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Ambitious "Dark Side Of The Moon A Cappella" Released This Week |
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Written by Amy E. Malkoff
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Tuesday, 29 November 2005 |
 Fans of contemporary a cappella and/or Pink Floyd have something unique to look forward to. On December 1, 2005, arranger/director Jon Krivitzky and Freddie Feldman, Record Producer (owner of VOCOMOTION) and CASA Web Manager, release “Dark Side of the Moon A Cappella”, an ambitious recreation of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side Of The Moon” – performed in its entirety by 9 vocalists.
Pink Floyd originally recorded “Dark Side Of The Moon” in 1973 as a concept piece. It is considered by many fans to be the band's magnum opus, surpassing even “The Wall” (1979). The album covers the faults of humanity and the pressures of modern life that can drive a man to insanity. Though it is divided into 9 different tracks, the album is considered one piece of music. Since its release, “Dark Side Of The Moon” has sold over 35 million copies, making it the second best-selling album of all time. Feldman calculates this out to approximately one sold every 35 seconds, and he and Krivitzky hope to tap into some of the recording’s impressive and ongoing momentum.
Krivitzky originally came up with the idea several years ago. He’d been a member of Mosaic Whispers while at Washington University, and liked the idea of doing a whole Pink Floyd album a cappella, rather than just a song or two. He spent a few years meticulously arranging the whole album, down to each tempo change. The original, it’s important to note, has an added massive cult following owing to its uncanny synchronicity with the movie “The Wizard Of Oz”, a phenomenon referred to as “Dark Side Of The Rainbow”. When played with the sound off, the soundtrack syncs up to the movie at several key points. By keeping the same number of measures in the a cappella version as in the original and mapping the tempo changes throughout, Feldman says that the a cappella version of “Dark Side” is not only true to the original, but also “Wizard of Oz compatible”.
Nine singers were hand-picked for this project: Stephanie Lewin (Soprano), Jennifer Feucht (Soprano), Mellissa Smithson (Alto), Jon Krivitzky (Tenor), Chris Feucht (Tenor), Mike Mahler (Tenor), Alan Schmuckler (Baritone), Dan Riley (Bass), and Freddie Feldman (Vocal Percussion). How were they found? “(Krivitzky) knows a couple of the singers from a madrigal group he sings with at the Bristol Rennaisance Faire in Bristol, WI”, says Feldman. “One of them knew Dan. I knew Mike and Alan from working with them on collegiate albums in my studio. Jon found me through Micah Schwalb (formerly of Northwestern's Asterik). They're all great singers and amazed me in many ways throughout the recording process.”
Last summer, the group did one live performance of the project (the entire album straight through), and though they have no plans to repeat this performance, they may perform highlights of “Dark Side of the Moon A Cappella” at some point in the future. Planning the recording took the bulk of this past summer, with recording beginning in earnest after Labor Day. On November 1, it was mastered by Doug Sax, who mastered most of Pink Floyd's albums (including “The Wall” and the 30th Anniversary release of “Dark Side”). "Absolutely outstanding job!”, said Sax about this ambitious project.
Asked who the intended audience of “Dark Side of the Moon A Cappella” is, Feldman says, "Anyone who likes Pink Floyd, really. A cappella fans will dig it because it's a pretty unusual a cappella recording. Pink Floyd fans will dig it because it's really a different perspective on one of their favorite albums. Hopefully, it will help to bring awareness of a cappella music to a much wider audience than ever before."
More info: www.darksidevoices.com
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 06 December 2005 )
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