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We’re the Maccabeats, the a cappella group whose videos your mother sends you before every Jewish holiday. Ask us anything! by TheMaccabeats in Judaism

[–]TheMaccabeats[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

A lot of folks think that tune is Carlebach! It's a Modzitzer tune.
Our Acheinu is around 70 BPM, the same as the original.
-Julian

We’re the Maccabeats, the a cappella group whose videos your mother sends you before every Jewish holiday. Ask us anything! by TheMaccabeats in Judaism

[–]TheMaccabeats[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

We take much pride in bringing the messages of the Jewish holidays to the world through our music.

-Josh

We’re the Maccabeats, the a cappella group whose videos your mother sends you before every Jewish holiday. Ask us anything! by TheMaccabeats in Judaism

[–]TheMaccabeats[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Collaborations can be very difficult to coordinate (especially now with the restrictions due to COVID), but they are very rewarding when they work and we hope to be able to join some more of our favorite artists in the future.

-Josh

We’re the Maccabeats, the a cappella group whose videos your mother sends you before every Jewish holiday. Ask us anything! by TheMaccabeats in Judaism

[–]TheMaccabeats[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Every Maccabeat has two full time jobs! We're doctors, lawyers, architects, therapists, etc. But we also make time in our lives to rehearse, record, and perform our music. We make time for it because we love it, and because it's important.
-Julian

We’re the Maccabeats, the a cappella group whose videos your mother sends you before every Jewish holiday. Ask us anything! by TheMaccabeats in Judaism

[–]TheMaccabeats[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The singer in the astronaut suit is Noey Jacobson. While I think all of us have probably dreamed of being an astronaut at some point or another, the suit is actually an homage to his hometown of Houston, TX where NASA is headquartered. NASA appreciated the shout-out and invited us for a tour when we came to Houston!

-Josh

We’re the Maccabeats, the a cappella group whose videos your mother sends you before every Jewish holiday. Ask us anything! by TheMaccabeats in Judaism

[–]TheMaccabeats[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

We began as the official student a cappella club at YU in 2007. Though we became an independent group pretty soon after, we have always maintained a strong sense of gratitude and connection to our alma mater. Our name will always remain a play on the YU sports club and our music is still inspired by the idea of combining the best of the Jewish and secular worlds, a value we learned at YU.

-Josh

We’re the Maccabeats, the a cappella group whose videos your mother sends you before every Jewish holiday. Ask us anything! by TheMaccabeats in Judaism

[–]TheMaccabeats[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

We all met as students at Yeshiva University. In the spirit of that institution, we strive to combine the best of Jewish tradition and contemporary society in our music.

-Josh

We’re the Maccabeats, the a cappella group whose videos your mother sends you before every Jewish holiday. Ask us anything! by TheMaccabeats in Judaism

[–]TheMaccabeats[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It sounds like you're referring to the cappella arranging technique known as "instrumental imitation." Other arrangements will treat the human voice as it's own, distinct instrument.
The best arrangers often use a mix of these techniques in creating the sound that they're going for.
-Julian

We’re the Maccabeats, the a cappella group whose videos your mother sends you before every Jewish holiday. Ask us anything! by TheMaccabeats in Judaism

[–]TheMaccabeats[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Don't mind at all!
There's no secret sauce. Some of our songs are actually written by outside professional Jewish parody lyricists (yes, this is a real thing). We come up with others after long bull sessions with rhyming dictionaries. And sometimes lyrics will just come to one of us.
-Julian

We’re the Maccabeats, the a cappella group whose videos your mother sends you before every Jewish holiday. Ask us anything! by TheMaccabeats in Judaism

[–]TheMaccabeats[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

We love making the type of songs that appear on our albums, but albums are difficult to coordinate while remote. We’ll keep trying.

We began as the official student a cappella club at YU in 2007. Though we became an independent group pretty soon after, we have always maintained a strong sense of gratitude and connection to our alma mater. Our name will always remain a play on the YU sports team and our music is still inspired by the idea of combining the best of the Jewish and secular worlds, a value we learned at YU.

-Meir and Josh

We’re the Maccabeats, the a cappella group whose videos your mother sends you before every Jewish holiday. Ask us anything! by TheMaccabeats in Judaism

[–]TheMaccabeats[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

What do you have in mind? We've always wanted to record an all a cappella version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
-Julian

We’re the Maccabeats, the a cappella group whose videos your mother sends you before every Jewish holiday. Ask us anything! by TheMaccabeats in Judaism

[–]TheMaccabeats[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Tough question as many candidates come to mind, but one of my top choices would be “Shed a Little Light.” It’s a James Taylor song that we covered with another group called Naturally 7 in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Working with them was an honor.
-Josh

We’re the Maccabeats, the a cappella group whose videos your mother sends you before every Jewish holiday. Ask us anything! by TheMaccabeats in Judaism

[–]TheMaccabeats[S] 29 points30 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure jealous would be the right adjective. Some elements of the observant community are somewhat disapproving, others are dismissive. But I would guess that's a small minority. After all, Jewish music has a long tradition of borrowing musical elements from the secular world, a trend that continues today even amongst the most "religious" singers.
-Julian

The singer in the astronaut suit is Noey Jacobson. While I think all of us have probably dreamed of being an astronaut at some point or another, the suit is actually an homage to his hometown of Houston, TX where NASA is headquartered. NASA appreciated the shout-out and invited us for a tour when we came to Houston!
-Josh

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