Hannah Elstro, MVC writer and photographer October 24, 2022
Mt. Vernon was lucky enough to offer the opportunity for band and choir students from the middle and high school to see Daniel Bell live on September 12th.Bell is a very unique brand of musician. Using a technique called “live looping,” these people play a song, part by part, and, using technology, create an entire song’s sounds by themselves over a matter of just a few minutes.During the performance, he played several well-known songs, including Taylor Swift’s “Our Song,” Harry Styles’ “Ant Farm”, and Arianna Grande’s “Thank U, Next.”He also played one of his own, called “Daddy’s Little Girl,” a sweet song about his daughter.
During this time, Bell was also aided by a friend of his, a very good saxophone player, who was given several solos throughout the session.For the very last song, Bell gave the audience a crash course in beatboxing before asking for volunteers.The first volunteer was from the band, and started off the loop with some beatboxing.After the loop was started, he asked for four more volunteers: two from the band and two from the choir.He instructed the volunteers on what to do, including singing, speaking, beatboxing, and playing.He even let a volunteer hold his guitar, which is impressive, given how precious a musician’s instrument is to them.In the end, all the vocals and playing came together to make the final song, “Storm Warning” by Hunter Hayes, before students were dismissed to their fourth period classes.
