We are living in a crucial time
in our lives. There are men and women out there who desperately need your
support, because they want to speak for you: the people. The issues must be
discussed, debated, argued over, and examined. In one week, two candidates will
face off in an attempt to gain your vote and your trust.
Oh...You thought I was talking
about Romney and Obama? No.
I was talking about the issues
that matter to YOU, the a cappella fan! I'm talking about the Presidential A
cappella Debates!
A series of debates will take
place over the next few weeks and the transcripts of those debates will be
presented in front of you (because let's face it...this is a fictional debate
and debating live is impossible). You will get to hear the arguments about a
cappella-specific issues, and then you will have the chance to vote for your
favorite candidate.
Just like our political situation
now, we always want to try for bipartisanship. Each party has good ideas, but
neither party has all the answers. However, there are fundamental things we
agree on, and disagree on, and now you will get a chance to see where you stand
on some of today's hottest a cappella issues.
What issues you ask? Here are
some of the topics our candidates will discuss:
-Rehearsal procedures
-Recording
techniques and Auto-Tune
-Sight reading skills and intonation
-The Democracy of
a cappella groups
-Syllable choices in arrangements
-Competitions
-The past,
present, and future of a cappella music
And just who will be debating?
Let's take a quick look at the candidates (whom, for un-biased purposes, will
be gender-neutral, race-neutral, religion-neutral, geographically neutral, and
faceless.)
Candidate A, Leader of the
"See Major Party"
Slogan: Everything's better when you see
major."
The See Major party believes the
most important aspect of an a cappella group is musicality. Groups who wish to
progress and evolve must be technically perfect and this requires a tremendous
amount of hard work and dedication. Groups should draw from all areas of a
cappella music, from Barbershop to Doo-Wop to Madrigals, in order to round out
their education. The See Major party believes that groups should adopt one
specific vocal technique and everyone in the group must sacrifice his or her
own vocal individuality to better the team. The See Major party believes that
the meaning of the text/message of the song must always take precedence, but
that doesn't mean the group has to give a performance that hasn't been
rehearsed to perfection.
Candidate B, Leader of the
"Be Sharp Party"
Slogan: We are sharp on the issues, not flat."
The Be Sharp party wishes that a
cappella groups would focus more on the social aspect of music, rather than the
fine details of perfection. The party believes that too many a cappella albums
are being produced that are "too perfect." The Be Sharp party wishes
that a cappella groups could accept their flaws in a live setting, because
human beings are not technically perfect. No individual should have to
sacrifice his or her own voice to better the song. Music is already better when
groups are truthful with their audience- they accept what they cannot change
and they have a clear sense of community and togetherness, because really,
would anyone care if the entire group went flat half a step, as long as they
blended well and put on an exciting show? Music is not "notes on a
page." It is emotion, dynamics, articulations, phrases, and most
importantly, the meaning of the text. Groups should sing music they are
passionate about, not try to emulate a different style simply for the sake of
broadening their education.
Stay tuned! The transcript of the
first debate will take place next weekend!
[Special thanks to Mike Malaney,
Cory Pinto, Lisa Rosenzweig, and Cory Hecht for political party name
suggestions.]
Marc Silverberg
Follow the Quest for the A
cappella Major:
acappellaquest.blogspot.com
twitter.com/docacappella
facebook.com/docacappella
docacappella.tumblr.com
http://www.casa.org/content/quest-cappella-major-presidential-cappella-debates-are-coming
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