Beatboxing exercises mouth to make music
Read this quickly: boom ticky ticky boom ticky ticky ah!
Welcome to beatboxing 101, home to hip-hop pioneers such as Darren "Buffy, the Human Beat Box" Robinson, Doug E. Fresh and Biz Markie.
From spitting beats to mixing rhythms, the art of beatboxing has been an urban stronghold in the history of music. But urban isn't its only claim.
Also known as vocal percussion, this form of keeping rhythm with one's mouth began in inner-city urban youth areas of New York, said vocal jazz senior Ashton Moore.
"Record players were plugged into lampposts, that's how they got their electricity," Moore said. "They didn't have drums so they used their mouths as drums."
Beatboxing involves the use of the mouth, lips, tongue and throat to make sounds. Add a character with his/her hand cupped over their mouth, and a beatboxer is born.
Singer and songwriter Dan Vaillancourt incorporates beatboxing into his live shows, where he plays a 10-string guitar and wows audiences with how many sounds he can produce from the instrument, and his mouth.
"A lot of (beatboxing) comes from jazz singers," Vaillancourt said. "It's evolved from a lot of earlier traditions."
Vaillancourt also uses vocal turntables in addition to beatboxing to make his sound even more unique.
"I consider beatboxing the actual beat," Vaillancourt said. "Vocal turntable is the noise of the record scratch mimicked."
Musicians describe the differences between beatboxing and vocal percussion in many different ways.
"Beatboxers can produce tone," criminal justice senior and MSU Accafellas President Andrew Clarkson said. "Vocal percussionists can create sounds like drum sets."
A cappella groups tend to use vocal percussion, while hip-hop, rap or urban music use beatboxing.
Jazz musician Bobby McFerrin helped create the foundation of beatboxing as it is known today, Vaillancourt said. McFerrin also is known for the late '80s reggae-sounding hit, "Don't Worry Be Happy."
The beatboxing craze spawned a new genre of music.
Other beatboxing artists include Rahzel, Scratch, Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake.
After School Special, an a cappella group from Grand Valley State University, uses vocal percussion in its shows.
"I started playing the drums when I was 8 years old, and I'm so used to the sound of the acoustic drum," After School Special vocal percussionist and GVSU film and video sophomore Justin Dixon said. "I can reproduce them with my mouth."
But when it comes down to the last cadence, beatboxing appeals to many simply because of its originality, form and function.
"At the top of my list is drummer Mike Portnoy, the strongest backbone behind a band called Dream Theater," Dixon said. "He's been one of my biggest influences through his style."
For more information on beatboxing, visit www.beatboxing.com.
Published on Monday, February 7, 2005