An uncommon experience for 蝌蚪直播's Common Tones
Since late 2022, the student聽a cappella group Common Tones of Boston College has been posting content on TikTok that features the music they鈥檙e working on and highlights their upcoming shows. So no one in the group thought much of posting a cover of 鈥淐arol of the Bells鈥� this past December鈥攖hat is, until the video got more than 70 million views in a matter of weeks.
Inspired by the many people clamoring to hear more from them, the Common Tones continued posting videos to the 300,000-plus followers they quickly accumulated; as members recalled, it seemed that thousands more supporters would appear as soon as they refreshed their account page.
The group had just adjusted to this new-found virality when the Grammy Awards TikTok account commented on their 鈥淐arol of the Bells鈥� video, asking them if they could create and sing a mashup of the songs nominated for Song of the Year. The dream in which they found themselves had just gotten better.
Immediately, the students got to work on an arrangement. The Tones collaborated with the Office of University Communications to shoot the video accompanying their mashup during a lengthy session in Bapst Library.
Director of Creative Video Services John Walsh and Senior Digital Content Producer Ariana Cho said they enjoyed coming together with this talented group of students for a memorable project. "Everyone on the cast and crew played a key role in the production and helped to create a fun and collaborative environment in Bapst that evening. We鈥檒l always find it inspiring to see talented, passionate people come together around a shared goal.鈥�
Video by University Communications |聽Director: Ariana Cho;聽Producer, Director of Photography, Editor: John Walsh;聽B-Cam: Alex Orav; Audio Production: Paul Dagnello. For full credits and song list, .
While the Grammys did not end up sharing the video, the group is in no way discouraged. For these students, spending time together making music, whether on campus or at children鈥檚 hospitals and women鈥檚 centers around Boston, is all the reward they need.
Common Tones President Ella O鈥橩elly-Lynch 鈥�24 said she is grateful not only for the exposure her group has gotten but for those around her who helped create an environment where the arts could be appreciated. 鈥淭he Grammy video was a very cool experience to be a part of and the culmination of two weeks of intense work. Our student arrangers put together a great eight-song mashup, and it was wonderful to collaborate with the University Communications team to produce the final product. We appreciate the opportunity to share our music with a wider audience.鈥�
For O鈥橩elly-Lynch, the group鈥檚 service component is her favorite part of the Common Tones experience: 鈥淭here is something so special about sharing our love of music with the Boston community, and bringing joy into the lives of so many going through tough times.鈥�
Lucy Liu 鈥�27 said the video project deepened her love for the Tones. 鈥淲e were spending so much time together to complete the video by the deadline, and I would still leave rehearsal looking forward to the next time I鈥檇 see everyone.鈥�
Meghan Keefe is a senior in 蝌蚪直播's Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences