We are pleased to announce a BRAND NEW, ONCE IN A LIFETIME (or once a semester) opportunity! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the Achordants are holding Auditions for Fall 2005! Auditions will be held in Hill Hall 206 on the evenings of Tuesday and Wednesday, September 6th and 7th. Sign up for your time slot ASAP at our table in the pit (we should be sitting during midday in the week before auditions). If we're not there, find our folder on the racks in the Student Union at ANY time! These are directly across from Alpine Bagel, near the bathrooms. Put your name down and get ready to roll!

Why should I audition?

For the love of the music, the love of the performance, and the love of charitable causes. The Achordants have long made it our primary mission to strongly support charity groups and multicultural organizations here on campus. Also, performing a cappella at UNC-Chapel Hill is a great way to become immediately involved with our bustling campus. We work hard, have fun, and rock people's faces off!

What are auditions like?

Auditions are your chance to get to know our group more personally, and chill with us for a bit. They're also our chance to get to know YOU more personally, and chill with YOU for a bit. Of course, there's some singing involved too. So prepare a 30-60 second solo that you feel shows off your voice the best, and get ready to sing it for us a cappella. For those taking notes, that's some ancient language for "without accompaniment". Also, we'll be finding your complete vocal range through some simple warmups, and learning about your ear with some pitch matching exercises. Warm up before you walk in the room for best results!

What voice parts are you looking for?

Male.

No, I mean in particular. And how many slots are you trying to fill?

We try our best to tailor our part assignments around voices available, instead of auditioning only certain voices. So don't worry about voice part, we take care of that after auditions. As far as size goes, our group generally will peak at 16 members, but that is a flexible number.

Does this cost any money?

To this date, there have NEVER been required membership fees.

So what's the time commitment like?

It's important to us that we have many diverse people who are actively involved on campus. However, being an Achordant is a significant time commitment, and one we do not take lightly. Two or three rehearsals per week plus gigs are minimum mandatory attendance. Also, when concert season or auditions approach, the workload rises. We compete, record albums, and party up. Oh, yeah, and we have a Fall Break tour. But that's definitely something to look forward to! On the whole, expect the Achordants to be your primary extracurricular activity.

Okay, I'm not the best singer around, but I've got some badass VP (Vocal Percussion) skills. Can I join?

Come to the audition with a badass example of said badass VP skills, and if a significantly badass level of badassitude is reached, we'll consider you based on that alone. Generally, we look for members who can sing as well, but if we're impressed enough, go for it! Be aware that a cappella VP is done generally in a different style than other forms of beatbox, since the percussive sounds must be very loud acoustically. Plan accordingly.

Wow, sounds like the ultrahotness! What am I waiting for?

Beats me.

If you have any other questions, please email achordants@unc.edu