Its first recording is an a cappella version from 1922 by the Sacred Harp Choir.

A cappella ( Italian for " in the manner of the church " or " in the manner of the chapel ", also see gospel music and choir ) music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way.

A cappella music originally was, and still often is, used in religious music, especially church music as well as anasheed and zemirot.

Gregorian chant is an example of a cappella singing, as is the majority of secular vocal music from the Renaissance.

The madrigal, up until its development in the early Baroque into an instrumentally-accompanied form, is also usually in a cappella form.

Sacred Harp, a type of religious folk music, is an a cappella style of religious singing, but is more often sung at singing conventions than at church services.

Since “ a cappella ” singing brought a new polyphony with instrumental accompaniment, it is not surprising that Protestant reformers who opposed the instruments ( such as Calvin and Zwingli ) also opposed the polyphony.

One such example is the a cappella release of Jay-Z's Black Album, which Danger Mouse mixed with The Beatles ' White Album to create The Grey Album.

A cappella's growth is not limited to live performance, with hundreds of recorded a cappella albums produced over the past decade.

The song is not actually performed a cappella, but rather, explains that before her son was born, her life was without music.

As a result, a cappella singing is once again growing, with a handful of internationally acclaimed groups ( The Idea Of North, Suade, Coco's Lunch, Akasa ), and a growing local scene.

It is not clear exactly where collegiate a cappella began.

The Rensselyrics of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ( formerly known as the RPI Glee Club ), established in 1873 is perhaps the oldest known collegiate a cappella group.

Another successful a cappella group is Straight No Chaser ( SNC ), which is actually two separate but related groups, one of which is an a cappella, collegiate group from Indiana University in the USA.

Beatboxing is a form of a cappella music popular in the hip-hop community, where rap is often performed a cappella also.

Co-ed South Asian a cappella groups are also gaining in popularity.

A cappella groups exploded in popularity beginning in the 1990s, fueled in part by a change in style popularized by the Tufts University Beelzebubs and the Boston University Dear Abbeys.

Unaccompanied or A cappella styles of singing are performed across the modern Celtic world due to the folk music revival, popularity of Celtic choirs, world music, scat singing and hip hop rapping in Celtic languages.

The popularity of a cappella singing faded for a period in the early 1970s and The Sherwoods stopped auditioning new members in 1973.

A group chosen to be on the BOCA album earns much credibility among the a cappella community.

In 1881, Ponchielli was appointed maestro di cappella of the Bergamo Cathedral, and from the same year he was a professor of composition at the Milan Conservatory, where among his students were Puccini, Mascagni and Emilio Pizzi.

Doo-wop is popular among barbershoppers and collegiate a cappella groups due to its easy adaptation to an all-vocal form.

By 1948 the song had sold about 100, 000 copies in Africa and among black South African immigrants in Great Britain and had lent its name to a style of African a cappella music that evolved into isicathamiya ( also called mbube ), popularized by Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

His madrigals, on the other hand, are a cappella, in the late Renaissance style, so Agazzari simultaneously showed extreme progressive tendencies as well as some more conservative ones: unusually, his progressive music was sacred, and his conservative was secular, a situation almost unique among composers of the early Baroque.

For instance, in the Highlands, the valiha and more subdued vocal styles are emblematic of the Merina, the predominantly Austronesian ethnic group that has inhabited the area since at least the 15th century, whereas among the southern Bara people, who trace their ancestry back to the African mainland, their a cappella vocal traditions bear close resemblance to the polyharmonic singing style common to South Africa.

The band's instrumentation often features abrupt shifts among electric, acoustic and a cappella, with striking use of tacets.

Notable among these are members of the Tone Rangers, a Washington, D. C .- based a cappella group composed almost entirely of Hangovers and Yale University Whiffenpoofs alumni, and The Breakers, a group of former Hangovers who recently toured Malaysia.

They were known for rich 6-8 part harmony music unique among other a cappella groups of their time.

Also known for his solo recordings, Walker has helped in the development of albums and CDs of a cappella composition performed by, among others, the Freed-Hardeman University Singers and the Harding University Choir.

His standard setup, used to mix Gold Teeth Thief among other works, involves three turntables, on which he creates complicated mixes — such as one with a cappella vocals, the second with breakbeats, and the third with ambient effects.

The success of the ensemble was emulated by other regional conductors, and a rich tradition of a cappella choral music was born in the region at colleges like Concordia College ( Moorhead, Minnesota ), Augustana College ( Rock Island, Illinois ), Wartburg College ( Waverly, Iowa ), Luther College ( Decorah, Iowa ), Gustavus Adolphus College ( St. Peter, Minnesota ), Augustana College ( Sioux Falls, South Dakota ), and Augsburg College ( Minneapolis, Minnesota ).

The first South Asian a cappella group was Penn Masala, founded in 1996 at the University of Pennsylvania.

Maize Mirchi, the co-ed a cappella group from the University of Michigan hosts " Sa Re Ga Ma Pella ", an annual South Asian a cappella invitational with various groups from the Midwest.

* In an episode of the animated TV series South Park, Eric Cartman and the United States Congress sing " Heat of the Moment " a cappella.

Falsetto is also common in African folk music, especially the South African style called Mbube, traditionally performed by an all-male a cappella chorus.

The 1930s also saw the spread of Zulu a cappella singing from the Natal area to much of South Africa.

The South African a cappella group Overtone recorded the song for director Clint Eastwood's movie Invictus ( 2009 ).

* Songs from North and South for children's chorus a cappella ( 1993-2008 )

" Mambazo " is the primary a cappella group from South Africa to garner worldwide attention ; all other widely-known South African musicians use some form of instrumental backing, though some groups such as the Mahotella Queens, who sing against an electric guitar " Mbaqanga " melody, occasionally sing without instrumental backing.

Collegiate a cappella spans multiple genres and styles: alternative and hard rock ; comedy ; Jewish, including mostly Yiddish or Hebrew songs ; Christian, including Christian pop and rearranged hymns ; South Asian fusion ( mainly composed of youth of South Asian origin or heritage ); jazz-influenced pop ; fusion groups ; barbershop ; Rhythm & Blues ; madrigals ; and jazz.

South Korean boy group U-KISS did an a cappella version of the hit song.

* Comedy performance by Bob Hope, Ben Blue and Patricia Wilder ; “ Way Down South in Dixie ,” sung a cappella by Patricia Wilder.

She discovered Overtone, a South African a cappella band, during the filming of Clint's film Invictus.

* " Brown Sugar " ( a cappella ), a South Asian a cappella group at Northwestern University

Dartmouth Taal is Dartmouth's only South Asian Fusion a cappella group.