Rashmun wrote:thanks. very interesting and very different. i wonder whether the singers have undergone any formal training in singing. one question: i thought a capella songs are songs sung without any accompanying music. but here i am hearing accompanying music throughout the song.

swapna wrote:

Rashmun wrote:thanks. very interesting and very different. i wonder whether the singers have undergone any formal training in singing. one question: i thought a capella songs are songs sung without any accompanying music. but here i am hearing accompanying music throughout the song.

the group was formed in 1996, and have been singing and performing for twenty years. each generation trains the next. 

moreover, most of the members were born and raised in the u.s., and attended.school here, so many of them know music and composition theory. they need that to work out the harmonies (the blending of voices singing different notes simultaneously).

I'm fairly sure that there's not a single musical instrument being played when they perform. what you refer to as "music" is the accompanying vocal harmony produced by about ten voices. the rhythm, I think, is also created orally or sometimes by hands and palms.

here are still photographs of the group performing a mash-up of two unconnected songs, one english, and the other, hindi, on stage.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y3MS2vdWENo

there's a lot of harmony and rhythm here. you'll hear borh if you deliberately ignore the single voice singing the melody, and focus your attention on the rest of what's going on. as far as I can see or hear, there's no musical instrument accompanying them.

garam_kuta wrote:

swapna wrote:

Rashmun wrote:thanks. very interesting and very different. i wonder whether the singers have undergone any formal training in singing. one question: i thought a capella songs are songs sung without any accompanying music. but here i am hearing accompanying music throughout the song.

the group was formed in 1996, and have been singing and performing for twenty years. each generation trains the next. 

moreover, most of the members were born and raised in the u.s., and attended.school here, so many of them know music and composition theory. they need that to work out the harmonies (the blending of voices singing different notes simultaneously).

I'm fairly sure that there's not a single musical instrument being played when they perform. what you refer to as "music" is the accompanying vocal harmony produced by about ten voices. the rhythm, I think, is also created orally or sometimes by hands and palms.

here are still photographs of the group performing a mash-up of two unconnected songs, one english, and the other, hindi, on stage.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y3MS2vdWENo

there's a lot of harmony and rhythm here. you'll hear borh if you deliberately ignore the single voice singing the melody, and focus your attention on the rest of what's going on. as far as I can see or hear, there's no musical instrument accompanying them.

swapna wrote:

garam_kuta wrote:

swapna wrote:

Rashmun wrote:thanks. very interesting and very different. i wonder whether the singers have undergone any formal training in singing. one question: i thought a capella songs are songs sung without any accompanying music. but here i am hearing accompanying music throughout the song.

the group was formed in 1996, and have been singing and performing for twenty years. each generation trains the next. 

moreover, most of the members were born and raised in the u.s., and attended.school here, so many of them know music and composition theory. they need that to work out the harmonies (the blending of voices singing different notes simultaneously).

I'm fairly sure that there's not a single musical instrument being played when they perform. what you refer to as "music" is the accompanying vocal harmony produced by about ten voices. the rhythm, I think, is also created orally or sometimes by hands and palms.

here are still photographs of the group performing a mash-up of two unconnected songs, one english, and the other, hindi, on stage.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y3MS2vdWENo

there's a lot of harmony and rhythm here. you'll hear borh if you deliberately ignore the single voice singing the melody, and focus your attention on the rest of what's going on. as far as I can see or hear, there's no musical instrument accompanying them.

are these your colleagues from the psych wards of misericordia and bellevue hospitals of nyc? relatives, perhaps? and could that be the family rag? the well-known pavadai?