Monday, September 09, 2013

A battle of synchronies at the Akapela Open


It’s time for a cappella groups to step out of the homophonic textured hymns and venture out into more current arrangements featuring pop, jazz R&B, hip-hop and rock music. This may in turn bag them the distinction of being the winner of the first ever Akapela Open, a competition for contemporary a cappella singing groups spearheaded by The Music School of Ryan Cayabyab in cooperation with the PLDT Smart Foundation and One Meralco Foundation.

The competition’s website over at www.akapelaopen.com is now receiving entries until September 28, 2013. Then the road continues until the Akapela Open finals happening on October 30, 2013 at the Meralco Theater. The Grand prize winning group will receive P250,000 while the first runner up and second runner up will receive P150,000 and P100,000 respectively. And to serve as an extra incentive for groups to choose Filipino songs in the competition, a P50,000 cash prize will be awarded to the Best Arrangement of a Filipino song.

Ryan Cayabyab holds series of a cappella workshops

Ryan Cayabyab

In order to drum up interest and psyche people up for the Akapela Open, Ryan Cayabyab started to conduct a series of a cappella workshops. I missed his first workshop but made it a point to make it to the second one that happened over at the Meralco Little Theater. Assisting Mr. C in the troubleshooting workshop was Annie Nepomuceno, an alumna of the Philippine Madrigal Singers and a member of the a cappella trio Three of a Kind.

I learned that in a contemporary a cappella group, there is no conductor like in the typical choir and that all members contribute equally. No member in an a cappella group could get away just by winging it which is possible in a huge choir. Ryan Cayabyab had a blast when he turned the entire audience into one huge four voice choir as he explained the elements of music to them. He concentrated more on melody and dynamics while asking his impromptu choir to sing for him a tune that he made up on the spot.

Ryan Cayabyab joked that if a certain member has persistent problems with his/her sense of pitch, then the best solution would be to kick him/her out off the group. Kidding aside, he gave out important pointers especially on technical stuff that most people don’t pay attention to like how to properly do a sound check with microphones. In contemporary a cappella singing, microphones are extensively used and those who are dedicated basses and percussion of the group need to know how to use microphones closer to their mouths compared to the other vocalists. It was also pointed out during the workshop the strong jazz influence in contemporary a cappella groups. The chords that are mainly used in jazz add more spice, character, interest and also difficulty if used in an arrangement for an a cappella group.


Listening to the three a cappella groups that took to the stage and were critiqued by Ryan Cayabyab and Annie Nepomuceno, I noticed that most of the vocal arrangements I hear by local groups right now tend to be conservative and less adventurous. So it doesn’t surprise me if the upcoming Akapela Open challenges groups to come up with new and exciting arrangements that will push the envelope of a cappella singing.

It will be indeed very interesting for me to see and hear the groups that will eventually make it to the Akapela Open finals. The competition encourages groups and arrangers to explore the vast music genres available out there to be given an a cappella treatment. I’ll also be eagerly waiting to find out if there will be a varied repertoire by the finalists or if they would lean towards a certain direction. And I’m hoping that the groups will not lean towards the typical homophonic textured hymns normally heard in church. Let me make it clear that I don’t find anything nothing wrong with church hymns but it’s now time to bring something new to the table for the inaugural Akapela Open.

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