@@JordanWHuff this is the first year since I discovered BHS (6 yrs ago) that I didn’t watch any streaming events. Did they awards winners during the virtual meeting over the 4th of July this year or no? If yes, who won, please?
Just Beautiful. Especially when you sing of a mothers love so strong and its memories still haunts me. Makes me tear up every time I hear you sing that phrase.. I am nearly 70 but a real mothers love is always beautiful . I still miss her . Thanks
Our family were personal friends with The Sidewinders, The Western Continentals, The Golden Staters, Command Performance, Boston Common...and lots of other amazing quartets...Acoustix seems a level above the rest. All their songs are brilliant!
I first heard Rick in the Yankees, we did a cabaret show in Tulsa and they sang for us, it was amazing to hear a full voice lead post at a 7 or 8 for 15 seconds or more...they blew us away... To this day leads have some big shoes to fill as do the other parts, but as a lead I've always been very respectful of Rick and his full rich sound.
Absolutely brilliant!! What a fantastic video! Thank you for posting this in HD and cropping to 16x9 as well. The clarity is perfect and very useful for my kids to see what brilliant musicians look like during the "real" thing or a competitive performance. I never get tired of listing to this group and my students learn so much from watching. Now they all want to be in a Barber Shop quartet,
@TheseusTex I agree that the Oxley sound should not be apart of every quartet out there, but for the groups he's been in it has worked, seeing as the dude has three gold medals. Plus, if you compare his singing in Acoustix to his work with Max Q, there's definitely a change in resonance. This is just a dark-timbred quartet.
I have sung with Mr Oxley, and aside from him being a force of pure nature, like Mike Rowe, his skin color sometimes worries me, as I am aware of no tribe that can be pale as a whitewashed fence at 4 PM and brown as a Caribbean berry by five. Otherwise, way cool. If you ever get to sing with Mike Rowe, do so, and then follow him around with a case of beer in a cooler. By 2 AM, he will have led you to the cool guys. By 3, they will have stolen all your beer. And you won't mind.
Man you are hilarious. No I mean you are really funny. The exact kind of guy at afterglows that are a blast to run around with. Ah those were the days, my friend.
Also, a good example of a great bass that DOES use his forward resonance (and a quartet that also does) is Jim Henry in 2009 quartet champs, Crossroads. I consider Henry to embody the best barbershop bass sound, personally.
vocal spectrum is incredible. especially because of tim waurick but acoustix has that awesome blend that VS doesn't have, along with Max Q and a lot of the traditional quartets. VS has that new quartet style. you know, the disney songs etc...
I actually disagree, vocal spectrum (especially today) quite possibly may be the most in tune and well blended quartet of all time Edit: Lullaby comes to mind
Only to have fun here and not argue BUT, you are close. There are three: Dealer's Choice. Acoustix. Vocal Spectrum. It's a short story. The End.Ok PS: Let's be honest here. Dealer's Choice is the all time pivotal moment in Barbershop Qtet history (and as choruses would have it, Vocal Majority also changed the chorus game by way of the tone of DC - it is easy to hear and the results prove the point). Without insulting those before DC, DC changed the sound, accuracy, tone etc for ALL who would follow. Listen to their early albums.DC "forced" those who would follow to a new level of perfection. In fact, some would say DC would have won several championships if allowed to compete. I say this fully loving the Innsiders, RR4 as well. There was plenty of talent along the way. I'm only saying that since 1973 and DC, there have only been two that are without parallel as noted above.
I know his background quite well. Even his classical, pop, and voice-over work is less muscled -- or at least more neutrally placed -- now than it was 20 years ago.
This is actually indicative of the style, or perhaps those listening in from other styles of choral singing. You're correct in that there is an absence of nasal-pharyngeal resonance. This is taught and before people start protesting, I'll qualify this. If you were to use a spectrogram, you'd see how nasal-pharyngeal singing dampens overtones. It's the lifting of the soft palate to direct sound through the mouth and not into the nasal cavities that opens up overtones in the upper ranges.
You sound very intelligent,but that is an absurd point of view.Jeff Oxley sounded perfect in this group,due to the fact that the lead and baritone have very strong,deeper timbre'd voices.It works well.Its the closest thing to a perfect harmony ever by 4 men
Not so fast their stallion. In fact, no they don't "smash VS". I dare say you'd have a hard time listing the "smashes" on paper. Listen, I have the Acoustix in my top 3 of all time. Ready? Dealer's Choice, Vocal Spectrum and Acoustix AND not in any particular order. Although I will usually put VS on top.What is unique with these three groups is that they are the "pioneers" of the new sound when each of them came out. They, all three quartets in their time, ushered in a new sound. There was NOTHING like DC back in the day. Nothing compared. And oh by the way, they morphed their sound into and onto the Vocal Majority, who were the Masters of men's chorus sound for how many championships has it been? Yes, no one can take that from the DC quartet. VM was the beginning of a whole new sound.Acoustix were the next wave of excellence. Not to say there were not other great quartets, but Acoustix reset the bar and I think we all know that.Then Vocal Spectrum. To date, the epitome of all things Barbershop past and present. It is almost hilarious that you consider your ear so sharp as to say the Acoustix "smash" VS. That is a strong statement and of course you deliver no justification.I've only been around Barbershop for 43 years and I'm 55 now with a very very finicky pair of ears.Too bad I didn't see your comment 4 years ago so we could enjoy a nice conversation on this subject.In any case, enjoy the beauty of harmony regardless of the group, without a need to go and "smash" one over another. It somehow distracts from the beauty of the over and under tones......
@@12B4Christwhy is VS the epitome of barbershop past and present? i’ve always seen people talk about their influence, but never understood how and why? what did they do? just genuinely curious since im pretty new to barbershop
@@cesarvela1085 When you finely tune your ears to a variety of top quartets over the years, you may find out why they are the modern peak of quartet singing. There are only about five-ish quartets in my opinion who are standouts over time. My personal favorite and actually the most pivotal quartet in BS history was Dealers Choice. There is nearly none of their prime music on RUclips, but if you can find their original recordings from '72-73, they were THE gamechanger for everyone who would follow. Their sound was then incorporated in the Dallas chorus Vocal Majority who dominated for years after that. Amazing... but the other quartets who set the bar are the Innsiders, Second Edition, the amazing Acoustix and then Vocal Spectrum. The detail, blending, locking chords, arrangements etc...hey its just an opinion but you'll be hard pressed to find five better quartets of all time. Now...if you want the group outside BS who is still unmatched....find the early albums (and first Christmas album, I think it was a Christmas album) of Take 6. Yes, six guys with harmonies and unparalleled singing skills with Grammy wins under their belts. They stand alone in my opinion...
Oxley always sounds like he has a head cold. And that sound is worshiped and mimicked in the barbershop community. There's a ubiquitous, distinct absence of nasal-pharyngeal resonance across the quartets and choruses at SPEBSQA (or whatever the acronym is). You can blame him. He holds and traps his beautiful voice so he can hear it. Don't get me wrong, the Acoustix were (are?) amazing. But when individual vocal instruments ring as freely as the chords do--barbershop will be even better.
I still hate the woofie sound. I would crawl on my knees to hear the Buffalo Bills sing "Shine" before I would cross the street to hear all these woofie Quartets, no matter how perfect they think they sing. I'd dig a tunnel for the Sidewinders or Suntones. Don't even speak of the Gala Lads.
"But when individual vocal instruments ring as freely as the chords do--barbershop will be even better." true, but i'm afraid it wouldnt be barbershop. Sad dichotomy of the art. stifle technique to achieve a sound. ...Granted i love the sound, almost more than anything haha (as i bet do the other 56 peolpe who have liked this video)
16 seconds on a big note. Thank you Mr. Rick
Great singing in 2021
I'm still listening to Acoustix in 1990. Unbelievable! This is timeless!
I’m listening in 2021 and I’m blown away! ♥️
@@Wiener-Doo right there with ya :P
@@JordanWHuff this is the first year since I discovered BHS (6 yrs ago) that I didn’t watch any streaming events. Did they awards winners during the virtual meeting over the 4th of July this year or no? If yes, who won, please?
@@Wiener-Doo no, there was no international contest this year, so no medals given.
Here in 2024🎉
Honored by your kind words Jack. We'll be singing in the Worcester, MA area August 9-11, 2013 and are preparing for our 25th Anniversary Tour!
Just Beautiful. Especially when you sing of a mothers love so strong and its memories still haunts me. Makes me tear up every time I hear you sing that phrase.. I am nearly 70 but a real mothers love is always beautiful . I still miss her . Thanks
wow - I have loved this track on the CD for years - thank you for posting it.
Our family were personal friends with The Sidewinders, The Western Continentals, The Golden Staters, Command Performance, Boston Common...and lots of other amazing quartets...Acoustix seems a level above the rest. All their songs are brilliant!
I first heard Rick in the Yankees, we did a cabaret show in Tulsa and they sang for us, it was amazing to hear a full voice lead post at a 7 or 8 for 15 seconds or more...they blew us away... To this day leads have some big shoes to fill as do the other parts, but as a lead I've always been very respectful of Rick and his full rich sound.
Amazing group. My favourite quartet.
Absolutely brilliant!! What a fantastic video! Thank you for posting this in HD and cropping to 16x9 as well. The clarity is perfect and very useful for my kids to see what brilliant musicians look like during the "real" thing or a competitive performance. I never get tired of listing to this group and my students learn so much from watching. Now they all want to be in a Barber Shop quartet,
@TheseusTex I agree that the Oxley sound should not be apart of every quartet out there, but for the groups he's been in it has worked, seeing as the dude has three gold medals.
Plus, if you compare his singing in Acoustix to his work with Max Q, there's definitely a change in resonance. This is just a dark-timbred quartet.
It is amazing that they sing so in Tune. I love these guys and it sounds just like the CD without re-verb. No vocal tuning back then either.
My favorite quartet ever.
what can i say?! damn, they are so damn good!!!
Acoustix is still together. I see them every Thursday at VM rehearsal.
Gotta love Jeff Oxley!!!
This is the way this song should be sung. WOW fantastic good job guys!
2:06 Quite a tasteful bari tiddlly
@sasha14kelsee That's Jeff Oxley. He may look like Stallone/Bill Clinton, but he's an AMAZING singer.
Nothing like those old harmonies!
I am learning to sing the same open, dark bass style like Jeff Oxley in Acoustix. And it works.
Every time I listen to this I tingle all over
Every time I see Rick I am still amazed when he sings
I have sung with Mr Oxley, and aside from him being a force of pure nature, like Mike Rowe, his skin color sometimes worries me, as I am aware of no tribe that can be pale as a whitewashed fence at 4 PM and brown as a Caribbean berry by five.
Otherwise, way cool.
If you ever get to sing with Mike Rowe, do so, and then follow him around with a case of beer in a cooler. By 2 AM, he will have led you to the cool guys. By 3, they will have stolen all your beer.
And you won't mind.
Man you are hilarious. No I mean you are really funny. The exact kind of guy at afterglows that are a blast to run around with. Ah those were the days, my friend.
@sasha14kelsee I do. I think he really nails it and brings a super "patriotic" sound to the arrangement, what with his tall bass voice.
Well said. I've thought this exact same thing for years.
Final I have found somebody who says what I've been thinking for so long. Thank you for your comment. You couldn't be more correct!!
Also, a good example of a great bass that DOES use his forward resonance (and a quartet that also does) is Jim Henry in 2009 quartet champs, Crossroads. I consider Henry to embody the best barbershop bass sound, personally.
There is only 1 Acoustix period Amazing
vocal spectrum is incredible. especially because of tim waurick but acoustix has that awesome blend that VS doesn't have, along with Max Q and a lot of the traditional quartets. VS has that new quartet style. you know, the disney songs etc...
I actually disagree, vocal spectrum (especially today) quite possibly may be the most in tune and well blended quartet of all time
Edit: Lullaby comes to mind
Love this song
IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS
Only to have fun here and not argue BUT, you are close. There are three: Dealer's Choice. Acoustix. Vocal Spectrum. It's a short story. The End.Ok PS: Let's be honest here. Dealer's Choice is the all time pivotal moment in Barbershop Qtet history (and as choruses would have it, Vocal Majority also changed the chorus game by way of the tone of DC - it is easy to hear and the results prove the point). Without insulting those before DC, DC changed the sound, accuracy, tone etc for ALL who would follow. Listen to their early albums.DC "forced" those who would follow to a new level of perfection. In fact, some would say DC would have won several championships if allowed to compete. I say this fully loving the Innsiders, RR4 as well. There was plenty of talent along the way. I'm only saying that since 1973 and DC, there have only been two that are without parallel as noted above.
Jeff Oxley is actually an accomplished Operatic vocalist, and sang many an Opera at the Michigan Opera House.
quel enchantement pour mes oreilles
Madeleine Belleau
I know his background quite well. Even his classical, pop, and voice-over work is less muscled -- or at least more neutrally placed -- now than it was 20 years ago.
2:34 the way their able to draw you in, is uncanny
Good stuff.
This is actually indicative of the style, or perhaps those listening in from other styles of choral singing. You're correct in that there is an absence of nasal-pharyngeal resonance. This is taught and before people start protesting, I'll qualify this. If you were to use a spectrogram, you'd see how nasal-pharyngeal singing dampens overtones. It's the lifting of the soft palate to direct sound through the mouth and not into the nasal cavities that opens up overtones in the upper ranges.
Jeff, very young
That was the style then. Listen to Oxley sing with MaxQ; much more freely produced.
bill clinton with a tan looks great!
agreed! amazing bass too
You sound very intelligent,but that is an absurd point of view.Jeff Oxley sounded perfect in this group,due to the fact that the lead and baritone have very strong,deeper timbre'd voices.It works well.Its the closest thing to a perfect harmony ever by 4 men
LOL! Reading the comments, I can tell there are a lot of barbershoppers watching this video!
they smash vocal spectrum...nobody really compares to these guys.
Not so fast their stallion. In fact, no they don't "smash VS". I dare say you'd have a hard time listing the "smashes" on paper. Listen, I have the Acoustix in my top 3 of all time. Ready? Dealer's Choice, Vocal Spectrum and Acoustix AND not in any particular order. Although I will usually put VS on top.What is unique with these three groups is that they are the "pioneers" of the new sound when each of them came out. They, all three quartets in their time, ushered in a new sound. There was NOTHING like DC back in the day. Nothing compared. And oh by the way, they morphed their sound into and onto the Vocal Majority, who were the Masters of men's chorus sound for how many championships has it been? Yes, no one can take that from the DC quartet. VM was the beginning of a whole new sound.Acoustix were the next wave of excellence. Not to say there were not other great quartets, but Acoustix reset the bar and I think we all know that.Then Vocal Spectrum. To date, the epitome of all things Barbershop past and present. It is almost hilarious that you consider your ear so sharp as to say the Acoustix "smash" VS. That is a strong statement and of course you deliver no justification.I've only been around Barbershop for 43 years and I'm 55 now with a very very finicky pair of ears.Too bad I didn't see your comment 4 years ago so we could enjoy a nice conversation on this subject.In any case, enjoy the beauty of harmony regardless of the group, without a need to go and "smash" one over another. It somehow distracts from the beauty of the over and under tones......
@@12B4Christwhy is VS the epitome of barbershop past and present? i’ve always seen people talk about their influence, but never understood how and why? what did they do? just genuinely curious since im pretty new to barbershop
@@cesarvela1085 When you finely tune your ears to a variety of top quartets over the years, you may find out why they are the modern peak of quartet singing.
There are only about five-ish quartets in my opinion who are standouts over time.
My personal favorite and actually the most pivotal quartet in BS history was Dealers Choice. There is nearly none of their prime music on RUclips, but if you can find their original recordings from '72-73, they were THE gamechanger for everyone who would follow. Their sound was then incorporated in the Dallas chorus Vocal Majority who dominated for years after that.
Amazing... but the other quartets who set the bar are the Innsiders, Second Edition, the amazing Acoustix and then Vocal Spectrum.
The detail, blending, locking chords, arrangements etc...hey its just an opinion but you'll be hard pressed to find five better quartets of all time.
Now...if you want the group outside BS who is still unmatched....find the early albums (and first Christmas album, I think it was a Christmas album) of Take 6. Yes, six guys with harmonies and unparalleled singing skills with Grammy wins under their belts. They stand alone in my opinion...
what is this song called
An Irish Lullaby
Is that Sly or Sammy Jr?
Can someone provide me with names?
from left to right
Todd Wilson
Rick Middaugh
Jeff Oxley
Jason January
Oxley always sounds like he has a head cold. And that sound is worshiped and mimicked in the barbershop community. There's a ubiquitous, distinct absence of nasal-pharyngeal resonance across the quartets and choruses at SPEBSQA (or whatever the acronym is). You can blame him. He holds and traps his beautiful voice so he can hear it. Don't get me wrong, the Acoustix were (are?) amazing. But when individual vocal instruments ring as freely as the chords do--barbershop will be even better.
I still hate the woofie sound. I would crawl on my knees to hear the Buffalo Bills sing "Shine" before I would cross the street to hear all these woofie Quartets, no matter how perfect they think they sing.
I'd dig a tunnel for the Sidewinders or Suntones. Don't even speak of the Gala Lads.
Woofie?
"But when individual vocal instruments ring as freely as the chords do--barbershop will be even better."
true, but i'm afraid it wouldnt be barbershop. Sad dichotomy of the art. stifle technique to achieve a sound. ...Granted i love the sound, almost more than anything haha (as i bet do the other 56 peolpe who have liked this video)