Arun Venugopal (UH-roon VAY-noo-go-pahl), also known as V. Arun, is a Massachusetts native studying a combined major of Physics + Music Composition & Technology, with a minor in Music Recording. His musical origins began with the violin, taking lessons from 8 through 18. In high school, he participated in the school orchestra, choir, jazz choir, a cappella group, theatre guild, musicals, and was director of the student-run symphony orchestra. At Northeastern University, he switched from violin to vocal percussion as he became the sole beatboxer for The Nor’easters a cappella group at the start of his freshman year. Through his five years with the group, he has performed all over the world, travelling to New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, London, Oxford, and even Hong Kong. His exposure to vocal music fed his interest in vocal research, specifically in the fields of technique and arranging. Pairing his affinity for the voice with background knowledge in composition, production, and orchestration is part of his current creative focus; he is also learning guitar, cajon, tabla, and piano. On the side, he is a passionate advocate for South Asian-American representation in the arts and is developing a network to connect and support musicians around the country.
The Shape of A-E-I-O-U: A Case Study of Vowel Height, Vocal Synthesis, and Placement in Collegiate A Cappella Singers.
Written in Professor Anthony De Ritis’s Introduction to Composition course, this string quartet is written in the traditional form of a sonata with an exposition, development, and recapitulation, but uses non-traditional compositional ideas. The themes are sonically contrasting, swinging from light to dark, uplifting to intense brooding. Reflective of his emotions-at-war through that time period, the piece encapsulates cheeriness vs. frustration; hope vs. anguish; and calm vs. anxiety.
Drown (originally performed by Kovic, arranged for The Nor’easters)
An electronic-pop song turned a cappella arrangement, Drown falls in the family of songs covered by The Nor’easters that have turned upbeat EDM into an emotional journey. Written for the voices in the group at the time, the personalized arrangement for The Nor’easters features arranging techniques such as: hockets (fast rhythmic passages that are split between voice parts); a descant-style soprano 1 line; and a bass line that imitates a bass guitar instead of a bass singer. The sheet music includes individualized directions for singers at certain sections. In the demo, all voice parts, with the exception of the solo, and vocal percussion were recorded and produced by Arun.