Portamental is dedicated to the exploration of music in all its forms and the promotion of musical understanding for all. Contributors include:
Pianist, instrumentalist, vocalist, arranger, molecular biologist and music theorist. Former Music Director of the Achordants. For arranging services, see Broze Brothers Music; for performing and lessons, see Yuri Broze.com.
Accomplished guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and photographer.
Composer, arranger, double bassist, writer, and didgeridoo builder. Music Director of Brandeis University's Rather Be Giraffes. For arrangement and other sundry music services, check out MusicaRanger.
We like InterCaps.
Howdy campers, and well met! My name’s Dan, and I’m a newly inducted member of the SmarterMusic family. It’s a pleasure to be here. I’ve been music directing a co-ed all-genre a cappella group called Rather Be Giraffes at Brandeis University for almost four years now, as well as years and years of orchestra and [...]
Song selection is tricky business. It might not make or break your group, and each individual song choice might not matter that much, but a group’s audience and reputation are largely determined by the catalog of music they present. So before you decide on your group’s lineup for the year, or the semester, mull over your priorities.
Quite ridiculous are the comments made by YouTube viewers — even with the audio preview feature implemented, comments tend to be somewhat inane. Please enjoy this art project of a video, of Leonard Bernstein conducting Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5. If you can see this, then you might need a Flash Player upgrade or you need [...]
If you don’t already know, the first track on Van Halen’s first album features a thrilling vocal performance by lead singer David Lee Roth. In fact, the first sound you hear from David Lee Roth in the entire Van Halen catalog is his opening multi-tonal wailing in “Runnin’ With the Devil.” [Audio clip: view full [...]
A great many songs you’ll run into have prominent harmony parts in them, and larger groups have the luxury of being able to spin off a single singer from any given part who will step up to the front with a microphone and harmonize away. Sadly, our example group has only 7 members: 2 basses, [...]
As arranger, you have free reign over what your singers will do — this can mean inserting a bell chord into the work when there’s no particular associated thing going on in the original. In this sense, it’s a useful technique (gimmick) to pull out of your Bag Of Tricks, and use at will. You [...]
This one has been making the rounds recently and is not to be missed: If you can see this, then you might need a Flash Player upgrade or you need to install Flash Player if it’s missing. Get Flash Player from Adobe. What a fantastically talented guy — comedian, singer, author, asshole. And now, Senator!
Now that we’ve looked at some fundamentals of bell chords, it’s time to look a little more closely at how this technique can play a role in an arrangement. Certainly in the case of Clocks, the bell chord is crucial to recognizing the song — in these cases, a direct transcription is probably necessary. Other [...]
To begin, take the time to read the Wikipedia article on vocal ranges. It’s a good introduction to what is going on — especially if you’re not terribly well-versed in the ways of the dark arts of vocalism. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Welcome back. Hopefully you’ve learned a bit about where the voices fall; do [...]
To all a wonderful 2009 — we’re off to a great start already, I should say. With best wishes for the new year, we’ll be looking to greatly expand our a cappella arranging SmarterGuide, and begin work on a new SmarterGuide: Music Theory for Singers. Our New Year’s Resolution is to have a stellar first [...]
