How much do I like a cappella? I like it so much I own Pitch Perfect 3 (THREE!) on Blu-ray. So yeah, I obviously I really enjoy people making instrument noises with their mouths. But typically that means listening to talented vocalists cover hit songs. Turns out when they use their skills to recreate sound effects that the results can be really weird. Because there’s something unnatural about hearing humans recreate noises we associate with computer consoles and phone apps. Especially when they act like machines.
We’re fans of the Korean a cappella group MayTree. Their performance of The Avengers theme song is perfect. But when they’re not busy bringing famous Hollywood scores to life, they’re recreating sound effects.
That might make you picture a whole band of Police Academy‘s Michael Winslow. But what they’re doing is much stranger than that. We’re used to hearing someone recreate a police siren or an animal roar. We’re not accustomed to watching five people singing Windows sound effects, including opening music or the “fix error” bleep.
Question: is that what Windows developers hear in their dreams or their nightmares? We 100% lean to the latter.
As bizarre as those videos are though, they’re only weird because the group is so good. They’re absolutely nailing these. And sound effects are actually downright pleasant. The Apple iPhone ringtones and general noises make for a pretty great a cappella medley.
But our favorite might be their PlayStation video. It is genuinely haunting. If you didn’t know what you were listening to, you might think this was a soundtrack for an amazing Scottish horror film.
Still unsettling though! Partly because of how MayTree films these. They all remain absolutely still between sound effects. As though they are machines waiting to be turned on. Which is the antithesis of what a cappella usually sounds like.
And yet, I still love each and every one of these performances. No matter the song, ringtone, or computer sound, I just love a cappella. Even when humans replace instruments just to create machines’ noises.
MayTree