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December 22, 2014 11:35 PM   Subscribe

How do you sing "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"? This is how.
posted by divabat (31 comments total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
Holy shit, that's horrible. And "a cappella" is probably not an appropriate term for something this processed. It's certainly not just a raw recording of some human voices.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 11:44 PM on December 22, 2014 [4 favorites]


Having seen them live and in concert I can confirm that they are definitely capable of singing a Capella just like that without any processing at all, so I'd hold off on your criticism, Joakim.
posted by Hermione Granger at 12:10 AM on December 23, 2014 [4 favorites]




Their voices blend so well!
posted by Cranberry at 12:37 AM on December 23, 2014


I somehow guessed it would be Pentatonix before I clicked on the video. Yes, they really are that good and harmonised. Try some of their older videos and performances on their Youtube channel.
posted by Alnedra at 12:46 AM on December 23, 2014


Nice to see them keeping busy while they're in the Phantom Zone.
posted by pipeski at 1:45 AM on December 23, 2014 [9 favorites]


no, I prefer to sing it in off-key giggle while falling in a snowbank spilling wine on myself and my companion.
posted by mannequito at 2:11 AM on December 23, 2014


And just in time for Kilted Yak Eve!
posted by aubilenon at 2:15 AM on December 23, 2014


Sounds like Ozzy.
posted by Metroid Baby at 5:51 AM on December 23, 2014 [1 favorite]


I recently found their Evolution of Music video and shared it with my 10 year old, who loved it. As a bonus time-killer I asked her to try and find the original video for each song referenced. It ended up being a fun way to fill time on an otherwise dreary afternoon.
posted by TedW at 5:59 AM on December 23, 2014


Would you prefer Metal , Hardcore, Dubstep, or Fantasia
posted by humanfont at 6:14 AM on December 23, 2014


How do you sing "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"?

Through a flanger with a dog.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 6:14 AM on December 23, 2014


Does anyone else find it strange that the only black guy never gets to sing, and is apparently just there for beatboxing?
posted by leotrotsky at 6:42 AM on December 23, 2014 [1 favorite]


Does anyone else find it strange that the only black guy never gets to sing, and is apparently just there for beatboxing?

Kevin Olusola is a cellist, singer, and beatboxer. He does occasionally sing with Pentatonix when beat boxing isn't needed in a song, but his primary job is to provide the percussion. It's not because he's black, it's because he's a talented beatboxer and his voice blends well with the others.
posted by rakaidan at 7:31 AM on December 23, 2014 [2 favorites]


This is all way way WAY not to my taste, but I am a lot less irritated by the videos where they are wearing normal clothes. That vegas magician r&b cenobite general zod look is especially troubling on the bass singing guy... especially after seeing him as everyone's completely normal best buddy in that history of music video.
posted by SharkParty at 7:47 AM on December 23, 2014 [2 favorites]


He's doing cello *and* beatboxing in this one. (Don't watch this if the silly clothes annoy you)
posted by corvine at 7:50 AM on December 23, 2014


Kevin O. also plays cello in their Stromae cover.

I've been a fan for the past year -- and looked up the history of the group. They started out as a trio of three treble voices who all went to highschool together, and recruited the bass and beat boxer for the "Sing-Off" competition, as they needed a minimum of five members, and also to balance their sound. Kevin Olusola had already become known on Youtube for his "cello-boxing" (beat boxing while playing cello).

And yes, they can sound amazing without heavy production. Sometimes they have production to acquire a specific sound (more electronic in their Daft Punk medley), but their live stuff is freaking amazing. (skip through all the stupid reality show blather -- get to the singing).
posted by jb at 8:09 AM on December 23, 2014


the original trio at a high school concert, covering Telephone

and the three doing a medley of songs from Frozen (with VERY silly costumes).

Two of the members also have a subgroup/youtube channel called "Superfruit" - and recently got a lot of attention for their arrangement of a medley of Taylor Swift's new album, 1989.
posted by jb at 8:21 AM on December 23, 2014


How do you sing "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"?

In my high school choir, we sang a version of this using the text from Deck the Hall (like so). I've heard it that way in my head ever since.
posted by cellar door at 8:50 AM on December 23, 2014


I thought this was Ozzy.
posted by plinth at 8:59 AM on December 23, 2014


It's like The Nylons with douchey haircuts.
posted by slkinsey at 9:08 AM on December 23, 2014


"Holy shit, that's horrible. And "a cappella" is probably not an appropriate term for something this processed. It's certainly not just a raw recording of some human voices."

Tell me about it, I'm not some vocal purist or anything, I love processing in everything. Something about these people just fucking make my stomache twist up, I can't look at them without cringing. I don't know if it's because they're trying to hard, or because they all give the impression they are really smug or self-satisfied in a way that makes them think it's okay for them to behave and move like they do. I don't know, y'all, I fucking hate theese guys but end up at least starting their videos every few months. I'm also not a violent person but somethign about them really makes me want to whack them with a rolled-up newspaper and shout "no, bad singer, NO, stop it"
posted by GoblinHoney at 10:03 AM on December 23, 2014 [1 favorite]


No, no, no, everyone knows the proper way to sing "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" is going deet deet DEET deet deetle deet deetle deet deetle deet doot-doot-doot-doot-doot while holding your cat's fuzzy paws and making them do a little kitty paw sugarplum dance while the cat glares at you in annoyance.
posted by castlebravo at 11:09 AM on December 23, 2014 [7 favorites]


How do you sing "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"?

Off tune, barely following the melody, over and over triggered by walking past some wretched xmas display with a bad recording in october until sometime in november alone in an elevator it switches from Vivaldi's Seasons (summer) and the first couple bars start, dee dumm dee dee dee and you scream at the top of your voice DEE-STOPALREADY-deeeeee

The elevator opens to the nice older lady from accounting looking perplexed until she hears the tune and gives you a sympathetic grin.
posted by sammyo at 11:36 AM on December 23, 2014 [1 favorite]


SharkParty: "vegas magician r&b cenobite general zod look"

That seems like it should be way too sprawling to work as a description, yet it is perfect.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 11:54 AM on December 23, 2014


Oh no. THEM again.
posted by ReeMonster at 1:37 PM on December 23, 2014 [1 favorite]


Wow.. These people seem incredibly polarizing.

Although I can admire the amount of craftsmanship that went into that performance, you can put me down in the "does not react positively" camp -- my reaction to the video was "if these people have mastered invisibility and/or teleportation to that extent, surely they have better things to be doing than defiling Tchaikovsky.."
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:39 PM on December 23, 2014 [1 favorite]


I have a great love for modern a capella (Roomful of Teeth, anyone? Yes please thank you).

This was my first listen of Pentatonix. My ears said no a-crapella here, young voices but will mature well with time; but wow are their facial expressions ever sinister and somewhat unchristmaslike. Trying a bit too hard to look cool, and so not.

I quite liked the energy and delivery though, as long as I closed my eyes.
posted by seawallrunner at 5:05 PM on December 23, 2014


they all give the impression they are really smug or self-satisfied in a way that makes them think it's okay for them to behave and move like they do.

Goodness, I didn't know some kinds of moving wasn't okay. Perhaps I should watch out in case I inadvertently move wrong and someone beats me with a newspaper.
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 4:32 PM on December 24, 2014


Having seen them live and in concert I can confirm that they are definitely capable of singing a Capella just like that without any processing at all, so I'd hold off on your criticism, Joakim.

I've heard they're very good live, just like what i heard about pomplamoose(speaking of polarizing things, jeeze, but i also like them).

But yea, i absolutely hear what people are saying about this. It's as autotuned and processed as modern country music, and the perfect tuning makes harmonies sound weird just like perfect tuning on a piano would... which is also what bugs me about a lot of autotuned music with harmonies in it.

It's a weird choice for stuff like this. It doesn't sound like, polished and packaged and professionally mastered... it just sounds bad.

I don't want to whack them with a newspaper, but i do want to whack the recording/mastering/mixdown person with one.
posted by emptythought at 7:02 PM on December 24, 2014


Thank the Grundies that I'm not the only one who read the title and thought "Archers theme tune".
posted by MattWPBS at 3:05 AM on December 28, 2014


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