• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

  • DC Guides
    • DC Events
    • DC New 52
    • DC Rebirth
    • Batman Guide
    • The Sandman Universe
  • Marvel Guides
    • Marvel Events
    • Captain America Guide
    • Iron Man Guide
    • Spider-Man Guide (1963-2018)
    • Spider-Man Guide (2018-Present)
    • Thor Guide
    • X-Men Reading Order
  • Indie & Licensed Comics
    • Spawn
    • Star Wars Guide
      • Expanded Universe Comics (2015 – present)
      • Legends Comics (1977 – 2014)
    • Valiant Guides
  • Drag
    • Canada’s Drag Race
    • Drag Race Belgique
    • Drag Race Down Under
    • Drag Race Sverige (Sweden)
    • Drag Race France
    • Drag Race Philippines
    • Dragula
    • RuPaul’s Drag Race
    • RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars
  • Contact!
You are here: Home / Personal / off-topics / music / acappella / Arranging “I Do Not Hook Up” for acappella (and, i don’t. anymore. or ever, really.)

Arranging “I Do Not Hook Up” for acappella (and, i don’t. anymore. or ever, really.)

April 10, 2009 by krisis

E and I got the word last week that the Drexel Treblemakers were putting out a last call for arrangements for this year’s repertoire, which meant several all-nighters between the two of us.

The TMs are a contemporary acappella group, which E used to sing-for and music-direct when she was at Drexel. “Contemporary acappella” means that they recreate modern pop hits with just their voices.

As an example, here’s perhaps their best arrangement of all time, of the Beatles “Eleanor Rigby”:

When I say “arrangement,” I mean just that – an arrangement of notes that make up the composite song that comes out of the group. Acappella songs don’t happen out of thin air. Unless you’re in a group of the finest doo-wop singers around (each equipped with pitch-perfect ear and all egalitarian when it comes to choosing what instrument to sing) it takes some specifics to turn a pop song into an all vocal jam.

It’s the job of an arrangement to replicate the song for voices in the form of sheet music. As an arranger, you might take the approach of transcribing each specific instrument individually for voice, or you might prefer to address the overall tonality of the song instead. Either way, it’s hard work – especially if you’re doing it by ear rather than from print music for the song.

“By ear” means you sit down and pluck out every note that’s being made in the song, transcribing its pitch, rhythm, and dynamics, until you’ve got an entire song. An average 100-bar rock song in 4/4 with six voice parts offers circa 3000 notes to transcribe.

It’s even harder when arranging for an all-female group, because you have less dynamic range to work with. With a bisexual group you have men to sing the lowest of the lows – you can duplicate a guitar easily, and cover most bass parts (or create the illusion of them by maintaining the divide between the lowest note and the next highest note).

Even an all-guy group has a massive range – as a baritone I can reliable produce soprano Ds and higher, which means a group of 12 of me would only be half-an-octave shy of the highs of a girl group … but with an entire extra octave on the bottom (and that assumes all girl-groups will be able to sing down to a Baritone D, which most cannot. TMs has always been special in that regard).

Female groups have a reduced range, which makes it harder to arrange well for them. Thrashy rock songs rely on a lot of low Ds and Es, and most girl groups don’t have them. And, girl groups largely wuss out when it comes to vocal percussion.

Luckily, the TMs have never had those two problems, and have stretched to crazy lengths to accommodate my arrangements. I had my good buddy Sara singing low C#s on “Stay,” and our maid of honor Amanda doing sub-woofer rattling kick drums on “I Think I’m Paranoid.”

Both of us used to arrange like mad for the TMs when we were in school – we arranged two-thirds of their first CD (That page has sound-clips, and The TrebleMakers on MySpace has whole songs. Listen to “I Think I’m Paranoid” on the former, and “Rhiannon” on the latter – one of the best all-female acappella arrangements I’ve ever heard (not surprisingly, by my wife)).

Since we’ve graduated we always have a glut of songs we want to do for the TMs, and this year we actually finished two – the most we’ve done since 2006. I arranged Paramore’s “That’s What You Get,” and Erocked Ingrid Michaelson’s “Die Alone. Mine was good-but-wobbly when I first heard it; E’s sounds even better than the actual version.

We both wanted to do another song had been debating between Rilo Kiley’s “Portions for Foxes” and “Breakin’ Up.” The former – a guitar rocker – was more my speed, but the latter – a sparse, funky tune – was better for E.

When we got the word that the deadline was looming E forged ahead with “Breakin’ Up,” which left me songless. The group now includes singers born after the release of Like a Prayer, so digging out an old Madonna chestnut wasn’t necessarily the best option (and that means they were only ages 6-9 when most of my favorite female modern rock was on the radio – yikes).

In a pinch, I went to the path of least resistance: Kelly Clarkson.

I love her. TMs love her. Audiences know her stuff. Easy pick.

The lead single from her new disc All I Ever Wanted is “My Life Would Suck Without You,” which is a bit of a … hrm, how shall I phrase this … piece of tripe. It’s a straight-forward DDR stomper with an unsubtle melody and absolute crap lyrics.

The next single is scheduled to be “I Do Not Hook Up,” co-penned by Kate Perry & new AI judge Kara DioGuardi. You can see that Kelly is already rocking it pretty fiercely:

The lyrics are a bit dishwatery, but the music is awesome – like KC fronting Fall Out Boy. Once I got past some of the lamer turns of phrase it was insta-love, listening to it ten times a day.

Last Thursdayish, on perhaps listen number six of the day and while contemplating if I could really arrange it for TMs due to the spread of notes in that main riff, I realized something major – the chorus is the same damn thing as “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down,” just a whole step higher. You can sing the melodies of each interchangeably.

Go ahead, try it.

Acappella groups love medleys, and I didn’t think the TMs could resist the next KC single combined with FOB’s biggest hit. My mind was made up. I walked home on Friday singing the bass notes of the song over and over, and began arranging as soon as I was in the door.

In crazy-record time – under 72 hours – I arranged the entire song by ear. That’s a big leap from the months it took my to do “Stay,” which started out as guitar tab on a cocktail napkin.

I started out sketching in as many of the bass notes as I could, skimping on rhythm unless it was important (which it is with the walks on the chorus), and then adding the vocals. I find that to be the easiest way to get started with a by-ear arrangement, as everything else has to fit between the two.

Afterward I went back to layer in the guitar riffs, heard mostly in the verses, before wrestling with chorus harmony Kelly notoriously stacks multiple harmony notes and auto-tunes them to sit tightly together, which makes it nearly impossible to pick them out. It’s more of a best guess situation, and I needed the guitars first so I’d have a litmus test for if I got the harmony wrong.

Finally, I fleshed out the interior chords of chorus and the remainder of bass rhythms, as well as brought the bridge to life. I spent the remainder of Sunday and Monday splitting instruments intro appropriate voice parts, fudging the riffs a bit where necessary to sound smoother for voice, and adding the “SWGD” medley to the bridge.

I finally gave in to sleep and needing to do other stuff, emailing the group my arrangement without all of the lyrics, syllables, and dynamics. I told them I’d go back and add them if they picked it.

TMs chose new tunes last night, and both “IDNHU w/SWGD” and “Breakin’ Up” were on their list. We’re still waiting to hear if either of our tunes made it in to the repertoire.

And that’s where I was through Monday night. Next up: open mics, impromptu press kits, twitter addictions, and impending broadway auditions.

Filed Under: acappella, college Tagged With: kelly clarkson

Previous Post: « Everything is local … even currency.
Next Post: Worth seeing/hearing: Digg Dialogg with Trent Reznor »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mit says

    April 10, 2009 at 8:06 pm

    Wow! I had no idea. And all in 72 hours?

    My favorite Sunday listening pleasure is “All Things A Cappella” airing 12-2 pm (EST)on WKNC 88.1 (and they stream too!)

    How cool to “know” someone who understands my (listening) passion.

  2. krisis says

    April 10, 2009 at 8:36 pm

    Mit – Well, it’s equally surprising to find out you are a secret acappella addict!

    When I first learned how to write music in standard notation I was obsessed with the concept of having a group of singers sing a guitar arrangement. I didn’t really understand that was how choral music worked, and I certainly didn’t know about acappella groups at the time.

    It was sort of a dream come true to stumble in on the founding of one and become closely associated with them for so many years.

    PS: The best acappella disc I have ever heard is probably Burn Like a Roman Candle by Off the Beat.

  3. Sanskriti says

    September 16, 2009 at 2:52 am

    Is there any way that I could buy the sheet music off of you or commission you to write acapella arrangements? x x x x

Primary Sidebar


Support Crushing Krisis on Patreon
Support CK
on Patreon


Follow me on BlueSky Follow me on Twitter Contact me Watch me on Youtube Subscribe to the CK RSS Feed

About CK

About Crushing Krisis
About My Music
About Your Author
Blog Archive
Comics Blogs Only
Contact Krisis
Terms & Conditions

Crushing Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Events Guide

Spider-Man Guide

DC Comics

  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - DC Universe Events Omnibus Mapping 2025Every Missing DC Universe Event Omnibus, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Every missing DC Universe Event omnibus mapping from DC Comics to prepare for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - DC Villains Joker Omnibus MappingEvery Missing DC Villains Omnibus – Joker, Lex Luthor, Doomsday, & More, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Missing DC Villains omnibus mapping - Joker, Doomsday, Lex Luthor, & more! - for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - DC Solo Heroes Q to Z The Spectre Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Question, Zatanna, Spectre Omnibus & More, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Missing DC Hero Q-Z omnibus mapping - Question, Spectre, Zatana, & more - for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - DC Solo Heroes F to P Martian Manhunter Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Firestorm, Jonah Hex, Martian Manhunter Omnibus & More, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Missing DC Hero F-P omnibus mapping - Firestorm, Jonah Hex, Martian Manhunter, & more - for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - DC Solo Heroes A to E Doctor Fate Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Blue Beetle, Doctor Fate, Deathstroke Omnibus & More, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Missing DC Hero A-E omnibus mapping - Blue Beetle, Doctor Fate, Deathstroke, & more - for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - Superman Family Supergirl Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Superman Family Omnibus, Mapped – Superboy, Supergirl, & More! | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Every missing Superman Family omnibus mapping - including Supergirl & Superboy - from DC Comics for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - Superman Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Superman Omnibus, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Every missing Superman omnibus mapping from DC Comics to prepare for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Every Missing Suicide Squad Omnibus, Mapped – plus, other DC Teams! | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Every missing Suicide Squad omnibus - plus other DC teams - mapping from DC Comics for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - Teen Titans Omnibus Mapping 2025Every Missing Teen Titans Omnibus, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Every missing Teen Titans omnibus mapping (plus Young Justice) from DC Comics to prepare for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - Shazam Omnibus Mapping 2025Every Missing Shazam Omnibus, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Every missing Shazam omnibus mapping from DC Comics to prepare for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - Legion of Super-Heroes Omnibus Mapping 2025Every Missing Legion of Super-Heroes Omnibus, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Every missing Legion of Super-Heroes omnibus mapping from DC Comics to prepare for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - Green Lantern Omnibus Mapping 2025Every Missing Green Lantern Omnibus, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Every missing Green Lantern omnibus mapping from DC Comics to prepare for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - Justice Society Omnibus Mapping 2025Every Missing Justice Society Omnibus, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Every missing Justice Society omnibus mapping from DC Comics to prepare for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - Justice League Omnibus Mapping 2025Every Missing Justice League Omnibus, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Every missing Justice League omnibus mapping from DC Comics - plus Trinity team-ups! - for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]

Content Copyright ©2000-2023 Krisis Productions

Crushing Krisis participates in affiliate programs including (but not limited to): Amazon Services LLC Associates Program (in the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain), eBay Partner Network, and iTunes Affiliate Program. If you make a qualifying purchase through an affiliate link I may receive a commission.