Sympathetic Vibrations felt throughout

Sympathetic Vibrations felt throughout
New a cappella group enjoys friendship through music

Nicole Campbell
Campus Life Staff
ATLANTA
November 6, 1998

When third-year I.E. student James Clawson first came to Georgia Tech, something struck him as missing: an a cappella (literally, without music) singing group. Many other colleges, including several Ivy League schools, have one or many such groups on campus, so Clawson was shocked to find that Tech was without one. Two years, some heavy recruiting, and several members later, a very dedicated and talented twelve-man group called Sympathetic Vibrations was born.

Clawson, the father of the project, has always been a singer, so his first quarter here, he joined the Georgia Tech Chorale. However, his hunger for a cappella music led him to leave the Chorale and attempt to form his own independent group. The second two quarters of his freshman year were spent agonizingly persuading people to join. Last year, finally, Sympathetic Vibrations began with eight members, only two of which still remain. Since last Christmas, the membership has hardly changed with the loss of two and addition of one; and with auditions at the beginning of this year, they have their largest crew ever at twelve.

Sympathetic Vibrations practices twice a week in the Couch Building on West Campus, and they have "gigs" usually once or twice per week.

"We've had more gigs so far this quarter than last Winter and Spring Quarters combined," said Clawson. As a result, the group has become increasingly recognized. They placed second at the Homecoming talent show. "We'll sing for anyone," he adds, emphasizing that they're always looking to do shows for any individual, organization or department that requests them. They have already sang at various functions and locations such as the Campanile, Connect with Tech, President's Scholars Weekend, The Red Light Cafe, UGApalooza, and Under the Couch. They were even hired by the women of the Harrison Dorms, who, in turn, cooked dinner for the members. "We'll sing for food!" is a sentiment shared by each member of the group.

Sympathetic Vibrations is composed of a variety of young men, all Tech students, who are members of several other campus organizations including SGA, the Swarm, the Show Choir, fraternities, the T-Book, and Chorale. Besides Clawson (a baritone), the group includes tenors Andy Van Dyke, Scott Percy, Joel Whitley (who played Tommy in the DramaTech production), Amit Keswani, Curtis Brooks and Matt Warenzak, baritones Biff Hollingsworth and Marshall Lesley, and the basses, Filip Schmole, Jared Kee, and Rob Simon.

Inspired by the success of Sympathetic Vibrations, Clawson was led to form an a cappella female group headed up by freshman Dipika Jain. Auditions were held recently, and by the time this is in print, the group should be officially established. Clawson hopes the groups will be able to perform together by December.

There is much more to singing a cappella than it seems. While Sympathetic Vibrations sings all cover songs, they do much of their own arranging (of songs to be sung without musical accompaniment). Their repertoire includes such songs as Billy Joel's "River of Dreams" and "Longest Time," the Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann," the Beatles' "Please Please Me," and CCR's "Down on the Corner." They're currently working on new songs to add to their performances.

What is most important to the group, aside from singing, is the camaraderie that has developed and the pleasure members receive through performing.

"We have evolved from being a group of singers to being a group of friends. This is a tight-knit group of people which has been the triumph for me," said Clawson. When they are not practicing, they enjoy antics such as wrestling, locking each another in supply closets, and giving each other a hard time.

Simon, a freshman, said, "I came to Tech looking for a group like this to get into and I'm really happy with the results."

"I once thought I'd never find anything that I would enjoy doing at Tech. I was wrong," adds fifth year senior Schmole.

Some upcoming gigs for Sympathetic Vibrations are November 13 at Under The Couch and a tentatively scheduled December 4 show, also at UTC, though it may be changed due to a possible conflict.

Clawson sums it up best by saying, "I started this three years ago, and it's my baby, it's what I love, it's what I do. It's what makes me happy at Tech. I love my boys, I love our music-it's fun!" If you are interested in having Sympathetic Vibrations perform at your function or are interested in the female group, you can contact James Clawson at 206-9798.

Copyright © 1998 by Gregory S. Scherrer, Editor and by the Student Publications Board

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