A cappella: Making an art form worse

Lights are dimmed as 800 fans eagerly await 14 rock stars to rush out from behind the curtains. It's finally time, after months of anticipation, for Penn's premier "new-age rock" a cappella group's spring performance.

Officially, the show beings at 8 p.m., but you have to get there early. Thirty minutes is usually ample time to get a good seat -- close enough that, if you're really lucky, you might just get a wink or smile from one of Penn's most notable rock stars.

"Rock stars" -- it's normally a label given to actual musicians. But on Penn's campus it seems to be a fitting title for "OTBers."

Ask Brian Bateman. For him, Off the Beat is the meaning of life. No, really. His iPod is laser-engraved with: "Brian's Meaning of Life: Off the Beat."

A Boston College graduate, the 31-year-old has attended every OTB show since 1999. He once tricked 11 of his closest friends into coming along, telling them he had basketball tickets

"Nobody walked out," he said.

For his 30th birthday, his friends surprised him with a private Off the Beat show. And for Valentine's Day, his girlfriend bought him a pair of "Off the Beat"-embroidered boxers.

Bateman's infatuation with Off the Beat is not entirely out of the norm, though. A quick glance over the guestbook on Offthebeat.net reveals many more diehard fans.

Troy Shaw, who lives in Brighton, England, found out about Off the Beat only a month ago. He was hooked immediately.

"Their sound sent shivers up and down my spine," he said. "It hits that one -- your hand turns the volume up, the window comes down and I just want to say, 'Listen. Listen to this!'"

I simply don't understand why so many people are infatuated with a cappella. And, in a way, I'm part of the group. One of my best friends, Mike Auerbach, is in Off the Beat, and I own two of their CDs (though I obtained them illegally).

Let's try to analyze a cappella objectively. Simply put, they sing other people's music. Their mouths replace instruments, but it's still the same song. The music is not their own.

Still, Auerbach, a senior in Off the Beat, insists a cappella is a creative art. "You need an understanding of music and music theory to arrange a song to make it true to the original rendition of the song," he said.

"The songs Off the Beat picks are kickass," Bateman said. "Their versions are sometimes better than the original."

Off the Beat has conquered the a cappella world. It recently won Best Mixed Song, Arrangement and CD by the Contemporary A Cappella Society -- for the second straight year.

But Off the Beat is the exception, not the rule.

Here is my take on mainstream college a cappella more generally: Students sing someone else's song that they did not write and sing it worse than the person who sung it originally.

In a sense, a cappella takes an art form and makes it worse.

Still, the a cappella scene at Penn is out of control. There are 13 registered groups through the Performing Arts Council -- each of which gets funding from the University -- and countless more unregistered groups.

And the a cappella craze is not unique to Penn.

"A cappella at Yale is like football at Ohio State," according to Penn law student Seth Goldberg, who graduated from Yale last year.

It makes sense why students want to join a cappella groups.

After finishing the final performance of his college career, Auerbach grew nostalgic: "Where else would I be able to perform for sell-out crowds and make a fool out of myself on the stage any other time in my life?"

It doesn't make sense, however, why so many people attend a cappella shows. Why not go to a real concert? Did you know, for example, that Penn junior Dov Kogen was recently voted one of MTVU's top-25 college musicians?

Last year, I went to several of his Sunday-night performances at MarBar. The crowds were not nearly as big as a typical a cappella show at Penn.

Students should celebrate the music scene at Penn -- not by attending an a cappella show, but by attending performances by Dov Kogen or other original campus bands.

He deserves our support because he's accomplished the unthinkable: He wrote his own songs and his own music.

What a concept.

Josh Pollick is a senior political science major from Los Angeles. On Point appears on Mondays.

Comments (8)

I actually completely agree with column. What's with all the a cappella hype at Penn, anyway? I went to a few concerts back when I was an undergrad and I always found that the singers really weren't that talented and their stuff didn't sound too good. I really wish that Penn would stop throwing all their money to these groups that make "music", which is mediocre at best. Ray, Alum New York

Wow, that was the most unconvincing argument I've ever heard. No one cares that you don't like a cappella, Josh. Jess, student Penn

Josh clearly has no concept of what a cappella is or music in general. I mean, according to his argument, any screenplay based on a book is worthless b/c even though its the writer's own take and interpretation, it's not an original idea so it's worthless. Josh, this article sounds more vindictive than anything. Take a music class before you pretend you're an expert. What a concept. Jonny, student penn

Jonny I can't remember any screenplay based from a book that was word for word, moment by moment exactly the same as the book, like a capella is exactly, word for word, note by note like the original songs. What a retarded comparison. Secondly, there is nothing ORIGINAL about Penn a capella. Hello, there are a million of them and it's become this whole status thing. Well, a nerdy status, but status nonetheless. No one is saying they can't sing or they can't interpret music, we're saying its BORING. Any person has the right to perform in any kind of group they are interested in, I'm just bored with a capella groups acting like this is some grand, noble, beautiful pursuit. If you think it's fun, so be it. But I swear to you that an a capella group that sings crappy pop songs will never be remembered or contribute anything to music. Also Jess, alum

As a columnist myself I find it disappointing that Mr. Pollick neglected to do the most basic research for this piece. The easily obtainable fact is that there is plenty of original material being released by the accapella community. Pick up a Bobs or a Moosebutter CD, and you'll hear fresh, vibrant, hysterically funny songs written and arranged by the band members themselves. True, accapella bands do tend to do more covers than your average, pedestrian band, but to characterize the whole as an uncreative artform is disingenuous. Listen to some more groups outside of your small, little world, Josh. And listen closely - especially to the covers. Beyond the replacing of the original singer with another, you'll hear arrangements that are truly alive, aren't afraid to have some fun, and are capable of truly connecting with an audience in a very personal and profound way. Something is up on your campus, Josh, and on many campuses and concert halls around the country. If you don't like the sound, fine, but do your homework before dismissing the entire genre. Angus, Bookstore Santa Cruz, Ca. vesica@cruzio.com

Well, Josh, you're well on your way to becoming another one of those semi-educated, semi-literate, quasi-intellectual, half-assed music critics that the world needs like it needs another war. Congratulations. gorner zarzo, singer ny

Listen, as someone who did a cappella for a while, I know its not cool. It was never cool, but it was really fun. And if you want to rip on people for having fun, thats pretty sad. That being said, there's no reason to take a cappella that seriously, either as an audience member or as a group member. Thats where the problem is. No, OTB isn't a band, and they're not rockstars. But they sing some awesome music and have a good time with it and people like it. I don't really see how anyone could have a problem with that. And I certainly don't see what makes it worthy of an editorial... (but you are right about supporting local artists; thats really very important) alum

You're also forgetting two 'legit' music genres that exist almost exclusively by rehashing other writer's music - jazz and classical. Not known for original music, either of them, but they get gobs of government funding to continue performing music that is decades, even centuries old. I'm a master's student in choral conducting, and trust me, the western art music world isn't that stoked about original music, either. We still perform music by a little-known dude named Mozart, after all. Ya, there's a lot of crap in a cappella, and more than it's share of un-original thievery... but honestly, can you call 90% of pop radio original? They may have 'written' it themselves, but it's just a rehash of the same old junk. Even the 'new stars' and 'upcoming talent' on shows like American Idol sing - zounds! - music that is 100% not their own. A cappella is about the interpretation and the performance - cut these folks some slack, they're not trying to be Clay Aiken, they're just tryin to pick up some chicks. Tim, Musician Longmont, CO

Comments are closed for this item.