Fluid Dynamics is a top-notch mixed group out of the California Institute of Technology. Musical Director Andy Matuschak took the time to answer questions from The A Cappella Blog.

The A Cappella Blog (ACB): How does Fluid Dynamics go about recruiting new members?

Andy Matuschak (AM): Caltech’s a tiny school (about 900 undergrads), so we mostly target freshmen. Older classes already know about us. We perform for the incoming students during orientation. A few days later, the campus holds a club fair, where we have a booth with audition info, pictures, and our pretty faces. Then we do a little more outreach: we plaster the campus with flyers and hold an ice cream social outside the student houses. People come by, have some ice cream, learn about us, and—if they want—sign up for auditions.

I think our auditions are mostly standard. We begin by having the auditionee sing some warm-ups along with us, and then we slowly drop out to hear their tone and range. They sing us a minute of any song they like, and we often ask them to repeat bits of the song with some change to check their control: “can you belt this instead?”, “can you get rid of the stylization and vibrato?”, and so on. We test their pitch with a musical Simon Says in which they repeat increasingly difficult sequences we play on a piano.

From there, we sometimes ask auditionees to come to a later call-back if we need to hear something else. For instance, if we’re concerned about their tone, we’ll have them sing along with the group to see if they can blend. If their training is classical, we’ll ask them to prepare a pop song.

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Redline is a top notch mixed group out of Catholic University. Members of the group took the time to answer questions from The A cappella Blog.

ACB: Where did the group name Redline come from?

Redline (RL): When Redline was first founded it was originally called “CUAcappella” (pronounced “quackappella”). That soon changed into the “Cardinal Sins”, which was then eventually replaced by “Redline”. The DC metro line that stops on our campus is the Red Line! Our whole student body uses the metro so it’s something recognizable to them.

ACB: Are there any unique traditions or pieces of history attached to your group?

RL: Every new member of the group receives a pair of red converse chucks which we wear to every concert! We also have a tradition of going around to each of the new members rooms on the night we accept them and “kidnapping” them for a group bonding session. It’s a lot of fun and a great way to get to know everyone right away.

ACB: How does Redline go about recruiting new members?

RL: This year we advertised ALOT. We put flyers up in all the dorm building, student restaurant and student center. We created a Facebook group and posted audition notices on our website. We also worked a lot with word of mouth this year. Current members helped man an audition sign up table in the student center lobby, wore their chucks the whole week before auditions and promoted Redline!

ACB: How does your group go about deciding which songs to add to its repertoire? Who is responsible for arrangements?

RL: We have a huge repertoire book that the officers look through over the summer. This year we also wanted to make it a group effort so we asked for suggestions from all the current members. We look at what people want, what songs are popular and what songs lend themselves best to a cappella arrangements. We have a few people responsible for the arrangements. Many of the older songs that we pull from our archive binder are done by alumnae. Some of the newer songs we are able to find arrangements through our own personal collections. If we are unable to find them, we have them custom made by various arrangers both on campus and off.

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The Lounge Lizards are a top notch mixed group out of UC Davis. Co-President Alyssa Parsons took the time to answer questions from The A Cappella Blog.

The A Cappella Blog (ACB): Describe a typical Lounge Lizards rehearsal. How often do you guys practice and what do you do to achieve such success by the time you hit the stage? Do rehearsals change before a big show? Before you guys go into competition?

Alyssa Parsons (AP): Usually, we practice twice a week, for two and a half hours; we also have special choreography-oriented rehearsals, so we have plenty of time to sing. Basically, our rehearsal process before a competition or show is a lot like theater; we use the earlier practices to learn new pieces or work out the kinks on others, and right before the competition or show, we rehearse our whole set list in order, with choreography, as if we were performing. Sometimes we’ll bring in our friends who know a lot about music and will easily be able to point out our good points and bad points from the standpoint of an audience member.

ACB: Are there any unique traditions or pieces of history attached to your group?

AP: One of our more embarrassing traditions actually comes from an all-male group that we met at an ICCA competition before I was in the group. We heard one of their warm-ups, and now we do it on a regular basis; we sing “I bite the heads off puppies, and their warm blood drips all over my new shoes.” Unfortunately, it’s got a very good variety of consonants, and it’s a pretty good warm-up. We tend to horrify any other groups that are around us when we’re getting ready…

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Acasola is a relatively new group on the collegiate scene. Nonetheless, the mixed group out of California State University, Northridge, has already made quite a name for itself. Members of the group took the time to answer questions from The A Cappella Blog.

A Cappella Blog (ACB): Acasola is a very young group (only founded in 2006) but has already enjoyed its fair share of success, including finishing as the first runners up in an exceptionally competitive west coast ICCA semifinal last year (and only topped by the tournament’s eventual champions). To what can you attribute the group’s success in competition? What was the experience like, performing at that level, alongside so many other top tier groups?

Acasola: A. Clear goals, a lot of motivation within the members of Acasola. We work really well together. Acasola knows its future goals. We have a 25 year plan that we use to set long term goals that will help us along the way.

B. It was intimidating at first, but the moment we step on that stage, we knew, we belonged there.

ACB: What can listeners expect from Acasola’s first CD, Always Acasola?

Acasola: A. They can expect to hear a good variety of songs. Many from different concerts, such as No Snow Show, a concert where the proceeds go to a selected charity. Also a good variety of songs that were studio produced. Parts of the C show the earlier years of Acasola, while others show more polished recent years. When someone buys an actual copy of the C, they will receive a brief history of Acasola inside the cover.

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Rip_Chord is a top notch all-male a cappella group out of Elon University in North Carolina. Rip Chord president Joshua B. Tate took the time to answer questions from The A Cappella Blog.

The A Cappella Blog (ACB): Describe a typical Rip_Chord rehearsal. How often do you guys practice and what do you do to achieve such success by the time you hit the stage? Do rehearsals change before a big show? Before you guys go into competition?

Joshua B. Tate (JBT): Typically Rip_Chord rehearses 3 times a week for 2 hours at a time. It’s a pretty demanding practice schedule for a student organization, and usually we try to prepare the most number of quality songs possible before we hit the stage. We have performances of all shapes and sizes, whether it be just a few songs to entertain a crowd before dinner, opening for a band, or even being the main attraction in front of thousands. Usually our rehearsals increase in time and quantity before big shows just to make sure things are all set, but at this point in time in Rip_Chord’s career, we have yet to compete in any formal competitions.

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