A Night of A Capella: Akapela Open 2015

Taken from the Akapela Open Twitter account

The Akapela Open is a contemporary a cappella singing competition, created by the Music School of Ryan Cayabyab (TMSRC.) It has clearly promoted a cappella music and performance since its inception, because the contestants at last night's finals were of a much higher caliber. Still held at the Meralco Theater on its third year (the event is sponsored by the One Meralco Foundation,) the house was teeming with a cappella lovers before the show started. 

The Part 4, a male quartet who were all scholars of the TMSRC, kicked off the evening with introductions and a medley of songs that, in retrospect, were some of the songs sung by the contestants that evening. It provided an overture for the rest of the night; and they sounded so good, they got me rightfully excited for the finalists' presentations.

Part 4: hosts, singers, comedians

I'm not sure if my memory serves me right, but I recognised 6 out of the 10 groups' names, meaning they had already participated in the previous years. I was disappointed that some groups were missing from the line-up (like my friends from 1415, who bagged the Best Vocal Arrangement and 2nd Runner-Up in 2013,) but I had some of my other favorites in the competition that I was still rooting for. 

Waiting for the show to begin

The finalists, in the order that they performed, were D' Mortal Instruments, 10,000, Mouthfools, Voices, Five Percent, Acapellago, Iskala, G Harmonic, Pinopela, and Dynamix. I commend all the groups who joined, because I know that a cappella isn't easy. It takes a lot of time to arrange a piece, learn an individual part, color it with different vocal productions, then try to make sense of it all when the group comes together. It sounds like a lot of work, and it is; but the pay-off is euphoric, at least for me. Maybe that's why I've joined choirs since I was a child, attempted to form singing groups with high school classmates, trained and toured with the University of the Philippines Concert Chorus for most of my college life, enjoyed singing stints with a handful of friends, and eventually ended up singing professionally with the Ryan Cayabayab Singers. It's no exaggeration when I say that I feel closer to God when I sing in beautiful harmony with other people. That's why I think everyone last night was already a winner even before the show began. They had already accomplished so much in preparing for that endeavour. 

Loved these girls in pink from Voices

That said, it was still a competition, and it was evident who were confident in their craft the moment the first notes were sung. Un/fortunately, every detail that they decided to showcase affected their entire package, from choice of songs, clarity, and costumes, to blocking and choreography; if those things complemented their talents, then this allowed the groups to shine. The downside is that those who sang arrangements that were too complex for their level, wore ill-fitting or uncomfortable clothing, or those that attempted choreography but were awkward in its execution could not be ignored either. 

This year, one requirement was to sing a song from the Philippine Popular Music Festival's (Philpop) repertoire. There were duplicates in their choices, with Joey Ayala's "Papel," Thyro and Yumi's "Triangulo," and Jungee Marcelo's "Salbabida" performed twice each. I loved the simplicity of Voices' "Pansamantagal," which suited their pretty-in-pink ladies so well. There were fun parts in G Harmonic's "Musikaw," especially the rap and the fade out before the final chorus. Pinopela's "Salbabida" with it's wide chords and long vowels was so broad, thick, and powerful; and Acapellago's "Triangulo" really knew how to build a climax with that no-beatbox break. I liked how Dynamix's arrangement of "Papel" was so fresh and inventive (though it reached a point when it deviated too much from the original for my taste.) These were the arrangements that stood out for me, for no reason other than it matched their capacity to execute; and I think this is something that future contenders should consider from the very start. 

Thyro & Yumi singing "Dati" for the intermission

I was betting on the same winners, though I wanted Pinopela to place first runner up. There was something about their classiness that just permeated throughout their music and movements. They stuck to blockography, ditching the fancy dance moves, but they walked with such confidence that every formation appeared grand. What I liked about Dynamix, whose style and fondness for the semi-chromatic harmonic runs (much like Pentatonix) was that they knew how to play with their voices to imitate instruments for the back-up parts. They also live up to their name, and manage their dynamics really well, swelling and hushing in perfect sync. 

Pinopela in clean pantsuits

The champs: Acapellago

But winners are winners for a reason. Acapellago had everything a contemporary a cappella group should have: excellent musicality, creativity in their arrangements, soloists with limitless vocal abilities, sensitivity to their group's balance, energy, flair, and character! The beatboxing gave just the right percussive depth to their songs, an amazingly accurate likeness to real drums. All the singers fit like pieces of a puzzle, properly indistinguishable as individual voices, until the need to provide an extra pop or element of surprise. Lastly, that tenor soloist. He was oozing with personality, from the tips of his curly hair right down to his fingertips. You know that saying, "Anything a man can do, a woman can do better?" Well, this guy makes me think, "Anything a woman can do, a fabulous gay guy can do better!" 

In the end, I only wish they'd figure out how to get the results out faster; because while the crowd enjoyed the antics of Part 4, there was a palpable drop in attention and excitement when it took more than 30 minutes to announce the winners. Despite that, I think the audience expected who would finish on the podium, and it was a joyful end for everyone on and off stage. As Acapellago reprised their performance, enjoining the contestants to snap and clap behind them, everybody sang along and just had fun -- which is what the Akapela Open is all about.

Reprise of "Burlesque," all the finalists snapping behind them

If you're interested in joining next year's Akapela Open, visit their website www.akapelaopen.com and "like" their Facebook page to be notified on the call for auditions. The grand prize this year was P300,000.00, and P150,000.00 and P100,000.00 for the 1st and 2nd runners up. P30,000.00 was awarded to all finalists, with special prizes from PLDT Telpad, and a People's Choice Award.

Quit the "Versus:" Fitness is Personal

I just read something that left me feeling sore. The head of a particular gym compared his fitness program with CrossFit, in the guise of clarifying certain points on what makes the two different. He might have written this with good intentions; he even peppered his article with apologetic disclaimers, but unfortunately this came off slightly patronizing instead of sincere. While the author tried to be careful with his phrasing, he did not avoid making negative implications regarding the "competing brand."

I'm not against making comparisons, but before anyone does it and posts it on an official website, I think their opinion had better be substantiated. He kept repeating the noncommittal statement, "there are good boxes, and there are bad boxes;" but the way I read it is he made all his comparisons based on the best features of his advocated program against the most ill-rumored features of CrossFit. How can you compare something with a bad version of another? If he really meant to differentiate the two, he would've been better off presenting the definition of CrossFit and have made an easy, objective point without defaulting to his biased views.

If we're going to compare fitness programs to find out which will be better suited to our interests and goals, then by all means break down the components and find the advantages of each. Comparing fitness programs to one-up another, or to attract clientele by posting uninformed claims about the other, is not a classy move. It's definitely not befitting of the motivational community he is professing to belong to. 

The fact of the matter is we should support all sorts of fitness, if it gets more people living more active, healthier lifestyles. Fitness is personal, and something that each individual should be able to incorporate into their day-to-day. In effect, there is no hard ranking of what is better than the other, nor should that be the focus. Whether people choose boxing over HIIT, long distance running over tennis, or circuit over CrossFit -- if they love it and do it regularly, that is already better than doing nothing. 

Bright and Jazzy Weekend

This weekend has been gloomy on many fronts, so I welcomed some new distractions. Mom was in Osaka for a few days, and I asked her to visit some of the craft stores mentioned on I Try DIY's guide. I was so relieved that she was able to fly back in this morning, unaffected by Typhoon Lando's havoc; and it was like waking up on Christmas day, with her hoarded goods laid out on a table. She brought home Royce' (not enough!) the strange but delicious square persimmons that I love, a designer bag for herself, and a mountain of cosmetics. She also bought some USB-powered reading lamps, and she was so cute when she happily showed them to me. She scored these calligraphy holsters and nibs, Copic pens, and Kuretake brush pens for much cheaper, that I almost couldn't believe the conversion!

Calligraphy nibs, holsters, Copic pens, Kuretake brush pens, music note puncher

A photo posted by Katherine (@kaichypoo) on Oct 20, 2013 at 6:08pm PDT

Before I can get around to playing with those, I've been taking a break from drawing, and pretty much everything else, because I'm speed learning a couple of songs for gigs next week. I'm both excited and freaking out (more of the freaking out!) that I'll be performing with Baihana to sub for their alto. I absolutely love and look up to these girls, who sing harmonies so seamlessly, in their signature bebop/swing/big band jazz. Every free moment of this weekend has been spent trying to sight read their pieces, and then attempting to sing along with their recordings. Not yet there, but I will get there. Maybe tomorrow.

Learning jazz pieces for Baihana (c)

Drawing Perspective

I accidentally skipped a chapter today and leapt to the one about Perspectives. I learned about the concept of Vanishing Points and Converging Lines. Here's our library (minus many details like the view outside the window, the blinds, and the carpet.) Those cabinets frustrated me the most, and there is an obvious lack of shadow grading. Why can't I see the different levels of darkness clearly? 

My one-point perspective

Our library with a sofa, a TV on the left, and a reclining office chair 

I was wondering why I found it hard to start this, considering they were mostly vertical lines; but when I went back to the chapter I had missed, I understood -- it was the lesson on Basic Unit. Now I've read it, and I started to do the exercise on drawing negative spaces, but my brain and eyes must be tired, because I wasn't progressing well. It also involved my ultimate waterloo: proportions. This was the first exercise that required me to scale up the drawing, and as expected, I was struggling. I'll continue the drawing tomorrow. 

P.S. Drawing is not easy. 

Drawing Hands

Quick update regarding my progress on Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. The chapter I'm on (6) talked about edges, and it taught a technique called Contour Drawing, which encouraged focusing on capturing the details of a subject by never taking your eyes off it. Not even to look at what you're drawing. That was fairly mind boggling, and I'm not sure if it did anything for me, but I hope it did. 

I just finished a section that introduced the concept of a picture plane, an imaginary "window" artists look through; a perspective that allows you to copy the 3 dimensional world onto a 2 dimensional surface through drawing. Two artists, Brunelleschi and Alberti, were first in history to have recorded speaking of it, but Holbein and Van Gogh also employed it in their work. Since I'm not an artist (yet,) my teacher (aka the author) instructed me to create a picture plane, to help with the visual effect of foreshortening. I didn't have all the materials that the first chapter required me to gather; so I went to a craft shop this morning, bought a graphite stick, fibreglass pane, and the prescribed pencils, prepped the viewfinder and picture plane, and got to work on the exercises. 

My second attempt at drawing my hand holding a glue stick

It's not the best, but I was pretty pleased that I came up with this (please refer to my first drawings to understand my amazement.) Either all the explanations and exercises have been very effective in changing the way I see (I'd like to think so,) or the combination of viewfinder + crosshairs + graphite stick are magical. I'd never understood how to shade before, but when I was instructed to "erase the highlights and darken the shadows," this just happened. 

Things I learned from this activity include 1) smudging just enough when erasing an error (or no amount of rubbing will even out my toned ground) and 2) darkening the edges a little more. I'd never spent this much time and energy on trying to draw something realistic, and now I wonder if I'd been able to manage if I just did; but it just reinforces that time and patience are definitely important factors in this creation process.