More a capella...

I'm discovering that there is an entire (and well-populated!) genre, long-established, of a capella music where voices replace music that would ordinarily be played with instruments.  It's all new to me!  Here's a famous English ensemble: the Swingle Singers, singing Waltzing Matilda:

Rolling in the Deep, an a capella Cover...

After seeing my post yesterday, reader Larry E. sent along this video of another similar artist.  Awesome:


More of Mike Tompkin's stuff here...

Geezer a capella...

The Misty Mountains, a capella

Two of my favorite things, that I never thought of together before.  First, The Misty Mountains is a song from the new Hobbit movie (which I have not seen, and won't until it comes out on Blue-Ray).  Second, it's being sung a capella (voices only, no instruments) – by a very modern a capella artist who is cleverly using modern technology for this ancient art form.  Peter Hollens is the artist's name, and he's got quite a few songs available on YouTube and iTunes.  He uses modern audio editing, mixing, and recording systems to have himself singing all the a capella parts (normally a capella music is sung by groups of people singing different parts, often in different registers).  At the same time, he's using modern video recording and editing systems to create a music video, visually showing how he's singing multiple parts (or solos).

I find the result quite engaging, and the music is beautiful.  If you enjoy a capella music, you'll want to hear this (and perhaps explore some of his other songs).

Some Beautiful Music...

Yes, I know it's religious music. That doesn't stop it from being beautiful!

I am in awe of the skill of these a capella singers, nuns from the St. Elizabeth Monastery in Belorussia...