Dynamics
A cappella is a competitive medium. While there are plenty of groups that participate as an art form, this style of music has enjoyed growth primarily through competition—scholastic competitions like ICCA and ICHSA, <i>The Sing-Off</i>, and even <i>Pitch Perfect</i> as a film about competitive a cappella. With more and more groups entering competitions groups need to be increasingly conscious of how they present themselves in competition. While being a great musician is still the cornerstone of success, groups that don’t consciously think about the elements of their competition set tend not to meet their potential. In The Competitor’s Edge, we break down the key components of successful competitors in a cappella.
In this edition, the focus is dynamics.
A demonstration of skill
While the ability to increase and decrease a group’s volume may seem somewhat elementary to a spectator, the ability to coordinate shifts in dynamics fluidly among an ensemble can be tricky business. Doing so successfully is one of the clearest ways in which a group can demonstrate its precision, level of practice, and cohesion as a unit.
Making moments pop
A group that wishes to compete at the highest level shouldn’t vary its dynamics at random, but rather think about what dynamics will mean to a piece. Many groups want to arrive at a big moment in their sets—the point at which group members line the front of the stage and hit the audience with a wall of sound. That’s all well and good, but can only be so effective if the group hasn’t earned its moment by starting small and affording themselves someplace to build from.
Flow
In a New Year’s themed episode of How I Met Your Mother, Neil Patrick Harris’s Barney comments on how the perfect playlist isn’t about rises and falls, but rather a constant, steady build from loud and upbeat to even louder and upbeater. The point is debatable and subject to personal opinion, but in the context of an a cappella competition, the group that doesn’t switch things up threatens to bore an audience with their quiet, mellow sound or irritate them by making too much noise and ostensibly yelling at the crowd. Dynamics facilitate a group presenting different sides of itself and taking each audience member on a nuanced journey with them.
Why do you think dynamics are important to a competition set? How have you seen them used? Let us know in the comments.