1) Where is the most exciting place you’ve sang?
One of the most exciting places TakeNote has sang at since I have been in the group would have to be last spring where we were asked to sing at a friends wedding on a gorgeous farm! The actual ceremony took place in the most scenic barn! Singing as she walked down the aisle and again as they exchanged their rings was such an amazing feeling! It was so cool, it was like we were creating the background music to a romantic movie scene.
Caroline Mosteller, Sophomore
2) How do you train your voice here at Clemson?
Personally, I do most of my “vocal training” in the car driving around town. I’ve totally been busted yodeling with the windows down or making weird faces while doing warm-ups on the way to a gig…Oops. But in all seriousness, each of us girls find different ways to keep our voices in top shape. We are all enrolled in a larger choral ensemble, which helps us to maintain our technique. Some of our girls also take vocal lessons here at Clemson.
Elizabeth Catalano, Junior
3) Were you nervous during your audition for Take Note?
Initially going into the audition I was nervous and anxious but the girls were so nice and created a welcoming atmosphere! It wasn’t as intense and nerve-racking as I thought it would be. I sincerely enjoyed the experience!
Emma Templeton, Sophomore
4) How do TakeNote and Tiger Roar interact with one another?
The relationship between TakeNote and Tiger Roar really has a brother/sister feel. We have our big show together every fall semester which includes a joint song! There are of course times when we’re competitive, but we really help each other out whenever we can. Last spring TakeNote participated in Rockapella, a benefit Tiger Roar put on with GSS. This semester a bunch of the Tiger Roar boys came and watched us sing at Midweek Music in the library! We’re definitely good friends with all the guys!
Savanna Sullivan, Junior
5) Is Pitch Perfect now one of your favorite movies, or do you think they portray accapella groups all wrong? How close are the Bella’s in Pitch Perfect to Take Note?
Pitch Perfect is hilarious and somewhat an exaggeration of what accapella groups are, but they do portray the accapella “scene” quite well. There are definitely some differences between the Barden Bella’s and TakeNote are that we do not have practice every day, nor are the practices super intense like in the movie, and our group isn’t run by just one person. We have a steering committee that is influential in choosing songs that the group wants to sing, choosing what gigs we perform at, and when our concert is. They handle the business side of the group and do a lot of the behind-the-scenes work. As far as the accapella scene goes, the competitions run similarly to the one in the movie. We recently hosted the ICCA South Quarterfinal in Tillman, and the competition was very tight. There are some similarities between the Bella’s and TakeNote as well, and those all consist of us being extremely close. We all are such good friends, and sharing that love of music has made us become that way.
Amanda Sparkman, Junior
7) What is your favorite song that you’ve performed?
Last semester we sang “Somebody That I Used To Know” and it has definitely my been my favorite song we’ve performed ever since! It was really dramatic and a lot of fun to sing.
Meredith Caldwell, Senior
8) Vocal Warm-ups- Love them or hate them?
Vocal warm ups are sometimes weird to do, but they help out our voices tremendously. We can’t just go right into a song without warming up because we can risk injuring our vocal cords or sounding terrible on songs. I personally love them because they help me to be able to sing the best that I can! The group definitely benefits from warm-ups and vocal exercises, so I can say that we wouldn’t be the same without them.
Amanda Sparkman, Junior