Vocal Blog | The Vocal, A Cappella & Choral Music Online-Mag

by Florian Städtler

While doing the network thing at the Kulturbörse Freiburg for three exhausting and inspiring days, I met a living legend of German a cappella, Tilo Beckmann. Founder and ex-member of the first German vocal group 6-Zylinder, he is currently working on his new ambitious project Sonic Suite, an a cappella group in which he acts as mentor, director and singer.

“Besides being a singer, I always loved to work with vocal ensembles to pass on the experience of more than 30 years of singing, arranging and organzing.” Asked what makes his coaching special, Tilo replied: “If there’s anything, I’m really trying to be good at, it’s my ability to listen and watch from the perspective of any regular guy in the audience.”

We agreed, that many groups tend to work on details of intonation, blending and sound, without really having got the basics right. But exactly what are the basics from the perspective of the regular, non-expert listener?

Tilo summed up his coaching concept in four main areas of work:

1. Impact: What general impression does the group make towards the audience?
2. Clarity: Is the group able to convey a clear message, musically as well as in terms of performance?
3. Rhythm: “A wrong note in the right place is better than a right note in the wrong place”, says Tilo. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to work on intonation and don’t have to know your part. But, as Tilo added “Most of traditional vocal education emphasizes on sounding great. But what makes contemporary vocal music unique is its rhythm.”
4. Hierarchy: Social structure is an issue in every team. As a coach, Tilo prefers straight talk, unaffected by the traditional roles of group members. “Critizising singers in a constructive way is very important. But even if the coaching causes discussions inside the group, the singers must value those things they have achieved and contributed in the past.”

No.3, “rhythm”, reminded me of Denmark and its fantastic scene of “Rhythmic Choirs”. As many small ensembles emerge as extracts of jazz, pop and gospel choirs, choirs like Jens Johansen’s Vocal Line and educational institutions like The Complete Vocal Institute seem to show the way for contemporary vocal education.

If you or your vocal group is interested in a coaching session with Tilo, these are two opportunities in the not so far future:

• Stimmen Festival Lörrach (GER), March 26-28, 2010
• A Cappella Workshop Coesfeld (GER), June 11-13, 2010

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By Florian Städtler, SpielPlanVier www.spielplanvier.com

Expectations were high: The first Vocal Jazz Summit in 2005 was a spectacular event and a pioneering work. This festival was one of the first of its kind and set an outstanding benchmark with a unique line-up: Take Six, The New York Voices and The Real Group.

Soon after that, the vocal festival virus spread around Europe. In addition to the longtime a cappella Meccas “Solevoci” (www.solevoci.it), Voice Mania (www.voicemania.at), Leipzig A Cappella (www.a-cappella-festival.de) and Vokal Total (www.spectaculum-mundi.de) some fantastic new events emerged. The Real Group invited 42 international groups to The Real Festival (www.therealfestival.com), Vocal Line’s Jens Johansen founded the Aarhus Vocal Festival (www.aavf.dk) and more a cappella festivals are being planned in Soesterberg/NL, London/UK, Trondheim/NO and elsewhere.

Holger Wittgen, festival organizer for the German “Kultursommer Rheinland-Pfalz”, nevertheless worked hard to make a second edition of THE Summit possible. And he and his team succeeded. They put together a festival that no one, who took part will easily forget: A three-days beatbox masterclass with mouth percussion genius Roxorloops, coachings by Steve Zegree and members of the headlining ensembles, half a dozen highly talented young groups (Pust, Vocado, Touché, Vocaloca, Witloof Bay, Vocal Journey) and – of course – the stars: The Manhattan Transfer, The Swingle Singers and The Real Group.

If you thought this line-up with two living legends would be less hip and energetic than that of four years ago, the singers easily proved you wrong: ManTran presented a show that made clear that they are still the kings (and queens) of the Vocalese, four-part harmony jungle. The Swingles surprised many a listener with a singer-songwriter repertoire mixed very cleverly with only a few of the all-time classics (you know those      “Swingles ringtones” like Bach’s “Badinerie”). The Real Group, well, they are no less than a perfect work of art. Not even the fact, that one of their members had serious problems with her vocal chords which allowed them to do a 45 minute set only, could lessen the sheer joy you feel when listening to them.

The concerts were amazing, the audience – including lots of singers and hardcore a cappella fans – was enthusiastic. But even more impressive was the general mood during the whole festival. In workshops, coachings, masterclasses, at the cafeteria, the canteen or at the first-time ever Vocal Blog Market Place (the place where online contacts become offline friends) and in two public panels, the a cappella family met, talked, networked and learnt from each other.

To sum it up: These were days of pure inspiration, exhausting but wonderful. Let’s hope that we will all meet again soon, work on common ideas, give common concerts and create great music and better opportunities for all who love vocal music.

To stay in touch, I’m going to invite all the performing ensembles, the coaches and the organizers of the Vocal Jazz Summit 2009 to guest-blog a few lines on what they loved most at this very special festival. Of course it would also be interesting to learn more about their vision of a vocal and a cappella music in general and what they want to achieve with their groups. I’m really looking forward to the input of those who made the Summit an unforgettable event and the international a cappella scene so incredibly colourful, alive and kicking.

Freiburg, October 06, 2009

Florian Städtler

P.S. Vocal Blog plans to be present with its Live Market Place at the European top a cappella events of the future. If you have any suggestions in addition to those named above, feel free to get in touch with us or post them right here.