SoJam!! (by Amira)

I was lame and didn’t take photos so bear with me.

SoJam was nothing short of euphoric for many reasons. A cappella performances so good you didn’t know what to do with yourself, laughter scattered from one end of the trip to the other, the constant company of kind, sassy, hilarious ladies, and of course Avi Kaplan (long live the green-eyed king of a cappella bass).

The trip began (and ended) with a car ride. I love car rides for so many reasons. Something about having to confess when you need to pee and being crammed against another person eating trail mix and taking exit 17A instead of 17B brings everyone together. After burning through two tanks of Minimum Octane Rating 87 and about ten albums (mainly a cappella), we ended up in Durham, NC. My car was late but we made it to the second and final rounds of the collegiate competition that evening. The emceeing was terrible but the groups were incredible and so we were handed shots of musical awesomeness between woefully cheesy jokes. It was all part of the fun.

The next day we went to workshops. Marilee and I swaggered in to two vocal percussion lessons and proceeded to have no clue what was going on. But they were really helpful, regardless of what VP experience you had. Our first workshop, “Active Listening for Drummers” emphasized rhythmic accuracy over elaborate beats. The instructor, Dave Baumgartner, walked us through several songs and repeatedly asked us to state the bare minimum percussion required to keep the beat in the song. The answer was always surprisingly little: often just a kickdrum or some other form of downbeat, sometimes with a kick. The exercise emphasized that the job of a VP is to enhance a song, not embark on a one-man beatboxing show. The second workshop, “Improve Your VP” taught by Matt Murphy carried a similar message, but focused more on how to practice VP.  He explained how every person’s anatomy is different, and so we all can make sounds that are completely unique. He said that the best way to develop percussion for a song is describe a section of the song (haunting, mellow, tense, relaxed, fast, slow, etc.), then use your strengths and abilities to emulate that emotion. You don’t need to recreate the percussion in the original song; the advantage of being a vocal percussionist is that you will create unique sounds that can emote differently than an instrument can.

Two other really helpful workshops we went to were Diana Galeano’s “Nuanced Direction: Advanced Methods in Musical Leadership” and Rob Dietz’s “Rehearsal Techniques.” Both focused on improving productivity during rehearsal through effective leadership. We learned that when practicing songs, leaders should always include positive feedback when delivering criticism because members will be more receptive to critique this way and it maintains a positive rehearsal atmosphere. Also, leaders should show how things should be sung rather than explaining. For example, leaders can round their mouths into an “o” shape in front of the group if they want that vowel to be used. Mimic what is needed, rather than trying to explain. This seems obvious when you think back to your high school choir director who, with bulging eyes, inhaled massive volumes of air when the group was supposed to breath, but something good to keep in mind now. Another bit of advice given (especially applicable to all of us a cappella groups who have late night rehearsals when productivity is hard to come by) is to take five minute breaks to regain focus in a group.

There was so much more taught and learned in those few days, but there was also plenty of entertainment outside of workshops. Collegiate a cappella groups strutted their stuff in Aca-bombs, 15 minute performances between classes. There was also a lovely barbershop showcase on Saturday, and the contemporary a cappella performances by the Funx and Duwende were incredible (at one point, the audience got out of their seats, ran to the front of the stage, and jumped/danced/raved to the music). It was great.

But my favorite part of the trip, of course, was just hanging out with the other ‘Skirts. And our miniskirts are so wonderful! We all had fun nearly getting lost on our way from the parking garage to the School of the Arts (about two blocks…with iPhone Maps), reporting Avi sightings in the hotel, eating cookie pizzas, eating regular pizzas, and just hanging out. I love these girls so much, and I’m so happy that we got to go on this trip together!