A cappella overload

I´m in Aarhus, Denmark, which is, at the moment, the center of the a cappella universe. It´s hosting the Aarhus Vocal Music Festival. Today was the first full day, and I´m wiped out, but somehow still on a crazy singing high.

All I can manage right now are highlights:

-- My morning was a back-to-basics vocal percussion workshop with Andrea Figallo. It was the complete opposite of every bit of beatbox teaching I´ve had. He didn´t really worry much about sounds, but spent the whole time talking about breaking down rhythmic patterns, maintaining a pulse / using your breath properly, and generally thinking about the small details that separate good vocal percussionists from the crowd. I went in thinking I knew some things about VP, and it turned into a really humbling experience. 

-- The night´s concert was absolutely incredible. Apes & Babes from Norway sang a really crazy set ranging from Norwegian folk songs to tango to Prodigy, tied together somehow with an approach that stretched their voices in really fantastic ways. Then the Real Group came on and showed what perfect pop/jazz a cappella sounds like. 

-- After the show, at the late night session, I got to talk to a couple of the members of the Real Group, spoke to Cosmos (from Latvia, headlining tomorrow´s concert) in Russian, and did a little live looping beatbox improv on stage with my Couchsurfing host Kristoffer. I had to not think about who was in the audience and just do whatever came to mind, and it actually turned out OK! I need to get a KAOSS pad.

Now, will sleep for a few hours and do it all again tomorrow! Eeee!