A cappella group hire in Australia: the complete guide

Nothing to plug in, nothing to set up, nothing to take down. Four to six singers walk into a space, stand in an arc and perform, and twenty minutes later they are doing the same thing in a different part of the building. That portability is the whole argument for this category and it solves problems that no amount of budget solves for an amplified act.

It is the small, mobile version of a choir rather than a different art form, and it costs accordingly. The live figures from the listed groups sit below. Sydney has by far the deepest pool, with Melbourne and Perth next.

The range by city is underneath. What makes these groups good value is what is missing from the quote: no PA, no engineer, no van, no two hour bump in, no power requirement and no cables across a doorway. The fee is the singers and the rehearsal that got them singing together, and very little else.

Group size is the main variable, and there is a real difference between four voices and six. Four can cover the parts. Six gives you a fuller sound and lets people breathe at different times, which matters over a long booking. Ask what each option sounds like rather than assuming more is automatically better.

Because there is nothing to move, a group can sing in the courtyard while guests arrive, move to the foyer for canapes, then appear beside the tables during the meal. Three locations in one booking, no changeover time, no equipment being wheeled past the guests. An amplified act cannot do any of that without an hour of work between each spot.

Plan the route with them rather than just booking hours. Tell them where people will be at each point in the evening and let them suggest where to stand, since a group that has worked a lot of venues will spot the good acoustic corner of your space faster than you will.

Heritage buildings, galleries, hospitals, aged care homes, boardrooms, private houses and venues with strict rules about amplification are all places where this is often the only live option. No power draw, no noise complaint, no risk to a floor, and the group fits in a space that a duo with a PA does not.

The same applies outdoors on a small scale. A group singing on a lawn to guests standing nearby works without a single cable, and there is no generator humming underneath it. Just keep the audience close, because voices on open grass do not travel far.

The range within this category is wide. Some groups are close-harmony traditional, some do contemporary pop arrangements with a vocal bass and a beatboxer holding the rhythm, some lean barbershop, some do jazz standards. They all appear under the same heading and they suit very different rooms.

Judge it from live footage rather than a recording. Studio vocals can be stacked and tuned until any group sounds perfect, and what you need to know is how five people sound together in a room with no help. A clip filmed on a phone at a real event tells you more than a polished video does.

Is this four voices or six, and what does the extra one add? Can you move between spaces during the booking, and how many locations? How long is a set before you need a rest? What is your style, and can you send live footage of it? And do you need anywhere to warm up?

Ask about rest properly. Voices tire in a way that instruments do not, so a group will work in sets of twenty to thirty minutes rather than singing continuously for two hours. Build those gaps into your run sheet instead of discovering them on the night.