What is Voice of One?

Voice of One is a project dedicated to showcasing the best in one "man" a cappella recordings. Inspired by Youtube artists like Sam Tsui and Kurt Hugo Schneider and Corey Vidal*, Vo1 targets  a cappella music created by one voice with the effect of having a full group singing. Vo1 is in its beginning stages, but seeks to compile the best in one person a cappella (opac) recordings and release it as a digital album.

*Although Vidal's video features himself as the "singer" of all parts, it was actually arranged and recorded by Moosebutter. Vidal is included because his video has sparked much interest and creation in the opac genre.

Here we go, again

It's been a long time since our last post. Plenty of excuses, none that are good enough. So let's just skip all of that and get back to what we love.

From one of our favorites, Peter Hollens has done it again with his "Moves Like Jagger" cover featuring Savannah Outen. Lots of fun stuff going on, from his creative new set up (we especially love the snare bit), his funky tone with colors and outfits, and the overall goofy feeling of the video. We love the arrangement (Tom @ Random-Notes.com), the cinematography (Jimmy Bates @ on.fb.me/jimmy-bates-fifgen-films), and of course the voices of our stars. Anyway, check it out asap. Hollens is gettin' BIG and we couldn't be happier.

 

Maroon 5, Moves Like Jagger:

PeterHollens.com  -  Facebook.com/PeterHollens  -  Youtube.com/PeterHollens

Matt Mulholland, also a past featuree, brings us another fun one. An a cappella group favorite (seriously, everyone's done it or has wanted to), Matt takes us to that special place in our childhood and brings this Tarzan classic to opac. We appreciate the key change as well as Chimpy's return (admitting you have a problem is the first step). Enjoy!
MattMulholland.com  -  Facebook.com/MattMulollandMusic  -  Youtube.com/MattMulholland26

Phil Collins, Trashin' the Camp:

We are worried about the site deleting posts as we are writing them (yes, one of the excuses, but it is legitimate), so we will post as writing and edit as needed. We will only post to twitter once the official blog post is finished! Thanks for hanging in there, guys :)

Italian Days, A Cappella Nights

It's been a few weeks, and for that we apologize. Our time in Italy is coming to a close and we've been busy tying up loose ends. On a personal note, the Voca People will be in Rome tonight, which is a can't miss event. If you don't know who they are GO, RUN, NOW! You NEED to see what these guys (things?) do. Very excited about that. But BACK TO OPAC. 

After the first two seconds, we already knew we would like this video. Jeffrey Allen Scott does a very cool cover of Beat It. With his resonanting bass paired with his natural sound effects, this video is an awesome example of opac with minimal computer enhancement (comparatively). This is one opac we wish would last more than a verse and chorus!
Facebook.com/JeffreyAllenScott  -  Twitter.com/MrVoxter

Michael Jackson, Beat It:
 


Jon Kosart
 (?) aka PAINT makes some cool/inventional(word?)/creative videos (see Paper Beat Box) (Also, Duet With Myself is pretty funny). The following video is fun, not too serious, and reminds us of The Donkey Wheel (see Knight's of Macedonia, scroll below). Bravo KosartMozart.

Jon Kosart, Remember: 


We've found (as you probably will by browsing this site) that people LOVE covering Bruno Mars. His range is perfect for altos, tenors- really anyone looking to showcase their voice. Because there are so many Mars covers out there, it can become difficult to find the really exceptional ones. Gabe Klavun however, spends the time to make a solid cover (arrangement, vocals, editing) and succeeds. A pleasantly surprising find!
www.GabeKlavun.com 

Bruno Mars, Marry You:

From Then to Now

Patrick van Slee & Matthew Gossage, 2002: We found this video in the vaults of Youtube (posted in the baby years of 2006) and we were both fascinated and entertained. So far the oldest youtube opac we've seen, this video proves a cappella multi-tracking has been around for a while. No promise on sonic treatment or visual pleasure, but it is a must see for all a cappella multi-tracking fans. Hipster to a new level.

Bon Jovi, Living on a Prayer-


Paul Trinca
 brings us this viewer submitted video of Coldplay's Life in Technicolor ii. Using no absolutely no aut0-tuning, Trinca celebrates a cappella as it was meant to be- completely raw and natural. Very cool. 
http://paultrincamusic.com/ 
Coldplay, Life in Technicolor ii-


Brussup
: A sharp contrast to Paul's video, Brussup gives us a parody of Imagine, computerized to the max. http://www.youtube.com/flipthisvid
John Lennon, Imagine Parody-

 


Julien Neel: 
Finally, a little barbershop cover from an episode of the Simpsons. Julian has many barbershop covers, check out his channel to see! 
http://youtube.com/trudbol
The Simpsons, Baby on Board-

Come however, leave happy

All of today's videos have an air of upbeat simplicity to them. They don't take themselves too seriously and there's no way you can leave mad after watching them. Just..just watch them. Happiness. 

Courtney Woolsey- We were so excited to find Courtney (girl opac omg!), but were sad once we realized a lot of her covers had some instrument in them or were older. So we said "Oh well!" and decided to  feature her anyway. She's got one heck of a voice and needs to get big NOW. Please give her a watch.
CourtneyWoolsey.com  -  Facebook.com/CourtneyWoolseyFans  -  Twitter.com/CourtneyWoolseyFans

Katy Perry, Firework-

 Ryan Narciso. His voice. It's like a soft, flowing tapestry that works beautifully as a soloist as well as a chorus of background singers. While his arrangement is simple, it lends to his vocal quality. However, upon further listening, you realize it's not that simple at all. He's got some interesting and wonderful chords in there. Also, the key changes are pretty cool.
Facebook.com/RyanNarcisoMusic  -  Twitter.com/RyanNarciso  -  Myspace.com/RyanNarciso

Aladdin, A Whole New World-


 Del covers an opac favorite (we tend to see several songs with a bunch of covers), but does it with such a light carefreeness that you find you can listen to it one more time. Also, his intros give you a little insight into his sweet personality.
Facebook.com/DelLazaro  -  Twitter.com/DelLazaro  -  Myspace.com/Daiyel

Jason Mraz, I'm Yours-

We Still Love the "Big" Ones

We will never tire of the guys who make this genre popular. So today we're bringing you a couple of those videos.

Who could tire of Sam Tsui's voice? And even though this cover eventually has backing instrumentals, we can't thank Tsui and Schneider enough for inspiring many of the people who create OPAC today. 
NoodleHouseStudios.com  -  Facebook.com/SamTsuiMusic AND /KurtHugoSchneider  -  Twitter.com/SamuelTsui AND /KurtHSchneider

Owl City, Fireflies-

 

And of course, the man who coined the phrase "Just Voice and Mouth", Mr. Mike Tompkins. We like this video because he provides insight on to how create your own opac!
Mike-Tompkins.com  -  Twitter.com/Mike_Tompkins  -  Facebook.com/MikeTompkinsMusic 

Taio Cruz, Dynamite-

What do you think? Who has inspired your journey into opac loving?

It's not Friday

You knew it was coming. The very first Friday opac cover.

Brandon Toy was featured previously on our site, and brings us our first (and last?) cover of Rebecca Black's "Friday". It's actually quite good for the background and what he's done with an otherwise "unappreciated" song. We're not here to discuss politics- or the quality of non opac artists music- so we'll just say, we like what he's done with this song. Check itt.
Thecalamariretribution.com  -  Twitter.com/TCRmusic  

Rebecca Black, Friday-

Feel good! Swoony! Upbeat! German! The words to describe André Fuckert's (real name) voice and cover. We were happy to pull this one out of the vaults of YouTube as it's over a year (gasp!) old and yet to be discovered by us (even though 54 thousand other people beat us to it).

Train, Hey Soul Sister

3 of a (different) Kind

We're breaking the rules again today.

Shane Stever creates another masterpiece, but this time with the unbelievably brilliant vocals of the Melodore's Seth Johnson-Stever's (with the arranging help of Suranjan Sen) Grenade is NOT TO MISS. You will be wow'd by both Stever's background vocals as well as Johnson's leading solo. And that Gospel Choir? Heck YES I'll give you a thumbs up.
Facebook.com/ShaneSteverMusic  -  Twitter.com/ShaneStever 

Bruno Mars, Grenade:

Michael Carlson, a cool dude we've recently become privy to. He sent us some videos of himself using looping technology to create one heck of a one man band. Sure opac is cool, but LIVE opac? Now that's something!
Twitter.com/3X09  -  Myspace.com/tripleohnine

Eurythmics, Sweet Dreams:

Leila- Our last video of the day is very exciting because IT'S FROM A GIRL. Now, we're not sexist here over at Vof1, but girl opac is just hard to come by, let alone GOOD girl opac. So please, have a listen to her cover of And So It Goes. She has other contemporary hits (that she arranged), but her voice is especially beautiful in this honest, raw, and melodic Kirby Shaw (yeah, we know), arrangement. Oh, and she'd have the perfect girl quartet if she could clone. Ah, well.
Twitter.com/LarryStarburst  -  Youtube.com/AllAdultsHere

Billy Joel, And So It Goes: 


And to all of our readers, thank you! We are slowly growing into..well, we are growing, and that's what's important. Tell yo' kids, tell yo' wives, And keep on crankin' out that OPAC!

An Unusual Exception

We try to keep all posts opac. That is, one person singing, perc'ing, arranging, producing, etc. But this video is too good to pass up and it's for a great cause. Information has been copied from the original youtube video.

"The latest musical project, "Pray," consists of sounds entirely made by the voice and mouth. The arrangement (based on the Justin Bieber original) features Hollens, as well as Courtney Jensen and Therry Thomas, emerging artists who appeared with Hollens on NBC's "The Sing-Off." All proceeds from "Pray" will benefit victims of the March 2011 earthquake in Japan through the Red Cross.
'Pray' also features a gospel choir:
John Martin, Peter Jones, Jonah Seitz, Josh Heying, Neil Thurston, Myeshia Mae, Hannah Juliano, Kate Austin, Haley Steinberger, Porsch Anthony, Tom Anderson

Peter Hollens and A Cappella Records are donating all proceeds, still working out if the publisher is willing to donate. Will update when I find out more!"

So there you have it folks. Listen, purchase, and support the people fighting for their future in Japan. While the rest of the world has moved on, they are still in great need of help. Please, do this small gesture to show your concern for those that are grieving and struggling to move forward in light of everything. 

Long Time Coming, The New Guys

Haven't posted in a while. Was feeling in a slump for not finding any newcomers lately, and then today found an amazing voice that I'm disappointed I didn't find sooner.

Introducing, Peter Hollens, singer/acappella/multitrack extraordinaire. Peter only has a few videos on his youtube but each of them are created to perfection, sonically and visually. Peter's incredible voice drives his songs and the depth behind them leaves you thinking about them afterwards. Often compared to Mike Tompkins, Hollens offers something else- a beautiful, deeper take on songs, departing from the standard radio hit's easy commodity of arrangements. While I think Tompkins is incredibly talented, I feel they excel in different ways and grouping Hollens as a Tompkins shadow is a mistake. Hollens was recently featured on NBC's The Sing Off fronting U. of Oregon's On the Rocks. He's well known in the collegiate a cappella community and has been gaining some momentum in the greater music industry. We're going to see big things from this guy, so stay tuned. (Note: It was very difficult to choose which video to post, but we ended up going with the one that showcased his voice the best. The others are DEFINTIELY worth the watch, and are more cinematically oriented so please take a few minutes and show this guy some support!) 
PeterHollens.com  -  Twitter.com/peterhollens  -   Youtube.com/peterhollens  -  Facebook.com/peterhollensmusic

Rihanna, What's My Name/Only Girl- 
 

Taylor Hartwell, a newbie to the scene, but offering some pretty good arrangements and vocals to the opac community. At just 18 years old, Hartwell has begun arranging, creating, and producing covers of hit pop songs. Check out this short opac version of "Toxic".

Britney Spears, Toxic- 
 

Mayk Eleinyel, another new guy from Spain creates some interesting opac in Spanish. If you're a speaker or just enjoy Spanish music, you will appreciate his covers. And even if you don't speak the language, you should watch his videos, as they are very well made- musically, and interesting to watch visually.

Daddy Yankee, La Despedida
 

All boiz

Our first of the day is more experimental than usual (besides one other post...), but is interesting because of it.

The Donkey Wheel- TDW uses short clips (no longer than 1 second) and patches them all together to create everything you hear- the background, the perc, the sound effects- everything. There is easily over a thousand sound and video clips, so the final project is quite impressive considering how much time a regular opac can take (a few hours to get a decent, very simple piece out). TDW has been known to do this to other songs as well, one that might ring a bell once you start watching. Look familiar? Twitter.com/thedonkeywheel

Muse, New Born: 
 

Myka Dauster- I came across Myka's video randomly, which was strange because it only had a couple of hundred views. His vocals are sublime, especially heard in his solo. You can also see another great show of his solo talent in his cover of Gnarles Barkley's Crazy. Facebook.com/dauster

Bruno Mars, Grenade: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSvXf8hzlTU 

Cameron J.- I've been looking for a Nikki Minaj opac cover, and this is the best I've seen so far. Cameron's almost doo-wop take on the hip hop hit gives it a new twist. He fills the background with full chords and covers with sweet croons over top. Myspace.com/cameronjmusicnow

Nikki Minaj, Right Through Me:
 

Still in search of some great girl opac! If you have or find any, please let us know so we can post! Cheers xx

View older posts »