Jul042011
A Capellas
Although there are many widely used mis-spellings of the word A Capella (acappella, acapella, accapella, etc) the true spelling “A Capella” is of Italian origins meaning ‘in the manner of the church’.
An a capella is the pure vocal track without any form of instrumental backing.
What Are A Capellas Used For?
They can be used to create remixes or mash-ups with other instrumental tracks as long as the vocal and the underlying track are in the same key or fit together well. Masters of the commercial mash-up, in my opinion, are the Cut Up Boys who have released mash-up compilation albums for the last few years in a row.
A capellas can also be used when produces are remixing tracks.
Where Can I Get Them?
A capellas in general are not especially hard to find but if you are trying to track down the vocals for a specific song then depending on the artist, you may have to search harder for it than others. In 2000, Defected Records famously released Defected Presents - Accapellas Vol.1 on vinyl for some of their biggest tracks.
You can buy a capellas individually from most of the online specialist dance music vendors and they will usually cost the same as a single. If you are lucky, you may find one or two on Soundcloud. Here’s one from Felix Leiter and one from Calvin Harris, both of which you can download for free.
Keep It Legal
Be careful using them. Just because you bought an a capella or freely downloaded an a capella from the artists’ website it doesn’t mean you have the bought the rights to use it in a commercially available track. That’s a whole different ball game. Licencing samples and vocals to be used as mash ups and remixes is quite a long and complicated process and often you will come across bootlegs that use a cheeky uncleared sample or vocal that sidesteps these rules. These tracks will often be clearly labelled “bootleg” and are made just for a bit of dance floor fun rather than any kind of big time commercial success.
Practical Use
Keeping a few a capellas in your DJ box can be quite handy as an extra tool to your trade. You can perform ‘live’ mash-ups on the fly and because the vocal track and instrumental track are independently fed into the mixer, there’s a whole world of effects you can play about with to chop each up and create your own unique individual style.
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