Kansas State Cadence

Cadence is a top-notch all-male group out of Kansas State. Business Manager Stephen Arnold took the time to answer questions from The A Cappella Blog.

The A Cappella Blog (ACB): Last year, Cadence celebrated its 10th anniversary as a group. What did this mean for the group? How did Cadence commemorate this auspicious occasion?

Stephen Arnold (SA): We didn't really do much more in 2008 than we do any other year. Just before the Fall 2007 semester, the university's choral director of 40+ years retired, which left us struggling without our advisor to help us fine-tune our music. The temporary choral director wasn't much help, so we pretty much had to go it alone for the year. Despite the hardship, we released our CD Apply Directly to the Forehead in the spring of 2008. We still can't decide whether we liked or hated the mastering job the studio did--they were new. At our spring concert, we used our encore performance of Ben Fold's "The Luckiest" to help our then-music manager Bryan Meyer propose to his girlfriend (and Cadence groupie) Michelle. They got married this past summer.

In the fall of 2008, we had our first out-of-state performance when we were invited to perform with the Greenleafs at Washington University in St. Louis. We are "the best and only" group at K-State, so being exposed to a university that is home to TEN very active a cappella ensembles was a real eye-opener. After that trip, we were really inspired to start looking into competitions, doing more tours, etc. We also started laying the groundwork for new a cappella groups to get started, and this semester we've been helping to organize K-State's first all-female a cappella group.

So I guess we never really "celebrated" 10 years of K-State a cappella, but rather had a "coming of age" and decided to become bigger, better, and more active than the group has ever been before.

ACB: Describe a typical Cadence rehearsal. How often do you guys practice and what do you do to achieve such success by the time you hit the stage? Do rehearsals change before a big show?

SA: Cadence rehearses for an hour, four times a week (Mon-Thurs). We normally do a quick warm-up with The Star-Spangled Banner, the K-State fight song, and the Wabash Cannonball (another K-State tradition). Then we run music. Each week we aim to learn two new pieces as well as put finishing touches on the two from the previous week. When we have a concert or other "big" event coming up, we occasionally add a rehearsal on Friday afternoons.

ACB: What is the audition process like for Cadence?

SA: Our audition process just changed this year, actually. In the past, we had a prerequisite to audition: Cadence members had to also be members of the men's glee club. This year, due to unavoidable issues last year, we changed things up and opened our auditions to all male students on campus.

The process is pretty straight-forward. Cadence hopefuls come to our audition with a prepared piece that accentuates their vocal range, strengths, etc. Returning members sit back and listen to the solo portion of the audition. Then we put returning members on stage, and add/mix up/remove potential members to see what clicks.

ACB: What drew you, personally, to collegiate a cappella in the first place?

SA: I grew up in a musically-inclined family: both parents have degrees in music ed, and my father was a professional opera singer back when I was little. I've done choir all my life, but first really got into a cappella in high school. My first year there I was accepted into the upper-classmen mixed a cappella ensemble, which really challenged me to constantly try to improve. It was that same year that I first heard recordings of the Brown Derbies. I was sold. Each of the three universities I've attended or lived near since high school, I always had to track down and try to audition for their men's a cappella group. I was unfortunate in that it took me 4 years to finally settle at K-State, but very fortunate that I found a school with an awesome up-and-coming all-male a cappella group.

I know other members have their own interesting stories, though. Take Ross: he originally wanted to come to K-State after Cadence performed at his high school. He watched the show and just thought "I want to be one of those guys." It's those kinds of stories that I think really impress upon people just how powerful the collegiate a cappella experience can be.

ACB: What is your favorite song to perform with Cadence, and why?

SA: There are a ton. How about my top 3? My first two years with the group, I had a bass solo in “Good Old A Cappella,” so I'm always fond of it. I've already mentioned "The Luckiest." Signing while your close friend gets engaged: Priceless. Last semester, we did "Irish Drinking Song", which was incredibly fun to sing and got a great audience reaction. It was up there with our performance of "Hooch" the year before.

ACB: Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers of The A Cappella Blog?

SA: I guess all I have to say in addition to everything else is a little piece of advice. This year we've re-invented our group's modus operandi to survive and grow from otherwise-crippling hurdles, and put a lot of time and effort into expanding awareness and performance of a cappella music on our campus. So my advice to both old-school groups and upstarts is this: Treat everything you do as if you're leaving a legacy, because you are. Sure, we enjoy our traditions (sometimes even thrive on them), but we can't let ourselves become complacent in them. Build, grow, and become bigger and better than before.

If you would like to learn more about Cadence, you can visit the group’s official site here.