UC San Diego's The Beat
The Beat is a top notch group out of UC San Diego. Members of the group took the time to answer questions from ACB Content Manager Mike Chin.
The A Cappella Blog (ACB): As a new group, has The Beat developed any unique traditions or rituals among its membership?
The Beat (TB): Not any that stand out aside from the ritual S&M session that occurs at our first rehearsal… but seriously, tradition is one of the reasons it is fun to be part of a new group. We get to influence the group's identity and make our own traditions instead of adhering to ones that were made by people that are married and have children already. The first two years were chock-full simply trying to establish ourselves as a group, but now we can concentrate on the fun stuff. It's as simple as thinking "Hey, why don't we...?"
ACB: Some proceeds from your group's spring 2006 concert, "Beauty and the Beat," went to victims of Hurricane Katrina. What gave the group the idea to use the show to benefit this cause?
TB: There are three groups are UCSD, and we each host separate concerts each quarter. As you can imagine, that adds up, and to the non a cappella world, they are all the same unless you know people in the different groups. So one of the reasons was to make both us and our spring 2007 concert stand out more to the general public. I was sick of trying to convince my friends to come to my shows with reasons such as "Oh… we have 2 new songs!" or "The guys in my group are super hot!" Once we decided to make the show a benefit, we threw around a couple of ideas, but ended up choosing a Hurricane Katrina relief fund (mercycorps.org) because one of our members was actually displaced by
Katrina, and had a strong desire to help further. We gave more than half the profits received that night, and with a corporate sponsor that was willing to match us, we donated over $850.
ACB: How does The Beat co-exist with other groups at UC San Diego? Do you collaborate much? Is there any friendly rivalry?
TB: The groups here, The Beat, Tritones and D.O.T.S are very friendly with each other. As I said before, The a cappella community at UCSD is flourishing, but still relatively small and obscure. As a result, we know that we have nothing to gain if we don't help each other out. If one of the groups is having a concert, it would be an aberration to not have the other two guest performing. As for rivalries, yes there is a healthy, friendly rivalry. I would say there has to be in order for any of the three groups to want to improve. Collaborations are typically difficult because of scheduling concerns, but our first year
we sang "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye" by Boyz 2 Men with the DOTS at our spring concert.
ACB: How does your group go about deciding which songs to add to its repertoire? Who is responsible for arrangements?
TB: The Beat's process for selecting songs may sound a bit long, but it is just the most logical to us. We have each member submit 2 songs to a pool, and then everyone listens to the songs on their own time and rates them on a scale of 1-5 on all the typical criteria. The officers then take these results and uses them as a guide to what kind of songs the group is looking for, and then ultimately decide based on the balance of the group ratings and songs that they feel would be good for the group. We usually try to spread out the arrangements as much as possible(I've done 4-5), but if no one really volunteers for it, it is an assumed duty of the music directors.
ACB: What would you say is the most important element to having a successful collegiate a cappella group?
TB: Everyone being on the same page as to what kind of group they wish to be in; a fun, less musically sound group, or a group that's more serious about the music. You just want to have an environment where you know how much time and dedication is expected of you. If everyone knows what to expect from the first day, there will be no misunderstandings, and like minds can encourage each other. Not only that, you would get the perfect kind of person for your group.
ACB: What drew you, personally, to collegiate a cappella in the first place?
TB: I started singing in 8th grade, after following a girl I liked into the school choir. I got the girl, and I also found a new love for singing. Cheesy, I know. So I sang all throughout high school, formed the obligatory guy a cappella group, and generally had a great time with it. When I decided to try new things my first year of college, such as my painful foray into rugby, I found that I just missed singing and performing too much. When I heard that a new group was forming on campus, I saw it as a great chance to reconnect and also be a large part of something for the rest of my college years. Also, I enjoy making spitting noises with my mouth.
ACB:Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers of The A Cappella Blog?
TB: I'm still pushing for this... I would like to have a show one day called "The Beat-off." Thank you for having us on your site!
If you would like to learn more about The Beat, you can visit them online at http://thebeat.ucsd.edu/.