The Unique Freshmen Sound

    By Ross Barbour

      The Freshmen wanted to sing five-part chords, but they had only four voices.

      We found, if we sang the four harmonies correctly, spread the chord over a wide area and chose the right notes, our sound caused a harmonic vibration in the listener's ear.

      That harmonic note is called an "overtone."  When we sang four notes, and the listener's ear made up one, the listener was hearing a 5-note chord by four voices.

      Of course, there are many other ingredients to the prescription.

      GOOD MEN

      First, you must find three other guys who have the same dream you have, guys who will like each other and who's voices sound like a quartet, and who play the correct instruments.

      Oh ... and they'll have to be willing to rehearse a lot to perfect the sound, and to travel a lot.  When you have all that, you start with these other things.

      USE VOLUME

      Don't be timid even on slow songs.  You decided to make this sound, so make it broadly and proudly.  Put yourself into it, and care a lot.  If you love it, you'll make each chord exciting.

      PRONOUNCE

      Each word should be pronounced the same way by all members.  If he's singing "Oooo" with a smile, correct him.  "Oooo" and "Oh" require a round mouth, and never sing "Yew."  Practice that until if becomes a habit.  If you are singing "Tiiime" and he is singing "Timmmme," you must agree on one or the other.  Never sing "Tieeeem."

      NO VIBRATO

      This is important.  Read it twice.

      Vibrato kills quartet chords.  If you have a vibrato, lose it.  If you can't lose it, go to another group.  You may use the vibrato during a vocal solo, only.

      Choose a song that lends itself to the good chords you plan to sing.  Then, sing every chord that will fit.  Don't overdo and become absurd.  Try to make the song prettier.

      We usually sang the melody "as written" the first time through out of respect for the author.  We made our changes in the second time through.

      UNISON

      You should sing chords and unison.  One contrasts with the other.  Unison should be sung using more air than you would use in the quartet sound.  Two voices are enough.

      Unison should be sung with no "edge" on the voice.  The sweetest words you ever heard were whispered.  Make this a musical whisper.  Oh...get closer to the mike.

      SPREAD THE CHORD

      Open it up so it covers a wide area.  Use every inversion and suspension you can think of.  Then, use the simplest chord as a surprise.  You are free to use the upper notes in the chord.  The top and bottom voices should be the firm boundaries of the sound, and the inner voices should fill the area between them with wide notes ... breathy notes.  Never be piercing.

      MOVING NOTES

      You should invent places in the arrangement for a voice to be moving, while the others hold their notes.  Each time that a moving part changes, the other parts should accent that change.  It becomes a series of emphasized chords.  The listener will be pulling for you to make each chord exciting.

      NO PIANO

      Never use the piano playing the exact notes you are singing.  Real harmonizing requires the singer to sing a note differently, if it is a minor third in the chord, then becomes the major 7th in the next chord.  The voice must change that note to make it harmonize in each chord.  A piano cannot do that.

      LONG TONES

      Your quartet should hold those seven-beat notes for the full seven beats and maintain the full intensity and the full volume.  Rehearse it that way.  If you rehearse half-heartedly, you'll perform halfheartedly.

      OTHER STUFF

      We used "staggered quarters" often (three notes in two beats) and we always sang them a little behind the beat.  The major 7th with the 9th was one of our favorite chords.

      Don't have the low part sing the tonic notes.  The bass viol will be playing that so the low voice is free to do other stuff.

      Some fans refer to our chords as "Color Chords."  If you imagine the 1, 3 & 5 of the chord being the primary colors, Red, Blue and Green, then the upper harmonies could be Pink, Olive Teal, Purple and Lavender, etc.  You can sing the rainbow of colors.

      It's a fact of life.  Quartets are breakable.  It is a surprise when they stay together.  You may spend more time solving disagreements, than rehearsing.  Arguing is useful when it results in a decision; but, if the same guy is starting all the auguments, he is telling you he is not happy where he is.  If you don't have a happy group, you won't have a group long enough to prove anything.

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