ClassicalCode

I have recently observed, on Youtube, a very interesting method of turning any barbershop tag into a jazzy eight part tag: simply double each part a perfect fifth higher. Or, said another way, have a second quartet simultaneously sing the same tag a fifth above.

Despite everything I was taught in college, I have been curious to try this myself. However, due to sound bleed-through from my upstairs neighbors, I can’t really record in my apartment these days. So I multitracked this one tonight in my car on my Zoom H4. Although I am sure I looked quite suspicious, I think it was worth it.

You can hear the original four part arrangement here.

I present to you “In Dixie Land Where I Was Born” from David Wright’s collection: Classic Tags for Men’s Voices in parallel fifths:

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Update: I have typeset the complete octet in the key of “C” as a pdf file and also generated a midi file.

The other day I was sitting on the couch with my girlfriend, and for a moment I felt completely at peace. I wrote and recorded this tag for that simple moment, and the the company in which I spent it.

“Lazy Afternoon” for Chelsea:

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For those who are interested, I have typeset the sheet music to this tag using Lilypond:

Lazy_Afternoon.pdf (Printable sheet music)
Lazy_Afternoon.ly (Lilypond source file)

Last Mother’s Day I recorded my mom a barbershop tag. This Mother’s Day caught me at a bad time, and I was gift-less when I saw her. So today, with my new recording equipment, I recorded a belated Mother’s Day barbershop tag. I have always thought this tag was particularly beautiful and have attempted it a few times before with little success. This time I feel like I have finally been able to do it some measure of justice.

Happy (belated) Mothers Day Lisa. I could not ask for a better mama.

Listen to the tag “To My Beautiful Life Long Friends” from the Classic Tags Collection:

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Since I began multitracking, my recordings have suffered from “recorded-with-the-built-in-microphone-itis” which has greatly reduced the quality of my multitracks. Recently I got my hands on a Zoom H4 “Handy Recorder”.

This thing is awesome. In one portable package its: a high quality USB microphone, a portable recorder, a four-track machine, an effects pedal, and much more. To take the new contraption for a spin, I recorded an old favorite tag. I did all the multitracking on the Zoom, and then transferred the individual tracks to my MacBook where I added reverb and adjusted some levels (which I could have done on board if I had wanted to).

I have recorded this tag a few times before on my MacBook microphone and the difference of sound quality is pretty noticeable. Have a listen to this new recording of “In Dixie Land Where I Was Born”:

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Several months ago, inspired by this youtube video, my friends Jared Emerson-Johnson, Joachim Luis and I collaborated on a multitracked barbershop tag. Jared and I live about an hour away from each other and Joachim lives all the way in Chicago, so this was a great way for the four of us to do some harmony singing with far away friends.

Joachim recorded the lead part and emailed it to the group, and then Jared added the baritone part. Finally I added the bass and tenor parts. For now we are calling ourselves “Removable Do.”

The tag is The Shadow of Your Smile from the Classic Tags book.

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A few days ago, I wrote a barbershop tag for my girlfriend Chelsea.

My multitrack of the tag (sung a half step lower than written):

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My goal was to write a “bloom” type tag where all voices Read the rest of this entry »