r/acappella

Hello! I am a current freshman, and by some crazy twist of fate have been elected music manager for one of the best a cappella groups on my campus. I do have a music background, but nothing extreme, and I'm going to school for psychology so I'm not actively gaining knowledge in the subject. But I believe I absolutely have the drive is necessary for the job, and I am so incredibly excited to start arranging/directing this group of amazing women. It's an all-treble group with 15 singers continuing to next year. We'll hold auditions in the fall so potentially more!!

I have noticed that a common problem that all-female groups have in a competition setting is not sounding "full" enough compared to co-eds. Is there any way to combat this? I know it's kind of a generic/broad question but if any tips are out there they'd be greatly appreciated!

Also! I am in charge of arranging my group's ICCA set this year, and if any of you a cappella grads, enthusiasts, or current singers have any songs you'd love to hear a group perform, I am currently searching the internet for good song ideas for this year and would love any recommendations you have!

Thank you for your advice!! :)

The first episode is up! The video version is on YouTube or you can listen to it on any place you listen to podcasts.

The first episode has to do with helping a Harvard a cappella group come up with funny banter between songs (and, FYI, the person they are interviewing is… me!).

Hey guys! I recently became president of a collegiate South Asian a cappella group and am trying to sort out music licensing. As far as I know, my group hasn't really dealt with this in the right way in the past.

We do mashups of Bollywood/South Asian and Western pop music and post to YouTube and Spotify/Apple Music. Our music keeps getting taken down -- I'd love for it to stay up, haha, so we can gain some visibility. We haven't posted anything for years and have a huge pile of professionally recorded music that I would love for other people to hear. From what I can tell, it's consistently Indian labels (T-Series, Saregama, etc.) flagging us, not Western ones.

I know we need licenses to post covers and mashups, but I'm not sure where to even start, especially with the Indian labels. Has anyone here successfully licensed South Asian music for streaming/YouTube, or found a legitimate approach that's kept your content up? Any experience with this specifically would be really helpful. Thanks a lot!

Check out this post. Wow.

https://preview.redd.it/h8tgmqu5hsyg1.png?width=1364&format=png&auto=webp&s=ab54c0c9d00f460a8ec8f029e01df7a4959dcc3d

https://preview.redd.it/10yuhef8hsyg1.png?width=1250&format=png&auto=webp&s=8bb8a59d29ff237599388c3ca14df7aa9f2578bc

SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxZIg4jRb3mYcy2zlqtWBnMFyHVn2IxqAu

I'll save my personal opinions for a comment, but I have a feeling most people will agree with me once they read the above.

Hi everyone! I have a bit of a dilemma and am hoping some of you will be able to help!

I am a freshman at in college (heading into finals as I write this, in fact) and I joined an A Cappella group at my university. I have a very solid music background and am a music major planning to get a master's in music ed when I graduate college. I was near the top of the musical skill in the group when I joined and was very quickly elected to the open position of Arranging Chair, which was super fun and awesome. Generally I love it and it's been super fulfilling.

We had executive board elections about a week ago and they did not go smoothly. I was elected Assistant Music Director, as our current AMD is a graduating senior. Our current Music Director was re-elected. However, due to other election results, she is now quitting the club. This leaves me essentially chucked with no warning into the Music Director position.

I am utterly terrified and feel incredibly unqualified. However, I am also aware that of the group, there is not really another option. So I am left with the summer to lock in and figure out how I am going to a) run auditions in the fall semester, b) teach a bunch of music to my peers and c) run/direct rehearsals and shows.

I have a base understanding of how to conduct and can learn more from googling. But I am worried about how to run rehearsals (especially in terms of the balance between authority and friendship, considering these are my peers), teach music, and be the right amount of selective at auditions. Absolutely any tips would be appreciated. Thank you guys!