A Cappella Arrangements
Custom Arrangements:
The vast majority of a cappella arrangements performed and recorded today strive towards the goal of transcribing the original performance as faithfully as possible. It is my philosophy that a cappella should not be a musical style confined to simple mimicry, but instead should build upon musical ideas of other artists and develop them further such that the resulting work is more enjoyable and has more musical substance than the original. Furthermore, I believe another important and often de-emphasized aspect of the a cappella style is the creation of completely new works unique to the genre.
Over the past decade, my musical development has led me through a number of creative phases. I began composing for piano at around age 8, completed my first major work for symphonic winds at 12, and joined my first a cappella group (a barbershop quartet) when I was 14. Ever since, I've participated in, and written music for many vocal groups of a wide variety of styles and sizes. My experience has taught me the nuances of how to put music on paper that is fun to sing, fun to listen to, harmonically intricate, musically compelling, and takes advantage of the natural strengths of the human voice.
For a "typical" custom arrangement project, I currently charge $300. However, this price may vary for substantially larger (or smaller) projects, compositions, scoring, etc. Furthermore, your satisfaction is guaranteed, as you pay nothing until you are completely satisfied with the final product. If you are interested in commissioning me to do a project for your group, please Contact Me to discuss your needs.
A few groups of note for which I have done custom arrangements include:- Hereward Harmony
- The Northwestern University Undertones
- Octarium
- The Pitchforks of Duke University
- Tesseract
- University of Chicago Voices In Your Head
- The University of Illinois No Strings Attached
- The University of Illinois Rip Chords
- The University of Illinois Varsity Men's Glee Club
- The University of Illinois Xtension Chords
Stock Arrangements:
Along with creating new, made-to-order arrangements, I also sell previously finished titles from my arrangement library. The obvious advantages to ordering a stock arrangement are a significantly reduced cost and immediate availability.
Except where otherwise noted, I charge $40 for any of the arrangements listed on this page. If you are interested in an arrangement, but do not see the voicing of your group shown, I will re-voice any of my existing arrangements for $30 in addition to the stock arrangement fee. If you'd like to order a stock arrangement, request a re-voicing, or have any other questions, please Contact Me.
Note: The reason I do not have an automated checkout system in place is because I prefer to discuss your group with you a bit to make sure that the product you purchase from me will suit your group well before you buy. Once we are both comfortable to proceed, I will then send you a PayPal invoice (or you can pay by personal check if you prefer), and you will have your arrangement soon after payment is received.
An incomplete list of my arrangements includes:
| Title | Original Performer | Voicing(s) (# of Voices) | MIDI | MP3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| * = Vocal Percussion Recommended | |||||
| Afternoon Delight | Starland Vocal Band | SATB (8) TTBB (4) |
 |
No | |
| All At Sea* | Jamie Cullum | SATB (10) | |
No | No |
| Anthem | From the Musical "Chess" | TTBB (4) | |
No | No |
| Boomerang* | Voices In Your Head | SATB (10) | No | No | No |
An original song written for my group, Voices In Your Head. Music & arrangement by me, lyrics by Elspeth Michaels. | |||||
| California Medley* | Various | SATB (10) | |
No | No |
Recorded by CUA Take Note on Take Note Acapella (2009) | |||||
| Come Around* | Marc Broussard | TTBB (10) | |
No | |
Very Difficult. This arrangement features a 1:30 long segment I composed to replace the guitar solo from the original. For this arrangement, I ask $60. | |||||
| Coming Home* | John Legend | TTBB (10) | |
||
Recorded by The University of Illinois Xtension Chords on Shamless Plug (2009) | |||||
| Don't Bring Me Down* | Electric Light Orchestra | SATB (10) | No | No | No |
| Geek In The Pink* | Jason Mraz | TTBB (8) | |
||
Recorded by The University of Illinois Xtension Chords on Shamless Plug (2009) | |||||
| Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight | The Spaniels | TTBB (4) | No | No | No |
| Green Eggs & Ham | From the musical "Seussical" | TTBB (4) | |
No | No |
| Hallelujah | Leonard Cohen | TTBB (4) | |
No | |
Difficult | |||||
| Home* | Zero 7 | SATB (10) | No | No | No |
| I'd Like To* | Corinne Bailey Rae | SATB (10) | No | No | No |
Featured on Voices Only 2010 | |||||
| Illinois Loyalty | T. H. Guild | TTBB (4) | |
No | No |
| Just Hold Me* | Maria Mena | SATB (12) | |
No | No |
| Let It Rock* | Kevin Rudolf | SATB (10) | No | No | No |
| Little Bitty Pretty One* | Bobby Day | TTBB (8) | |
No | |
| The Luckiest | Ben Folds | TTBB (10) | |
No | |
| Magic | Ben Folds Five | SATB (10) | |
||
Recorded by University of Chicago Voices In Your Head on Note To Self (2008) | |||||
| Porcelain Fists* | Ingrid Michaelson | SATB (10) | No | No | No |
| Resistance* | Muse | SATB (10) | No | No | No |
| Rocksteady* | Marc Broussard | TTBB (10) SSAB (10) |
|
||
Recorded by The University of Illinois Rip Chords on Skinker Blvd. (2009) | |||||
| So What* | Pink | SATB (10) | No | No | No |
| The Star-Spangled Banner | Traditional | TTBB (8) SATB (8) |
No | No | |
| Supermassive Black Hole* | Muse | SATB (10) | |
||
Recorded by University of Chicago Voices In Your Head on Note To Self (2008) | |||||
| That Lonesome Road | James Taylor | TTBB (4) | No | No | |
Difficult | |||||
| You Are Mine | Traditional | SATB (4) | No | No | |
| You Raise Me Up | Josh Groban | STTB (4) SATB (8) TTBB (4) |
|
||
Recorded by CUA Take Note on Take Note Acapella (2009) | |||||