After turning down the "Home Town Honeys," "Blush" and "Auroras," Dartmouth's newest all-female a cappella group finally settled on the "Subtleties" for their group's name. "It's just kind of a cool, intriguing word," said Subtleties Business Manager Ashley Wendus '00. "There is also a huge amount of irony [in it]. We will be anything but subtle."
The Subtleties
Certainly, none of the members have any qualms about their subtlety. They all are adamantly excited about their plans for upbeat and alternative music, which they say will be a distinguishing feature, compared to the other groups on campus.
According to Teddy Huang '98, business manager for the Cords -- a male a cappella group which started two years ago -- distinguishing features are definitely necessary for any campus a cappella group to survive. "In order to succeed, they have to be different and something new to look at. Sheba succeeded because they were a dance group. If the Subtleties have something new to offer, they will be fine."
Subtleties founding member Sara Becker '00 said that anything not "traditionally explored" in a cappella will be their first priority. "High-energy and spunk" seems to be their motto.
"We will be breaking out of the kind of 'formality' that exists right now in the a cappella concerts by showing our energy through our choreography," said Wendus.
They plan to explore more percussion in their music than other female a cappella groups and are also interested in ballads, country and 1980s music. "Some of our songs might not seem like they would be good for a cappella," said member Rita Mitchell '00. "Our aim is to make it work."
Search for talent
There already seems to be a large amount of a cappella groups on campus. Residence halls are littered with flyers touting the latest a cappella concert for the Aires, Cords, Decibelles, Dodecs, Final Cut, Rockappellas and Xado. In addition, there are other singing groups such as the Glee Club, Chamber Singers and others.
So with no auditions in the first term, the obvious question is if there is enough talent to go around.
"Oh, definitely," said Becker. "We had no idea it would be such a hard decision."
Although interested in being distinct, they have no desire to compete with other groups on campus. "We just felt that there was a big enough demand and that there were a lot of women who wanted to sing," said Becker. "It is not about distinguishing [ourselves] as it is about just us personally having a good time."
Demand there certainly was. At the first auditions, 25 people showed up, including a male candidate dressed in drag. Although he did not succeed, nine people did, and the group now has 13 members total.
They are young, with eight sophomores and five freshmen, but Smith thinks this will help them become a cohesive group quickly and will improve their longevity.
Matt Wrobel '99, General Manager for the Dodecs -- a co-ed a cappella group -- understands the demand. "We had 80 people audition in the fall and a good majority were female," he said. "We turned away a lot of good singers."
Lack of venues
One concern is the growing number of groups in comparison to the available performance options.
Wrobel is one who is concerned. "[Obtaining venues] will definitely be more of a problem. The number of available concerts is going to stay about the same so the number per group is going to have to go down."
Decibelles President Lani Sipe '98 seems less worried. "I know that there are other schools with more," she said. "I think we always get crowds and I don't think we are inundated [with groups]."
The Subtleties are happy that they received so many offers this term. "We have had more offers than we can accept," Becker said. "We are doing five shows this term and we had to turn down four other offers."
Wrobel says that the Dodecs perform an average of 8 to 12 times per term and said, "Sometimes though, we feel like performing less may not be that much of a bad thing."
Starting up
The four founding members of the Subtleties lived in the same hall during their freshman year and used to trade a cappella CDs often. "I remember Yale having great big a cappella concerts in my town and I had never had the opportunity [to sing] until now," Music Director Amy Smith '00 said.
According to Smith, what the girls lack in talent, they more than make up for in energy. "I would like to say how great the girls are," said Smith. "They are so excited about starting their own group that they have taken much initiative in practicing on their own."
As for acting, they do not consider it their forte. "Our feelings are that none of us can act well," said Becker. "We would rather do no skits than bad skits." Smith says that skits ruin the flow of the show and thinks they are not for the Subtleties.
Will they be successful? Huang said that the Cords had a little trouble in the beginning. "At first, it is difficult to form a group bond when you are singing," he said. "The two things you have to worry about is a group bond and a group sound. If you don't look like you're having fun together then it's not going to work."
Wrobel agreed, "If you all can just have fun, that is what it is about."
Fortunately, the Subtleties are not too nervous about their competition. "We've mostly received a great deal of support," said Becker. "Everyone is just really nice and gives us pointers." Smith states that the Cords have been especially supportive because of their own recent beginnings.
The Cords have certainly been helping out. "We are having them usher at the NCCA [National Championship of Collegiate A Cappella], which can provide a lot of experience about what a cappella singing and a set should look like," said Huang. "It will give them a lot of exposure and publicity."
The Dodecs are contributing by doing a joint concert with them in mid-February. The Decibelles also helped by announcing the Subtleties auditions at their own and helping them with intergroup communications.
"We don't feel like we're just going to be 'another group'," said Becker. "Not to imply that there is anything fundamentally lacking in the other groups; it's just about style."
