Acapella is ... What is a capella?

Acapella is singing only in a voice, without musical accompaniment. It originated in the 17th century. For a long time was a purely religious action. However, over time, a cappella goes beyond worship and becomes a common secular style and a popular genre. Many Russian composers of the 20th century write choral (a cappel) works. In the present century a large number of ensembles sing a capella.

What is a cappella?

Acapella is the singing of several voices (ensemble or chorus) without musical accompaniment (accompaniment). Its origins date back to the 17th century. This term is often associated with the practice of papal worship. Acapella is also called the vocal part, written and sounded without instrumental accompaniment.

Initially, it was widely used in church music and folk art. Then spread in the writings of Palestrina, the work of the composers of the Dutch school.

On the other hand, a cappella is a style that has developed in madrigals, as well as secular singing art.

Acapella as a style of professional choral art

Singing a capella as a style firmly entrenched at the end of the Middle Ages in cult polyphony. The remarkable masters of the Dutch school achieve the highest heyday. Great contribution to its development was made by Benevolis, Palestrina, Scarlatti. It is important to pay attention to the fact that the singing of a capella in the 17-18 centuries was sometimes accompanied by a general bass or solo instruments. But then the performance returned without any accompaniment, which became highly appreciated.

In the Orthodox churches only choral singing a capella is used. A small musical accompaniment was allowed in the ancient churches of the East (Coptic, Malabar, Ethiopian). They allowed the use of both Asian and African instruments. In Russia, the famous composer A. Grechaninov advocated the introduction of divine accompaniment instrumental accompaniment. But this decision was rejected in 1917-1918 by the Local Council.

Singing a capella is often used in chamber choral music by composers of the 19th century. In the Russian choral culture of the 20th century, works by such composers as Rakhmaninov, Taneyev, Sviridov, Shostakovich, Shebalin, Davidenko, Chesnokov, and Koval have reached great heights. Attention is drawn to the activities of the Court Choir, the Synodal Choir and many other collectives. To date, singing a capella is in great demand in different countries.

Which of the composers appealed to a cappella?

As mentioned above, a cappella is collective singing (ensemble or choral), in which there is no accompaniment (instrumental accompaniment). Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Georgian folk art is full of songs of a cappella warehouse. How the style a capella arose in the Middle Ages. The highest peak of a cappella occurred during the Renaissance. Among the composers of this time, we should mention the Netherlands polyphonists: J.Obrehta, G.Depre, G.Dyufai, J.Okegema, J.Benshua, O. Lasso. An outstanding role in the development of this style belongs to Palestrina (the composer of the Roman school). In Russia, cappella singing is primarily found in cult music: the works of M. Berezovsky, D. Bortnyansky, A. Vödel. And in the late 19th century, S. Rakhmaninov, S. Taneyev, P. Chesnokov, A. Kastalsky and many others addressed the writing of the a capella choirs. Soviet composers composed a huge number of choral works. This D.Shostakovich, G.Sviridov, A.Davidenko, V.Salmanov, V.Shebalin, M.Koval and others.

How to make a cappella?

To a human voice sounded in a song beautifully and naturally, you need to record vocals in a qualitative way. This can be done mostly by every professional sound engineer on expensive (lamp) equipment. But how to make a cappella without visiting the studio? For this, there are special programs.

First, vocals should be written in mono-mode with certain parameters (16 bit / 44.1 kHz) and saved in a separate file in wav format. Then you need to process the record properly. To do this, open the file in any music editor and start processing:

• Level the volume of the vocals.
• Perform one of the time-consuming and difficult tasks - use the equalizer.
• Perform panning.
• Make "warming" of the vocals.
• The final stage will be the reverb and the debris cover.

In such simple ways, the treatment of a capella is performed.

Ten modern bands singing a cappella

Many people think that only in churches sing a cappella. However, this is an erroneous opinion. There is a huge number of excellent bands with their fans. To date, the singing of a cappella is very popular and is represented in a wide variety of musical genres: folk music, jazz, mass-popular, rhythm and blues, rock music and so on. Acapella notes in this regard are often sought by interested listeners. In addition, in the United States of America very popular are "university" groups singing a cappella.

Here are some modern bands:

• The ensemble "Male Style" - "Oh, with a meadow, with a meadow."
• Піккардійська Терція - "The Garden of Angels' Pisen".
• Barbatuques - Baiana.
• JUKEBOX TRIO - So, Let Me Know.
• Van Canto - The Mission (Official).
• Rockapella - Shambala.
• Sweet honey in the rock - Ella's Song.
• Rajaton - Joululaulu.
• The Glue is El Topo.
• The Puppini Sisters, "Jilted" (dir: Alex de Campi).

Conclusion

Thus, a cappella is singing in a voice without accompaniment (instrumental accompaniment). Usually it is performed by musical groups - a vocal ensemble or a choir. Acapella appeared in the 17th century. Originally used exclusively in church music. However, over time, it became not only used in secular singing, but also became a separate style. Many composers turned to the writing of choir a cappella. Today such singing has not lost its popularity. On the contrary, many modern bands sing exactly in such a manner that gives them a special artistic value.