The Caltech Fluid Dynamics

Fluid Dynamics is a top-notch mixed group out of the California Institute of Technology. Musical Director Andy Matuschak took the time to answer questions from The A Cappella Blog.

The A Cappella Blog (ACB): How does Fluid Dynamics go about recruiting new members?

Andy Matuschak (AM): Caltech’s a tiny school (about 900 undergrads), so we mostly target freshmen. Older classes already know about us. We perform for the incoming students during orientation. A few days later, the campus holds a club fair, where we have a booth with audition info, pictures, and our pretty faces. Then we do a little more outreach: we plaster the campus with flyers and hold an ice cream social outside the student houses. People come by, have some ice cream, learn about us, and—if they want—sign up for auditions.

I think our auditions are mostly standard. We begin by having the auditionee sing some warm-ups along with us, and then we slowly drop out to hear their tone and range. They sing us a minute of any song they like, and we often ask them to repeat bits of the song with some change to check their control: “can you belt this instead?”, “can you get rid of the stylization and vibrato?”, and so on. We test their pitch with a musical Simon Says in which they repeat increasingly difficult sequences we play on a piano.

From there, we sometimes ask auditionees to come to a later call-back if we need to hear something else. For instance, if we’re concerned about their tone, we’ll have them sing along with the group to see if they can blend. If their training is classical, we’ll ask them to prepare a pop song.

ACB: How does your group go about deciding which songs to add to its repertoire? Who is responsible for arrangements?

AM: To stay on the same page, we talk intermittently about our repertoire and where we’d like it to go: does it need more energetic songs? more oldies? more rock? People send suggestions to the mailing list or bring tracks into rehearsal, and we talk about them. Then someone volunteers to do the arrangement.

There are problems here, though: what if an arrangement sucks? Theory training is pretty rare, and time is rarer. When we were prepping for the ICCAs last year, we didn’t have time to arrange any new songs—that was awful.

The thing is: it’s okay to buy an arrangement! It’s better than the group and audience getting bored. We like arranging, but a decent sheet can take an amateur 10–20 hours, while outside arrangers often sell their old pieces for only $75. That’s money well spent.

ACB: If you were to describe Fluid Dynamics in just three words, what words would you use?

AM: Geeky; good heart.

Comedy outtakes:
“We can’t dance”
“Lab-coat wearing”
“A. D. D.”

ACB: What would you say is the most important element to having a successful collegiate a cappella group?

AM: I think the most important thing is that the group stays fun. Preparing for competition, you’ve gotta work hard, but if it’s not fun, your members aren’t going to absorb what you’re saying; they’re not going to have the energy you need; and the audience will feel the missing love. If everyone’s having fun, the crowd will too. The last thing you want is for rehearsal to feel like a chore.

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

AM: I’ve been singing since I was tiny, but I never had an outlet for it. I don’t know the right people to start a band, and I’m not much of a song-writer. A cappella gave me a great venue to hone and show off my voice.

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

AM: I’d like to share the most powerful tool in my rehearsal arsenal: the microphone. Once we feel pretty good about a song, we’ll record ourselves running through it and listen to the playback. They’re totally brutal. Tuning and tone problems are instantly clear. Take notes while you’re listening, and then keep recording those spots until they’re polished. Do be careful of excessive cruelty to balance and richness from low-quality recordings: they’re only a guide for these aspects of your sound. Too much attention paid here can just hurt self-esteem

You don’t need a recording studio: just bring your laptop and put it on the floor in the middle of the group. Can’t figure out who’s causing the problem? Have people drop out until there’s just one singer on a part, then it’ll be clearer.

If you would like to learn more about Fluid Dynamics, you can visit the group online here.