CASA - the contemporary a cappella society - Recording Vs. Live, part II

Recording Vs. Live, part II

Written by Candice Helfand

Monday, 29 May 2006

BYU's Vocal Point

It’s a question that’s been debated in groups, and on all of the a cappella nerd forums at some point. For those of us in our viewing audience trying to catch up, I’m talking about which skill set marks the better a cappella group; the one that can record an amazing CD, or the one that can stomp out its live competition. There are good arguments for both sides, and I plan on exploring that in 3 parts; one part discussing how recording prowess can positively define a group, one part discussing how a live show can do the same, and a third part, just trying to wrap it all up and try to form a conclusion from there. [Editor’s Note: this series applies mostly to academic groups - high school and college - though there is certainly some crossover to semi- and professional groups].

Part 2: Live

The thing I like about live shows (and no, I’m not saying that I personally feel live shows are a better measure than recording; I’ll talk about my take next time) is that they are pure (unless you have a sound guy that can do some fun tricks while you’re performing, but that’s besides the point).

One main problem that I, personally, have noticed with people in the a cappella community judging a group live is that most people know nothing of a group outside of what they do in the ICCAs. Essentially, a group becomes defined by 12 minutes of singing. Granted, it should be the most polished, perfected, musical 12 minutes of their performance, but all the same, it’s 12 minutes out of a group’s whole performing career.

Want to know more about how a group does live? Take the time to go to one of their shows, or to see them as a guest group for someone else’s. Surprise, surprise, groups don’t just perform live at the ICCAs. They sing in front of other people all the time! Sorry if I’m a little snarky, but it gets tiring when they only measure of a group’s live show to the majority of people is their competition set. And if they live far away, talk to others that have gone; people spend a LOT of time in these forums, they can’t talk about the end-of-semester concerts of groups that maybe AREN’T talked about ever 5 seconds?

Plus, there are so many other aspects to a group’s live show that demonstrate what kind of show they put on; for one thing, look at how many people show up. Outside of some parents and friends, people will not go to see a show that sucks, flat out. Audiences will come out in droves, though, for a show that they either know, or have heard through someone else, is going to be a good time.

Even more importantly, look at how the people who showed up are reacting. Even if your audience is the pre-gaming college crowd, audiences know more than you would think. They know what is good, what is tight, and what is entertaining, and they will react in kind. I mean, from what I’ve seen, many groups seem to forget that a live performance needs to be engaging emotionally as well as musically. Being able to stand still and sing something gorgeous can often times be boring, no matter how musically adept the group is. On the other side, no matter how funny or well-choreographed a group is, the audience will still know if they, well, suck.

Putting on a killer live performance, with rhythmic and tonal accuracy, especially with the rush/nerves of performing for an audience, is just not easy. The only way to really get better at it, aside from working hard on knowing your parts, is to gain more experience performing in front of people as a group (perhaps even seeking some feedback after on ways to improve the show? It’s not the most outlandish idea I’ve ever had).

And that’s live performance for you, from my viewpoint. Next time (and the last of the 3), I’m going to take all of this and find a conclusion (at least, my personal conclusion), so stick around.

Candice Helfand is a Rutgers alumna with a degree in Journalism & Media Studies. She directed the all-female a cappella group ShockWave, for which she also arranged, percussed, and managed their website (http://www.rushockwave.com).