10 years ago, a cappella singing was mostly “bum” and “doo.” Now, people sound like drums, guitars, horns, and a myriad of other instruments. Learn how to use one or many voices to sound like instruments, and work them into your arrangements.

Note: this is meant to be a fun seminar to give the participants some insight into ways to use the voice to sound like instruments. It’s not meant as a formal treatise on instrumental imitation: only practice and listening will bring improvement. Even with an extremely accurate imitation, how you use a sound and what you express is more important than the specific timbre.

I) Solo Instruments

a) Trumpet and trombone (br)
b) Muted trumpet and trombone (hew)
c) Acoustic Bass (thm)
d) Electric Bass (bmp)
e) Lead electric guitar (nv)
f) Flute (wwhoo)
g) Bowed Violin & theremin (v)
h) Pizzicato Strings (thm)
i) Mandolin/Xylophone/Steel Drum (mlml)
j) Harmonica (hwa)
k) Didgeridoo (weo)
l) Techno synthesizer (flanged)

II) Drums

a) High hat (t)
b) Kick (db)
c) Snare (pf)
d) Cymbal (psh)
e) Shaker (shk)
f) Brushes (f)

III) Harmonic Instruments

a) Rhythm guitar power chords (jg)
b) Bagpipe (whe)
c) Sections (horn section, string section)

IV) Extended Techniques

a) Single voice combinations (e.g. Bass & Drums: “d-dm-tm d-dm-tm”)
b) Indirect imitation (Blending rhythm of one element and pitch of another)
c) Development of new sounds (non-”vocal”, non-instrumental-imitative)

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