A.K.A Pella

from http://afewjews.com/index.html "The infamous aka pella riots video clip has been released to the masses - CAUTION: it's hysterical!" It is also so in-your-face AMERICAN

a.k.a.pella released an album for sefira that sounds exactly like a non-sefira album. That was accomplished by using the voice of one of the group members, a talented musician whose voice can imitate musical instruments, and then enhancing it electronically so that it is indistinguishable form instrumental music. Should it be mutar? I saw a discussion in the Yated in the spring of 2006 in which R. Y. Belsky stated that even purely vocal acapella recording is now considered music and assur. This is because it is digitally mastered with imperfections removed and thus becomes a recording, performed by an instrument and included in the issur of music. If so, this should certainly be osur. On the other hand, if you accept the equating of digitally mastered acapella with recorded vocal music and permit recordings of acapella singing, as has become customary, this should also be perfectly muttar. The source for the distinction between instrumental and vocal music is the gemara in Gittin 7a about mourning for the Mikdash. From the verse "Don't drink wine with song" (Yishayahu 24:9) we learn that instrumental music is forbidden; from the additional verse "Israel, don't rejoice unto delight like the nations" (Hoshea 9:1) we learn that vocal music is also forbidden. From the order we learn that there is a greater stricture for instrumental music. And according to Rashi there is also a practical distinction, in that vocal music is only forbidden in a wine house whereas instrumental music is forbidden in general. This implies that instrumental music is forbidden because it is associated with celebrations. A later source which reinforces this impression is the statement of the Maharil that it is improper to make a wedding without musical instruments, for these are the main way we gladden the bride and groom (Maharil Eiruvei Chatzeirot). A reasonable conclusion would be that in our time, when recorded music is not only associated with celebration, it should be permitted. However, Tzitz Eliezer15:33 seems to feel that the association is still sufficiently strong that recorded music remains forbidden and such is the common practice. How does this relate to aka-pele? It would seem to me, lehalacha if not lmaase, that this brand of vocal music that sounds exactly like instrumental recordings, is associated with celebrations and that it should remain forbidden. If you hold that it's mutar during sefira, the recording in the above video contains only  digitally mastered human voice. Now another question? Having seen the video, should it be forbidden for other reasons?

Comments

[Avi Block]

My personal opinion is that the minhag not to listen to music developed from the general minhag of decreasing joy and dancing during sefira. To be sure, music per se is not mentioned any where in the shulchan aruch. With dancing comes music so live dancing music became assur. My speculation is that there jews back then only had music during times of dancing and joy because there was no time for "stam" recreational listening. So of course "music" became assur. When people started listening to more recreational, non-dancing music, this became assur too because, after all, people hadn't been listening to music in the past during this time. They of course never realized that this issur was only for dancing and joy and not for non-dancing music. Nowadays we have recorded music. By my speculation, the original issur would only include listening to music, any music live or recorded, for purposes of dancing. While there may be several halachik discussions as to whether there is a difference between live and recorded music, that's not the crux of issue. Live music and recorded music, whether permitted or forbidden, is entirely dependent on the motive of the listening.
However you slice it, modern acapella music is the same thing as recorded music. Imagine if i was to record my voice in a way that I can play it back in an infinite loop without noticing any break (kind of like an organ) and playing that sound through a synthesizer. Is this any different from playing the saxophone sound on the synthesizer? Obviously not. Processed acapella music is no different than musical sounds coming from a synthesizer. Therefore modern acapella music is no different than recorded music. However all this is moot...it all depends on the motive of listening to the music.
This is all my speculation.

[avakesh]

I agree; that is what I emant by "associated" with celebration. However, the practice is either diverging from this anlysis or considers the weak association sufficient to prohibit also recorded music.

[Avi Block]

Bottom line I think is that if you think recorded music is prohibited, this type of acapella music should also be prohibited because of three reasons. 1) The processing of the vocals already puts it ino the class of synthesized music. 2) The same "weak association" that assurs recorded music, should assur this because this type of music just replaces the "regular" music that we listen to all year around (according to this reason, all professional acapella music should be assur, even if it's not processed 3) If it sounds like music, talks like music and presents itself as music, it's music....