Entertainment

Evolution of Bollywood – A Cappella Style!

The attached video features a medley of great Bollywood songs done in the a cappella style by Penn Masala.

Penn Masala is the world’s first and premier Hindi a cappella group. Formed in 1996 by students at the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Masala’s music has been influenced by the Eastern and Western cultures that represent the group’s membership. The group was featured on the soundtrack of American Desi, and has released eight full-length albums.

A cappella (Italian for “in the manner of the church” or “in the manner of the chapel”) music is specifically group, or solo, singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It contrasts with cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato style. In the 19th century a renewed interest in Renaissance polyphony coupled with an ignorance of the fact that vocal parts were often doubled by instrumentalists led to the term coming to mean unaccompanied vocal music.

An increased interest in a cappella music is evident with recent TV shows like The Sing Off and movies such as Pitch Perfect. Many a cappella groups are located in high schools and colleges, and there are amateur Barbershop Harmony Society and professional groups that sing a cappella exclusively. Although a cappella is technically defined as singing without instrumental accompaniment, some groups use their voices to emulate instruments; others are more traditional and focus on harmonizing. A cappella styles range from gospel music to contemporary to barbershop quartets and choruses.

Source: Wikipedia