AKA pella

Who gave you a hetter?

I think a capella is music, especially from back in the day (afterall, we do have Beatle fans here, so…)

A singers vocal cords are trained with little difference than a guitarist or violinist is trained to created a musical sound.

Also, singing to a singer is no less enjoyable than it is for a musician to play an instrument.

I am guessing a capella is ok during sfira because you are not making an external, independent object create music.

I dont listen to it during sfira on Kol Brama for the same reason as soliek

Good question to think about, though.

The issur is on live instrumental music, is it not (I certainly could be wrong, but this is what I was taught)? Acapella singing is not live music, no matter how much the voices sound like instruments. So the question then becomes, what is the intent of the issur? If it is to avoid the simcha of hearing beautiful sounds that lift the spirit, then it would make sense that even acapella is assur at those times. But if the issur is strictly on the musical instruments, because instruments bring about a certain level of enjoyment that even voices cannot, so it would make sense that the issur is only on hearing live musical instruments, but not on the acapella singing.

The real question is what is the Issur? The answer is nothing. We are supposed to avoid Simcha during Sefira and the 3 weeks. Music is not one of the things mentioned in the Shulchan Aruch. Dancing is mentioned in the Magen Avraham. So everything to do with music, or recorded music, or just a capella, is dependent on Minhagim. There are many different Minhagim. Most Chassidim actually have the Minhag that makes the most sense. They will listen to slow songs but not fast songs (since we assume that the issue with music comes from the Issur of dancing), regardless of a capella or instrumental.

There is little reason in the Halachic literature (aside from a Teshuvah in the Shevet Halevi, who has a great Svara but it’s not mentioned in the earlier Poskim on this issue) to differentiate between listening to a capella music and singing to oneself. That’s just something to keep in mind.

Lema’aseh, it’s very hard for anyone to give an actual P’sak on this. The best Eitzah that could be given is that if it causes you actual Simcha then you should probably have the Seichel to avoid it. (Simcha is very different than happiness. I once had someone complain to me that they find it very hard to be inspired during the 3 weeks because they can’t listen to inspiring music because that makes them happy. The goal is not to avoid any happiness or inspiration. The word “Simcha” should more accurately be translated as “joy”. We are supposed to avoid things that make us exceedingly happy or joyful.)

I don’t know about the halachic implications of this, but it sure sounds like AKA Pella, in some of their songs, electronically alters the voices.

Anyway, I asked my rav about listening to them during sefira, and he advised me not to. Obviously, everyone should ask his/her own shaila.