Today’s post marks the end of The ACB’s 2009 publication season. We will continue to post news updates throughout the off-season, and will return to our regular posting schedule in January 2010.

In wrapping up this season, we would like to thank all of our 2009 contributors… Callum Au, Alexandra Bancroft, Ben Bram, Genevieve Chawluk, Nancy Cheng, Jill Clark, Chris Diaz, Robert Dietz, Dave Grossman, Bill Hare, Michael Marcus, Amanda Newman, Wayne Scheck, Eric Talley and Hanna Winkler.

We would also like to thank you, the readers, for visiting our site.

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The collegiate a cappella world is one of great complexity. Amidst all that there is to take in, The Importance Of… highlights what is truly important, and elements of a cappella that may otherwise be overlooked.

This week, we look at the importance of… a good website

In this day and age, everybody’s got a website. Businesses use them to sell products. Colleges use them to serve their student bodies, as well as recruit students of the future. Individuals have their blogs. And then there are a cappella groups. Just about every group I know of has a website. The quality of these pages and the purposes they serve, however, can vary a great deal.

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The collegiate a cappella world is one of great complexity. Amidst all that there is to take in, The Importance Of… highlights what is truly important, and elements of a cappella that may otherwise be overlooked.

In this edition, we look at the importance of…… what and who you cover

There are a lot of factors that go into deciding what songs a group should perform–some subject to opinion, some questions of practicality or necessity. Every group will choose material for its own reasons, but there remains the common thread that the songs a group performs help shape its identity, and are of the utmost importance in determining what the group will accomplish.

It is important for a group to pick songs that suit the group. For thing, there’s the practical element of making sure you can effectively cover the parts. No where is this more immediately evident than in the solo. It’s not unusual for female groups to cover songs originally performed by male artists, or vice-versa. Oftentimes, this can be quite successful, as it puts a different and unique spin on a song, helping a group make the song its own. Other times, this can be downright disastrous. For example, I recall hearing an all-female group cover Evanescence’s “Bring Me To Life.” Sounded like a fair enough idea, until the women tried to emulate Paul McCoy’s guest vocals, in a raspy growl that came off as downright comedic, completely subverting the song’s power. Specifically when you’re crossing gender lines, you need to approach a song with a specific vision of how you’ll make it your own, and not just try to emulate the original.

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The collegiate a cappella world is one of great complexity. Amidst all that there is to take in, The Importance Of… highlights what is truly important, and elements of a cappella that may otherwise be overlooked.

In this edition, we look at the importance of… not isolating your drummer.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a group take the stage in an arc or rows or staggered formation. There’s a soloist standing up front. And then—well, then there’s that other girl off to the side, mic in hand, independent from the rest of the formation. As the song goes on, the physical space between her and the rest of the group only becomes more pronounced, and her spastic motion only draws more eyes to her.

On a rare occasion, the vocal percussionist is legitimately a featured part of a song, and having this group member stand aside from the others makes sense to highlight that fact. In most cases, though, the percussion is just another piece of the puzzle. You don’t isolate your sopranos or your basses. Such distinctions are just visually distracting, and ultimately don’t add a thing to the visual presentation. While a drummer may not be able to do all of the choreography, or might have a bit more motion than the rest of the group on a ballad, the fact remains that these differences are less significant distractions than having the drummer stand apart altogether. Maybe this a pet peeve, but I find it important enough for a brief rant. Don’t isolate your drummer.

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The collegiate a cappella world is one of great complexity. Amidst all that there is to take in, The Importance Of… highlights what is truly important, and elements of a cappella that may otherwise be overlooked.

In this edition, we look at the importance of… attire.

A great man once sung, “I just hope you understand, sometimes the clothes do not make the man.”

Well, George Michael, sometimes they do.

For an a cappella group, it’s important to keep in mind how attire is going to effect the overall image of your group. True, the music itself remains most important. But over time, the field of visual presentation has grown in collegiate a cappella, evolving from bobs and sways to full on choreography and your occasional mid-song stomp routine. With so much emphasis on what the audience is seeing, you can’t overlook the most basic element of your ocular performance—what you’re wearing.

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