says. If you are selecting a director, they need to have the relevant experience in the type of music and a broad enough musical knowledge to explain how the music ought to be performed.

So, I hope this group goes well, and that we get good performers, a place to rehearse in and good music to sing!

The show was fantastic, and the night was enjoyed by all, especially those of us who had put so much work into it and glad to see it go well.

I was particularly proud, for a number of reasons: I was singing with both the A Cappella Singers and Head Row; it was me who directed the A Cappella singers, set the time and brought everyone off with a flourish; it was my dad who arranged the version of Both Sides Now that A Cappella sang, and he was there to see us do it; and I arranged the version of Queen’s Fat Bottomed Girls that we sang!

When it came to arranging this song, I looked around on the internet of versions which had already been arranged on YouYube. I found some, but they all took the same attitude – for the instrumental parts of the original song, they imitated the instruments with their voices. What a novel idea!!… if it wasn’t thought of ages ago and incredibly effectively done by the Swingle Singers and practically every other A Cappella group on the planet. So, I wanted to do something which was more individual, that wasn’t just trying to replicate the exact sound of the original song with vocals only. So I started by transcribing the first part of the song exactly, the bit before any instruments come in. I then missed out the instrumental section altogether and replaced it with harmonised versions of the tune. At the chorus, I added a bass part that follows a bass guitar type of line. In the middle eight, I also avoid the twangy sound that would most accurately imitate the original version, but actually tried to make it a very open, quiet, serene sound, to create the greatest contrast to the chorus section.

I hope to do more arrangements like this, but at the moment, my time is fairly occupied doing university. I’m sure I’ll do some at some point though. Feel free to make suggestions as to songs!

I would like to thank Fikir (the president and mastermind behind the concert), Jimmy (the Head Row director) and everyone who sang for making is such a great night. I’m so proud of you all.