#collaborative composition

VoicePlay is always looking for new ways to get their music into the world, collaborate with new artists, and reach new audiences. So in early 2022, they started searching TikTok for potential tunes they could work their harmonic magic on. First up was this indie darling.

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Dueting

Isabella Kensington sang the catchy chorus of this surprise hit song all by herself, so VoicePlay decided to give her some backup.

Details:

title: The Record Player Song (feat. Isabella Kensington)

original performers: Daisy the Great

written by: Kelley Dugan & Mina Walker

arranged by: Isabella Kensington & VoicePlay

release date: 13 February 2022

My favorite bits:

Isabella's breathy, playful timbre

the slight delay on Cesar and Eli's echo of ♫ "out… sorta green" ♫

how delicate Geoff's ascending bass lines are

Layne using a lot of woodblock sounds in his percussion

the guys cutting out to give Isabella the last word

Cesar's sweet, encouraging nod at the end

Trivia:

The original song was Daisy the Great's debut single in 2017. After it became a viral hit on TikTok in early 2021, the band was contacted by AJR, and the two groups worked together on a remix version released in August.

Isabella's first version features audio that pans back and forth when wearing headphones, but VP simplified it for their duet. She uploaded her solo portion with regular stereo audio a few years later.

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Duet-able

In the spirit of continuing collaboration, VoicePlay also put a duet-able version of their backing vocals on TikTok. (Darn Tumblr and its inability to directly embed TikTok videos / single video upload limit.)

Among the folks who took up the challenge, their buddy Deejay Young put his spin on it, including an inevitablly impressive riff.

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Dueted

Another local Orlando performer of their acquaintance, Sarah Whittemore, also gave it a whirl.

Details:

title: The Record Player Song (feat. Sarah Whittemore)

original performers: Daisy the Great

written by: Kelley Dugan & Mina Walker

arranged by: VoicePlay & Sarah Whittemore

release date: 15 February 2022

My favorite bits:

alto Sarah getting up into a lovely, airy head voice

her crisp diction for ♫ "came out a seasick sort of green" ♫

the bouncy ascent on ♫ "when they fall" ♫

ending on that smooth descending riff

Trivia:

Sarah has many connections to the group. She played the witch in the 2019 CFArts production of Into the Woods with Cesar as Jack, she was part of a livestreamed concert series hosted at PattyCake in early 2021, and she's a member of both Voctave and Voices of Liberty with occasional VP collaborator EJ Cardona.

Some of the gang were rather effusive at each other about the brief collaboration. (Here's hoping they get to do something in person someday.)

Since their first attempt at a relay arrangement went pretty well, the guys decided to do it again. The randomness of fate led them from a brand new hit to a golden oldie, and they put that VoicePlay twist on it, even while working in separate places.

Details:

title: VoicePlay Loop #2 – Return to Sender

original performer: Elvis Presley

written by: Winfield Scott & Otis Blackwell

arranged by: VoicePlay

release date: 1 December 2023

My favorite bits:

upgrading from rolling a d6 to a d12 to reduce the likelihood of ties they'd had the first time

all of Geoff's joking pessimism in the intro spiel

Layne's face lighting up as he instinctively starts adding backing vocals

the triple snap edit at the end of Eli's recording session

Cesar calling the other guys old in the sweetest way, in retaliation for none of them knowing the song he'd picked for the first Loop

filling in the little sonic gaps

the smooth harmonies on the repeated ♫ "He put it in his sack" ♫

Geoff's subterranean ♫ "back" ♫ to really underscore the sadness

the sweet bell chord of ♫ "zone" ♫

that funky breakdown on the start of the second verse

the isolated ♫ "bwuaah-dm" ♫ bass line in the outro

Trivia:

The group has a long history with Elvis tunes. 4:2:Five recorded Rockapella's arrangement of "Hound Dog" on their 2004 album of classics, "Time Machine". They also put their stamp on a rendition of "Can't Help Falling in Love" for Valentine's Day in 2020.

Geoff has recorded a couple Elvis songs for his solo channel, as well, including "Way Down" the previous summer, and "Blue Christmas" at the end of the year.

He also sang bass on fellow a cappella group Vox Audio's version of "A Little Less Conversation" for their 2012 album "Voice Activated" (which, sadly, is not currently available for streaming).

One of the factors that has given VoicePlay such longevity is their desire to try new things. They usually put a lot of time and careful thought into their arrangements, so they decided to attempt something a little looser and more improvisational. Watch them work out a short as a relay game with no demo tracks or revisions, and create as just much of a bop as we've come to expect from them.

Details:

title: VoicePlay Loop #1 – Choose Your Fighter

original performer: Ava Max for the Barbie (2023) soundtrack

written by: Ava Max, Madison Love, Michael Pollack, & Henry "Cirkut" Walter

arranged by: Cesar De La Rosa, Eli Jacobson, Geoff Castellucci, & Layne Stein

release date: 23 September 2023

My favorite bits:

rolling for initiative order like the nerds they are

"Layne, blow on my dice!" 🎲

the clarity of Cesar's voice on the melody line

all the other guys starting their recordings with "I've never heard this song before."

Eli laying down smooth harmonies just based on Cesar's track

the smoothness of Geoff's isolated bass line

Layne doubling Eli's vocal line in his software rather than just singing the additional harmony himself to recreate the slightly overtuned sound of the original

getting to hear the separate percussion lines being layered in 🥁

everyone grooving along to the final mix 🕺

Trivia:

This new format was Cesar's brainchild, so him getting to lead off the process was perfect.

daniel barbiero is a double bassist with an interest in gestural, modular and sound-based composition and improvisation in acoustic and electro-acoustic environments. he frequently works with improvisational dancers and writes regularly on music and related subjects.

ken moore is a percussionist living in northeast ohio. plays synthesizers, piano, bass guitar, udu and cajon drums, didgeridoo and glockenspiel. also does private recording and recently some video.

frequency drift is a collection of seven collaborative compositions for double bass and tam tams. the compositions were created sequentially: the double bass parts were composed and recorded first, after which the tam tam parts were recorded and mixed with the bass parts. the appeal of the project lay in the opportunity to create work exploring the compositional possibilities opened up by the subtle timbral dissonance between the double bass’s bowed strings and the tam tams’ struck and rubbed metal. get it here!

Aire is a collaborative sonic and musical work by :

Lina Bautista, Josep Manuel Berenguer, Pedro Bericat, Karla Berrens, Alejandro Brianza, Mercè Capdevila, Osvaldo Cibils, Equipo Elevador, Iago Giné, Risto Holopainen, Constanza Ipinza Olatte, Francesc Llompart, Carmen Mencinetti, Pedro Montesinos Blasco, Nacarid Lopez, Catriel Nievas, Hugo Paquete, Hegel Emmanuel Pedroza Villalobos, Medin Peirón, Mario Peña y Lillo, Diego Restrepo Paris, Gennaro Rino Becchimanzi, Montserrat Rodríguez aka nyx10110, Donika Rudi, Jordi Salvadó, Cristian Patricio Soto Pacheco, Soundreamer Days, Sharon Stewart, Sebastián Tapia.

http://sonoscop.net/call2013/aire/aire.mp3

http://sonoscop.net/call2013/aire/aire%5Bmaxpat&archives%5D.zip