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MEMBERS: PROBE, Dixie District,
Barbershop Harmony Society
North Georgia
Barbershop Singers
April 2015
Vol. 8 No. 4
editor/publisher
Jack Martin
678-777-5013
Lake Lanier, Georgia Chapter <> SPEBSQSA, INC
Meets Tuesday evenings, 7:00 pm, Cumming Baptist Church
115 Church Street, Cumming GA, 30040
Dan Sullivan, President, Tel 770
770--377
377--1294
Steve Dorn, Music Dir. Tel 678
678--595
595--4340
There is Progress in our Future
By Dan Sullivan
T
his month sure has come
around and gone in a
whirlwind. I don’t have anything much to write about this
month but I would like to encourage each and every chorus member to continue this
next month and the coming
months working just as hard
as you have exhibited and
proven yourselves these last
few weeks. We will probably
be getting new music in the
near future and we need to
keep up the diligence that you
have exhibited thus far.
The Spring Convention in
Huntsville this past month had
some low points such as com-
munication problems, not so
great parking, having to walk
long distances, and these type
of areas, but the powers to be
have assured everyone these
areas will be corrected before
we return to Huntsville in
2017. The high points of the
convention this year was the
great singing both with the
quartets and the choruses
who were in competition. The
Fall Convention will be here
before we can take a good
breath and remember it will
be in Atlanta again this fall.
Those participating in the
new venture with the Gwinnett Braves will begin this
1
(Progress continued from pg 1)
activity on April 9th, 10th, and
the 11th. If you would be interested in participating in this
chapter activity, please see
Chet.
Remember that we already
have a performance in Duluth
in November and then in December we will have two performances at the Cumming
Playhouse.
Many aspects of
what the performances will entail will be coming in the near
future.
Keep up your good
work.
Productivity is never an
accident. It is always the
result of a commitment to
excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort. Paul J. Meyer
All For One And Ones For All Thanks To“Mr. BarberpoleCat”
Floyd Connett
Borrowed from Toosday Toons, Bob Heims. editor
D
uring the Society’s first two decades our members
had no common repertoire— different choruses
and quartets sang different songs, or the same songs in
different arrangements. Many men could sing common
arrangements of “Coney Island Baby” or “Shine on
Me” or “After Dark,” but that was about it. Connett’s
first collection of songs intended for every barbershopper, Just Plain Barbershop, provided a common repertoire for the first time, in the late 1950s. But more was
to come. In 1971, Connett, with two other Society leaders, the legendary Mac Huff and then president Ralph
Ribble, formulated the first Barberpole Cat program,
originally six songs. Currently there are 12 songs in the
Barberpole Cat collection. Five of them are Floyd Connett arrangements, all in the key of B flat: My Wild
Irish Rose, Down Our Way, Honey/Little Lize Medley,
Sweet, Sweet Roses Of Morn, and Shine On Me. The
legacy of one of our Society’s greatest figures, Floyd
Connett, lives on every time barbershoppers harmonize
these songs and feel the close fellowship they bring.
Floyd Connett became Bloomington’s (Sound of Illinois ) second director in 1953. A real life barber in
Peoria, Illinois, Floyd took up the profession after
attending Peoria Barber College and marrying Maxine
Talbot in 1937. They had a daughter, Linda (Keutzer),
and a son, Steve, and the family often sang together. “Any one of the Connett Quartet sings any part,
except me,” said Floyd in his barber shop resume. “The
kids say, ‘You just haven’t got it, Dad!’” In 1953, Floyd
had been directing the Peoria Belles Sweet Adelines
chorus for five years. In just three years, he took the
Bloomington chorus to the state title, which qualified
the Kountry Kernels (the name adopted in 1956) for the
international competition in Los Angeles in
1957. Connett and the chorus, dressed in bib overalls, straw hats, red bandanas and work boots, placed
third, its highest finish ever. At the contest, Floyd’s
prowess (he was certified judge in all five contest categories) made him a popular coach for many quartets
who sought his help. It also was a showcase for Floyd,
who was hired that same year to be the Society’s first
field representative. He traveled the country by car,
visiting chapters and teaching the craft of blending and
harmonizing with thousands of members. In 1961, he
left that job to become national educational director of
Sweet Adelines.
‐
‐
‐
2
Happenings in Huntsville by Tom Riggle
T
he Dixie District Spring 2015 Convention and Contest was held March 13 -15.
I really liked the venue because the Embassy Suites hotel was very nice with
suites for everyone and pricing was less than some other places we have been
with far less desirable facilities. And a great breakfast buffet was included in that.
Couldn’t have been nicer. You could park your own car either outside or in the garage. Very convenient but we never moved the car. No need to leave the hotel for the
weekend.
The performing venue was a ballroom in the famous Von Braun Center
(VBC) just across the street and connected by an enclosed walkway from the hotel.
Again, this was much more convenient than having to retrieve your car and drive and
park somewhere else. A one minute walk and you were in the Von Braun Center.
The Von Braun Center is a facility much like our World Congress Center in
Atlanta. That is to say, it’s very nice and big. I heard some grumbles about having to
walk in the VBC to get to the ballroom. I found that, after I learned where our specific ballroom was, the walk was not bad at all. However, if you got mixed up and
had to go on a search mission, yes, there was some good exercise involved.
Neither our chorus nor my quartet was competing and the 12 of us that went
had a wonderful time with no stress. The Wheeler brothers were singing in two other
choruses’ but the other 10 of us doubled the size of the Joe Barbershop chorus under
the direction of Rick Ramsey. Always enjoy that guy, learned some things from him
and we enjoyed serving as mic testers for the chorus competition Saturday morning.
Several of our members took advantage of Voice Lessons under Glass with
Steve Scott while three NGBSers took the opportunity to join in the class called
“Directing for Scaredy Cats” conducted by Donnie Rose. He is the society’s head
guy at Harmony University and it’s easy to see why. That guy is good!
Oh yes, there was a contest going on too. In the chorus contest the results had
the 70 man Music City Chorus from Nashville winning the district championship with
the high score of 87.7.
Music City Chorus
87.7
Crimson Pride Chorus from Tuscaloosa
77.5
Voices of the South from Central Alabama
75.5
Appalachian Express of NE TN
70.0
As an aside, if we would have competed with the same number of guys that we had at
Atlanta last fall, we would have been the third largest chorus there.
In the quartet contest International Prelims it was:
A Mighty Wind
87.3
MC4
77.7
The Crush from the Far West District also qualified with a score of 85.8 and impressed the Dixie crowd.
There were two collegiate quartets competing and Loop 10 from the University of
Georgia had the best score of 71.8
Some of our NGBSers got together after the contest and sang tags until we
were told to stop. In the process went met Joshua Honrud, the traveling barbershopper from Washington state who actually wrote one of the tags we learned at our rehearsal the week before. Also had Jeremy of the Crimson Pride Chorus walk up and
join us as well. We had a good time doing that. In fact, the whole deal was a good
time.
3
By Andy Doetsch
O
n March 13-15,
2015, I attended
the fall Dixie
District Convention in
Huntsville, AL At around
8:30 Friday night after
the quartet semi finals in
the Von Braun Center
were over, some of us
guys hung around and
started singing tags. This guy Josh Honrud
joined us and we soon found out that he is
from the state of Washington. He is doing a
barbershop chapter tour where he travels
with his little camper trailer cross country
visiting with various barbershop choruses
along the way. He has already come down
the Pacific Coast, traveled across the lower
part of the United States, and is now heading
east.
Last week at the our NGBS chapter
meeting, I taught a fun tag to our chorus. On
this Friday night, we soon decided to sing
that tag found in the Afterglow app called "I
Met a Girl." When I announced we were going to sing that tag, Josh's eyes lit right up
and he said, "Hey, that's the tag that I wrote!"
We had a blast singing it, working it a little
bit, and then singing it some more.
We continued singing tags in this twostory entrance for another hour or so including a few passerby's here and there like Jim
Sams who stuck around for a couple tags. A
few minutes after he had left, the elevator
doors near the stairs opened and out came a
security guard. He immediately shouted,
"Hey, you guys aren't supposed to be in
here! This building is closed and no one is
supposed to be here. The doors from the hotel are supposed to be locked…how did you
get in here?" We calmly explained that we
had been in there since the end of the quartet competition to which he sternly replied,
"You didn't show up on the security cameras...you need to leave right away." We
quickly exited the building and went back to
the 10 story hotel lobby to continue our tag
singing.
Given the size of the atrium entryway, acoustics were fabulous and our melodies and harmonies echoed throughout the
hotel. Bye and bye, a different hotel security
guard walked up to us and kindly said that
we needed to stop singing because it was
resounding throughout the hotel. I didn't
have the heart to tell him that, in our world,
that was an awesome thing and what every
quartet strives for. He continued on saying
that he does not want to start receiving complaints from hotel guests and that we needed
to pack it in for the night. He was much
kinder about his request then the first security guard over in the convention center. We
calmly complied and eventually called it a
night after all, it was past 1 o'clock in the
morning.
For me, this type of hanging out and
singing tags is one of the biggest highlights
of any barbershop convention. Keep the
whole world singing (even past midnight)!
4
PngMedium-Meeting-table-3010[1].gif
Lake Lanier, GA Chapter
North Georgia Barbershop Singers
Board of Directors Meeting
March 16, 2015
T
his meeting was at Cumming Baptist Church
in Cumming, GA and was called to order at
7:04 PM by President Dan Sullivan. Rich Pilch
directed us in singing of “The Old Songs.”
BOD Members Attending: Dan Sullivan, Fred
Kanel, Chet Burdick, Tom Riggle, Rich Pilch,
Chuck Berny, Neill Harris and Bill Liles. These
officers did constitute a quorum.
Officer Reports:
Secretary: The minutes of the meeting of the January 19, 2015 meeting were distributed to the BOD
prior to the meeting and were accepted by the
Board.
Treasurer: Chet Burdick, presented combines
financial reports for January and February. The
Board received the reports, which were then filed
for audit.
Chapter Development VP: Chuck Berny advised
that he is sending follow up notes to visitors and
reviewed the status of recent visitors and a couple
new members that we haven’t seen in a while.
Chuck also reminded us that everyone should wear
their name badges at every meeting for the benefit
of visitors and new members. He also suggested
that members use chapter business cards in a proactive manner and leave a card or two where ever
they go in our day to day activities. He also said
that he would like to do some consistent small ads
in area newspaper looking for men who like to
sing. The BOD agreed.
Music and Performance VP: Fred Kanel said he
had made corrected tracks for “Sitting on Top” and
that there would be a Music Committee meeting on
March 30 at 6:00 to decide on the new songs for the
rest of 2015.
Assistant Director: Rich Pilch noted that Ass’t
Directors .Donnie Wheeler and Andy Doetsch will
be working with the chorus on Everybody Loves a
Love and Sitting On Top of the World respectively.
Old Business: President Dan showed us some sample names badges that Steve Dorn had purchased
from BHS. The BOD liked the idea and agreed the
large font for the member name was best and voted
that the blue color would best represent the Lake
Lanier chapter.
New Business:
Chet reported on the status of the Gwinnett Braves
concession fund raising opportunity and that we
will be manning two booths on opening weekend
April 9-10-11 and again on April 30-May 1 and 2.
Fred Kanel made a motion that our chorus compete
in the fall of 2015 in Atlanta. That motion was seconded and passed.
Dan said that we have the potential to do a
patriotic performance on July 4 this year but the
opinions were that we don’t have the repertoire to
do that and timing is not good for our members.
Chet reported for the Show Committee meetings.
The SC has reserved the dates of November 21 and
22 at the Red Clay Foundry in Duluth for possible
shows. We also have a performance request to sing
at the Playhouse on December 16 and 17.
Since we are also planning to compete on
October 24, a discussion ensued regarding our fall
schedule and the needed preparation for all activities. Chuck pointed out that we need to be preparing for shows and performances at the same time,
or before, as we prepare for competition. We need
time to do all this.
Chuck also said that he needs a quartet to do
20 to 30 minutes and is thinking of inviting a high
school chorus to participate. This will be a topic for
the next show meeting next week.
There was some discussion of chorus sponsorship
and how that may work and the benefit we could
offer sponsors. Performance banner, program mentions and joint promotions etc. We need ideas
from members on possible sponsors.
Meeting adjourned at 8:40PM with the singing of Keep the Whole World Singing.
Tom Riggle, Secretary
5
“Bridging the Gap” with the
Westminster Chorus
at the 2014 Las Vegas International Convention, Part 1
“There’s eh, ee, ah, oh, oo and they don’t meet.
Ever.” (Latin actually has six diphthongs of which
three – au, oe, ui – are pronounced with one vowel
sound sliding into another.) YouTube has additional performances of this piece by the chorus,
including one (https://youtu.be/gkasK9ldBWE) in
a Dortmund church whose echo makes the music
particularly beautiful and haunting.
A questioner later asked if the sound had a
different character when so many different voice
parts were being sung. Yes, replied Miller, because
sometimes the many overtones can cancel each
other out. You can get expansion in some chords
but you have to know where. Some chords are going to expand more than others.
Next they moved from a piece with a large
number of voice parts to another one in a different
language - Bogoroditse Devo, by Sergei Rachmaninov, sung in Russian. This piece can be found at
https://youtu.be/xNW2bSG0EXs. They sang it first
with Americanized pronunciation and then with
Russian to illustrate how the sonority of the piece
changed in its native pronunciation.
Having sung in Latin and Russian, they
moved on to Gaelic, singing Dúlamán by Michael
McGlynn. (https://youtu.be/aEE9dxfElY8) Miller
said that Gaelic requires crisp diction. The difficulty in this song though is the mixed meter – it
has three-beat measures next to two-beat measures.
A sample rhythm might be counted 1-2-1-2-1-2-3.
Miller said that although that sounds difficult what
the chorus actually does is pretty simple. There are
only nine words and three metric patterns that are
repeated.
They sang the three-voice-part song and
then Miller discussed how they had gone about
learning it. Before they took it up he went through
the score and marked the different metrical patterns
- a triangle above the triplets, a slash above the
“duplets”. Then the whole chorus looked at the
music and just spoke the rhythms our loud: “tri-angle tri-an-gle slash and slash and tri-an-gle tri-angle” etc. This taught them where the stress was and
how that rhythm worked. Once they were comfortable with the meter, moving on to the words and
notes was easy. He pointed out that there a lot of
arrangements like this out there that would be interesting for our choruses and provide a variety for
our audiences.
Next they sang Tenebrae by Richard
Burchard.
(continued on page 7)
By Fred Kanel
A
s we get ready to think about this summer’s
international convention in Pittsburgh, it’s
probably time for me to conclude my series of
write-ups on the presentations and workshops at
last year’s Las Vegas convention. The session with
the most eclectic program of non-barbershop
pieces was “Bridging the Gap” presented by Justin
Miller and the Westminster Chorus he directs.
Because of scheduling issues we missed the
introduction and most of their first song but there
was plenty of variety in the remainder of the program to keep us fascinated.
The second song was Lux Aurumque by
Eric Whitacre, an amazing piece in Latin with
eight- and nine-part harmonies. Miller had the various parts (such as “upper tenor” and “lower baritone”) sing various sections as duets and trios, adding more parts as the music proceeded. It was fascinating. (I’ve located Westminster Chorus performances of this and the other music mentioned in
this article on YouTube and will post the shortened
URS’s here. This piece can be found at https://
youtu.be/hWUMVkw-Gi8.)
Miller explained that a piece in Latin like
this one was easier to learn and sing and tune than
an English piece because people have no preconceived notions about how the words in that language should be sung. He added that as barbershoppers we work hard to get our diphthongs unified (i.e., parts changing together from the first
vowel sound to the second) but singing in Latin is
easier because the language has no diphthongs.
6
(continuation of Westminster article on page 6)
(https://youtu.be/0V1KRinuNDI ) He directed each
voice part to sing as if it had the melody rather than
trying to blend as the tenor and baritone sections
especially always have to do. Then he did an
experiment that unfortunately was lost on me,
although audience members with greater musical
sophistication may have found it more meaningful.
As the song was being sung he would call out
either “straight” or “style”. As he explained it, on
“style” the singers were supposed to think “here’s
my chance” and sing like soloists. He alternated
between the two methods several times, but often
the change happened when the music changed in
some other way and it was hard for me to identify
any difference and certainly to say which was better. Afterwards Miller said “It kind of came alive,
didn’t it?” and the audience seemed to agree. I
guess I’m just confirming my low level of musical
sophistication!
In next month’s bulletin I’ll conclude this
report by describing the remaining music that was
performed and discussing some interesting things
that came up during the question-and-answer
session.
Rasmus was in Town!
W
hat a neat opportunity we had in our
area recently when Rusmus Krigstrom was in town for a couple weeks as a music
judge candidate. Of course Rasmus is the Lead
singer for the international championship barbershop
quartet “Ringmasters” from Sweden. While in the
area, Rasmus offered his services in giving singing/
voice lessons for individuals, quartets and choruses.
And his compensation for doing that was very reasonable, especially considering his credentials!
We owe a big thank you to Clay and Becki
Hine for making their home available to Rasmus during his stay and providing a place to meet with him.
We had 10 members of NGBS spend some quality
time with Rasmus including AJ, Big Mike, Chris,
Donny, Ronnie, Andy, Fred Kanel and the Sweet Tea
Quartet. We found Rasmus to be a gentleman of
great talent and patience and we enjoyed our time
with him. We all got some great input from him so
you can expect to see some marked improvement in
the singing of all these guys.
On the Lake With Sweet Tea
By Tom Riggle
T
here is a community in Flowery Branch
called Sterling on the Lake. I wondered
what it was about and went to check it out.
Turns out it is not on Lake Lanier but has a
lake of its own and is quite a large community. There are 800 homes right now and
they are projecting to grow to 2000 homes.
They also have all the amenities and an Activities Director, whom I met.
I tried to get in there before Valentine’s
Day but that didn’t work out. But we did get
invited to come and sing some barbershop
tunes for one of their dinner parties, held on
March 19, in their nice club house. We were
able to warm up and get focused in their
movie theater. Then, a big fireplace in the
dinning room kept our backsides warm while
we sang for about 60 of the homeowners
there.
We had a good time and I pretty sure
the group there did as well. Many of them
engaged us in the lobby afterwards and asked
for one of their favorite tunes. Kentucky
Babe happened to be one of those. One lady
asked us to sing happy birthday while she
filmed it to present to her 95 year old grandfather, Hal, the following week. Of course,
we were happy to oblige.
It’s always nice to be on the lake and
we are hoping that this event will result in
other sing outs for the Sweet Tea Quartet and/
or the NGBS chorus among the homeowners
at Sterling on the Lake.
7
when their own thing is distracting or boring are hurting
the overall performance. This isn’t to say that the backups couldn’t express something different from the lead;
they can. But what they express matters and they can’t
be in their own world of focusing on “doo doo dah
shwah” or the internal monologue of “Hey, do I look fat
in these white disco shorts?”
TOP TEN A CAPPELLA
COMPETITION MISTAKES
by Jonathan Minkoff <><>
acappella101.com
lifted from the Orange Spiel
If nothing but the fact that Jonathan speaks on Ten
Competition Mistakes, this article warrants reading
2 or 3 time to fully comprehend the contents.
ed
<> “Simple and Perfect” Crushes “Complicated and
Almost”.
This is true for all elements of music, but rears
its ugly head in Vocal Percussion with great regularity.
A deliberate, precise pattern with enough time for your
VP to nail each sound and place each sound right in the
pocket is infinitely more effective than a sloppy high
speed assault. If the sung parts are too hard to sing dead
on then they’re not the right choice for competition.
We’d rather hear simple perfection. Unlike ice skating’s
demands of particular jumps, a cappella competitions
usually score you on the goals you set for yourself.
Achieve perfection in simpler music and walk away
with the trophy. That’s one of the reasons barbershop
groups often win or place highly at contemporary competitions: they sing the hell out of the material they’ve
chosen, even if the material they’ve chosen is dated or
seemingly simple.
<> Your Performance Begins the Instant You Step Out
on Stage.
The Rules of nearly all a cappella competitions
state that the timing begins when you blow the first
pitch, begin choreography or start talking. That’s timing. But when does the judging really begin? The judges
are judging you from the first step you take on stage.
Are you setting the mood for your first song? Are you
all acting as one, giving off a unified energy? Do you all
make eye contact with the audience and each other? Do
your faces and body language put the audience at ease
because they convey “committed deliberateness”-the
sense that everything on stage –even untangling mic
chords from the previous group- is precisely what it
should be? Pardon the old (and now bastardized) expression, but though you needn’t actually wear pants,
you need to wear THE pants. From the instant you enter, you must take the stage. In your body language, you
don’t ask to be liked; you tell the audience how great
you are, what a good time they’ll have and how you are
in charge. And if you do all this before the timer even
starts, the judges can’t help but start their scoring with
the inclination to love you and everything you do. The
alternative is starting from a hole and hoping you can
climb out in time for the scoring.
<> Never Sing Before You Sing.
Singing the starting chord, or humming before
actually starting the song is universally viewed as a
weakness in the ability of singers to hear their starting
pitches. Additionally, it’s not a particularly compelling
performance choice. And even if you’re lucky enough to
have judges that don’t detract points for lack of professionalism or performance, you are still wasting time on
something that can never earn you any points.
<> You are Not Invisible Before and After the Songs.
Your group may divide the show into songs, but
we are watching your whole show. The breath you take
to begin the ballad. The way you walk towards the mic.
The way you gracefully bow after the song has ended
and the last reverberation of the final chord fades.
Whether you laugh at the joke intro to the next song or
whether you are fixing your hair instead and looking
concerned that you can’t find your next pitch. We’re
always watching. And judges are always scoring.
<> One Talks. One Blows
Ron Jeremy jokes aside, laws, sausages and get
ting the group to sing in the right key and at the right
tempo are all mysterious things the people don’t want to
see the innards of. We just want them to come out right.
Let magicians or politicians teach you the art of distraction then translate that to a cappella. One talks: “Thank
you. We are the Flying Noodlebonks. We’d like to show
you our spin on some classic 90s alternative music next.
Of course I’m referring to the 1890s classic, ‘I Miss
Dear Old Lincoln’! Kick it Noodlebonks!” While One is
talking, Two blows the starting pitch and counts off so
that the count off begins before “Kick it Noodlebonks!”
and the group starts singing immediately following the
talking. Even if you can’t get it together to time all this
right, at the very least don’t have the person intro-ing a
song also be the person who blows the pitch and counts
off.
( Continued page 9 )
<> Emote with the Lead, Not With Nonsense Syllables.
Some leads are singing fluff and then the emotion is best described as “Yeah! We’re all having a good
time!” That’s fine! You can put that on your face and in
your body and all is well. Some leads are singing absolute poetry. What the lead sings, the group must respect.
Back-ups that are doing their own thing, particularly
8
you are still wasting time on something that can never
earn you any points.
<>Keep each voice in its best tessitura.
Talking Doesn’t Win Singing Competitions.
Got a funny bit you like to do in between songs? That’s
nice. We do like to see your personality and get to know
you, but get to it and get singing. Funny one liners can
get the job done just as well as skits and in a fraction of
the time, leaving you time to gather points by actually
singing.
<> Originality Counts and then Counts Again.
Nearly every competition awards original arrangements and original songs. Why take yourself out of
the running for these awards? Also, consider why these
awards exist at all: judges and organizers are looking to
see the art form move forward and evolve. You can’t do
that with well-known arrangements of well-known covers. And the originality awards aside, as between two
groups of approximately equal performance, the judges
will break the tie in favor of the more original.
Think you’ve heard “Insomniac” or “Africa” a
few times? Wanna guess how often we judges have
heard it? Do you want to take the chance that your arrangement and your performance of this classic are better than any of the thousands we’ve already heard?
Gamblin’ man, are ya? It’s a long shot. By contrast, if
we’ve never heard the arrangement or the song, then we
have fewer preconceived notions of how you are supposed to sing it. You become free to express your creativity instead of your mimicry.
One of the reasons we are judges is the fact that
we’ve heard so much a cappella. So would you rather be
a breath of fresh air, turning heads and raising eyebrows
or just another in a long line of sleepy Lion Sleepers and
worn out Runaround Sues? Go ahead and do those
songs in your live shows if you like. They’re tried and
true crowd-pleasers and if you are a young singer, then
chances are you’re not bored out of your brains from
water-torture-like repetition. Just remember that competitions are a different beast, altogether, though so know
enough a cappella history to take a pass on the passé.
<>In Conclusion.
The fundamentals are the necessary building
blocks on which your performance stands. If you can’t
tune, blend and balance, you won’t win. But that’s not
the whole game. Heed this article’s advice and you’ll
<> One Talks. One Blows.
Ron Jeremy jokes aside, laws, sausages and getting the group to sing in the right key and at the right
tempo are all mysterious things the people don’t want to
see the innards of. We just want them to come out right.
Let magicians or politicians teach you the art of distraction then translate that to a cappella. One talks: “Thank
you. We are the Flying Noodlebonks. We’d like to show
you our spin on some classic 90s alternative music next.
Of course I’m referring to the 1890s classic, ‘I Miss
Dear Old Lincoln’! Kick it Noodlebonks!” While One is
talking, Two blows the starting pitch and counts off so
that the count off begins before “Kick it Noodlebonks!”
and the group starts singing immediately following the
talking. Even if you can’t get it together to time all this
right, at the very least don’t have the person intro-ing a
song also be the person who blows the pitch and counts
off.
<>Man Cannot Live on Mezzo Forte Alone.
Yes, I know that the original song you’re now
covering had no dynamics and they rocked. Too bad.
You need dynamics and if you don’t have them, judges
will take off points. Songs without dynamics are boring.
I’ve never in my life heard a song with too much dynamic range or too much phrasing.
Many groups think of dynamics as strictly a
musical, rather than a performance issue. Consider
though, the connection between energy and dynamics.
While perfect intonation may take years to achieve, both
energy and dynamics can reach exceptional levels of
expressiveness after a single focused rehearsal. Even
grade school children know how to modulate their
voices from incredibly soft to incredibly loud. Dynamics translate to energy and energy translates to excitement in the song and attention in the listener. We hear
the change in volume, the phrasing, and the most powerful element of music leaps from the page: motion! So
stop deliberately standing still, musically.
<>Tessitura Beats Range.
There may be nothing worse than hearing a
tenor pressing grapes for a strained high note, a soprano
warding dogs off with her high screech or a bass burping out gravel for the low note. Competitions are not the
time for taking long shots. Choose songs that feature
your strengths and hide your weaknesses. Change keys
from the original. Make part of the solo into a sectional
part. Do whatever you need to do to show us nothing
but your good side. Judges never take points off for the
high C you didn’t try to hit, only for the one you bungled.
have easily sidestepped some serious a cappella
land mines. When it’s neck and neck, you’ll pull
ahead. When you put commitment in your face and
body, that can’t help but become a part of your
singing. And sometimes, really great stage presence
and performance is so powerful, that judges think
the musicality is at a higher level than it really is.
It’s a multi-pronged attack. It worked against the
Britts and it works in a cappella! See you at the
next competition, you champion, you!
9
Harmony
Foundation
T
he NGBS has scheduled singing engagements in the later part of 2015.
Every effort should be made to attend these
important performances, so please mark
your calendar and commit accordingly
Sing ….for life
We all received the below message from Tom Riggle recently..
I publish it do to the worthiness
of its message…..
ed
October (TBD) 2015 Forsyth County Fair
Saturday, October. 24. 2015 Dist Contest
Saturday, November 21, 2015 Sing-out
Wednesday, December 16, 2015 Sing-out
Thursday, December 17, 2015 Sing-out
Hi guys
T
his is a blind CC to all NGBS
guys. As a follow on to what I said
last night at our chapter meeting, about
the Harmony Foundation, it is important
to know that this organization is what
enables the Society to support all the
youth programs that are so important to
the future of these young men and
insure the future of our a cappella singing hobby. So, by participating, you can
help young men in their lives and help
our chapter and get a tax deduction in
the deal as well. It's a great cause.
Happy Birthday, Jack
A
happy celebration of Jack Martin’s
eighty third (83) birthday on March
8, was held
by a total of
23 family and
friends, 16
of these to
include Jack
was
his
immediate
family, Jack’s
brother and
wife & Jack’s
lady friend
with the remaining being close friends from
his church life group.
A great time was had by all with a
Mexican flair to include sapodillas and an
ice cream cake.
I don't work for the Foundation but I
do believe in what they are doing and
have done for many years.
I'll have
applications with me again next
week. Let's do this thing together.
Tom Riggle. Secretary,
Lake Lanier GA chapter
ִ
10
LET’S GO BACK INTO HISTORY Some 59 Years and see what the feelings were of one of our greatest
Champions. Would Bill Busby feel the same about how we define barbershop in 2015? I’m thinking BUZ
would love our modern day music! What do you think?
Published in The AIC Medallion, June 2006
11
Harmony, How To
O
ne of the biggest mistakes I made very early in my barbershop quartetting experience
with The Management (1994 NED Quartet Champs) was to try to sing exactly like the
last bass I just heard. That lasted
for a while until I listened to a
different bass from a different
quartet and tried to sing just like
him. It was actually Bill Myers
(bass of 1998 International
Quartet Champion Revival) who
straightened me out. He asked
the questions that no one else
had ever said; “Where is your
voice? Where is the voice of
Kirk Young? Why do you want
to be someone else?” And then
he said it – “Sing like you.”
It has stuck with me ever
since. Determine what type of
natural voice you possess and
sing with it all the time With the
help of an experienced vocal
coach, take the time to analyze
where your voice falls and
whether your natural voice is
placed forward, middle, or back.
Determine when your voice is
bright or covered. Take the time
with your voice coach, your section leader, or members of quartet to identify your individual
voice. While you may explore
many avenues of voice placement and brightness, these
should be natural variations of
your own freely produced voice,
not imitations of someone else’s
voice. Spend time singing on
Barberpole Cats and other melodies, trying to sing with your individual, freely produced and
unrestricted voice. Learn how
the bass singer fits into a quartet
Spend time singing duets with
other voice parts. Get a feel for
how the parts interact and how
the bass can use the duet relationship in the quartet to build
the ensemble and increase your
own performance.
The lead singer may be
the “pilot” of the quartet, but the
bass is certainly the “co-pilot.”
When the lead is busy, the bass
is the singer who “flies the
plane.” The bass singer needs to
know every detail of the lead’s
plan for the song and execute it
as if he were the lead singer. All
of the embellishments for the
arrangement are dictated by the
bass—he is responsible for ensuring the embellishments have
purpose and intent that tie back
to the overall theme of the song.
As the bass you are helping to
guide the baritone and the tenor
through the embellishments,
continuing to sing the theme of
your performance.
Learn how the bass
We should all
note the uniformity of
mouth shapes.
I’m gonna suggest there vowel
is AAHHHH!
What ya think?
12
singer fits into a chorus The bass
singer’s role in the chorus is to
make the section work as well as
possible. As important as it is for
quartet basses to become the
“co-pilot,” it is equally important
for chorus basses to work at
building the strength, intelligence and effectiveness of the
section. Listen to your fellow
basses. Listen across the section
and work to fit the voice you
have into the overall blend of the
voices. Allow the section to create a composite vocal color that
doesn’t resemble a single
singer’s timbre but combines the
voice differences in to a “single
voice” for the section. The ultimate goal is to have the bass section sound like one huge bass
voice.
When you, as a bass, attend your chorus’s bass sectional
rehearsals be sure not to use that
time to get your words and notes
taught to you. Learn that information on your own and elevate
your sectional time to working
on musical ideas, phrasing,
blending and more complex issues. – Sep-Oct 2012 issue of
The Harmonizer. Lifted from
the Twin Mountain Tonesman.
Lake Lanier Chapter Board
of Directors and Appointees
2015 Board of Directors
President
Dan Sullivan
Membership VP
Chuck Berny
Secretary
Tom Riggle
Treasury
Chet Burdick
Music & Perf VP
Fred Kanel
Program VP
Jerry Wood
PR & Publicity
Duane Hunter
Member at Large
Neill Harris
Member at Large
Bill Liles
Assoc Mus Director
Rich Pilch
Appointees
Musical Director
Steve Dorn
Asst Director
Andy Doetsch
Asst Director
Donnie Wheeler
Consultant to Music
Dir on Music Issues
Jack Martin
Bulletin Editor
Jack Martin
Webmaster
Andy Doetsch
Music Librarian
Terry Gillim
Social Director
Terry Gillim
Chorus Manager
Dan Sullivan
Historian
Bob Biccum
Uniform Chairman
Rich Pilch
50/50 Dude
Chuck Berny
Section Leaders
Tenor
Bob Hitch
Lead
Tom Riggle
Bari
Fred Kanel
Bass
Chuck Berny
County Liaison Rep
Dawson County
Rich Pilch
Forsyth County
Duane Hunter
Hall County
Tom Riggle
Lumpkin County
Fred Kanel
Future Events
Welcome
C
harles
Rigdon,
Charlie lives in the
Cleveland Ga area,
Welcome Chas, we are
happy to have you as
our guest. Sing with us
until you can’t stand
not being a member.
Then join!
April 8-12, 2015. BQPA quartet
Festival. Embassy Suites, Tempe
AZ
April 9-10-11–30, NGBS manning refreshment booth
at Gwinnett Braves
Ball Games. Should be
fun!
May 1-2 NGBS again manning
refreshment booth at
Gwinnett Braves Ball
Games. Should be fun!
\
Due to irreconcilable differences, False Alarm has decided to throw in the pitchpipe. Quartets come and
quartets go That's the natural way, resulting in new
quartets coming on the
scene.
June 28– July 5 International
Contest and Convention, in
Pittsburg PA.
October (TBD) Forsyth County
Fair Performance
October 23-24, Dixie District
Contest and Convention in
Oxford AL
Happy Birthday
Bob
Jerry Tom Duane
Fred
Terry Tom
Rich
April, 2015
22
Tom Dorn
Don’t know how old Tom is ,but
I hear his birthday cake looked
like a prairie fire! :-)
ed
Ronnie Steve Roger Donnie
Fred
Neil
Dan
Jerry
Lake Lanier Chapter Quartets
13