Young men and women across India don't want to learn to play an instrument. They want to be the instrument. Beatboxers are arranging mouth shapes and patting their cheeks to sound like a flute, a drum, even a Maharashtrian folk instrument like the bagalbachcha. Is the look-ma no-wires brigade set to wipe out the orchestra? LALITHA SUHASINI listens in
Young men and women across India don't want to learn to play an instrument. They want to be the instrument. Beatboxers are arranging mouth shapes and patting their cheeks to sound like a flute, a drum, even a Maharashtrian folk instrument like the bagalbachcha. Is the look-ma no-wires brigade set to wipe out the orchestra? LALITHA SUHASINI listens in
Sixteen year-old Arjun Dewan from Chandigarh fluteboxes (imitates flute sounds) as he crams for his exams, ignoring his mother's yells to shut up. Aeronautical engineer Oscar Alex Noronha, 23, beatboxed the Bridal March at his sister's wedding at his mother Thelma's insistence. "There was no piano, so I stood there right next to the priest and beatboxed," says Noronha, still high on the memory of the unconventional premise to show off his talent. Sixteen year-old Xavierite Shaunak Roy, member of Kolkata-based hip-hop band Freeflo, decided to mouth percussion sounds because he wanted his performance to stand out from the rest.
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This week, Mumbai turns into beatbox central. London-based all-girl band The Boxettes will take over Blue Frog with two shows, followed by a gig by Norwegian beatboxer Droolian. Even though The Boxettes are being billed as the 'female Bauchklang', the band does a fusion of a ca pella (vocals without instrumental accompaniment), beatboxing and a full melodic set as opposed to the beatbox-heavy performance that Austrian group Bauchklang pulled off last year. The Boxettes's band member Yvette Riby Williams says in an e-mail interview, that beatboxing is easy to pick up. "It's all about arranging different mouth shapes and manoeuvres into patterns that are musical. You can alter sound, pitch and airflow using only your mouth. Once you have the fundamentals down -- the kick (the letter B), hi hat (the letter T), and snare, you are equipped to start making some heavy beats," says Williams.
It's big in Bengaluru Beatboxing has always had a fiery online presence, with videos and tutorials fuelling aspirants through the noughties. Bengaluru's Vineeth Kumar, 20, a psychology student who was a rage on MTV's talent hunt Rock On last year, swears by YouTube, where he has found artists such as Roxorloops and Beardyman. Kumar, who took up beatboxing two years ago, credits his school chum Likith Achaiah for having kickstarted the movement in Bengaluru. Achaiah who b-boys (hip hop dance style involving headstands and handstands), and Kumar, have formed Styling Slippers, a group of 12 b-boyers and two beatboxers. Bengaluru's Noronha agrees that anyone with a sense of tempo can beatbox. While Kumar's gospel singing background got him familiar with music, Noronha started off as a drummer. It helps if you are a musician but it's not crucial, insist most beatboxers. "You need a lot of time to practise when you start off. I was an engineering student with plenty of time, so I got hooked. My sister used to get iritated and would leave the room the moment I began beatboxing," says Noronha, who is also known as The Transformer for his heavily distorted guitar sounds.
Neil Pinto, also from Bengaluru, got hooked onto beatboxing two years ago, after he watched Jay Sean bust some grooves at a live show in Bengaluru.
Percussionist Taufiq Qureshi has inspired his students in Mumbai to form
a group called The Beatboxers, who imitate the sounds of Maharashtrian
folk percussion instruments such as bagalbachcha and cholga, and dafla
among others. Seen here (left to right) Lalit Rawat (29), Gautam Sharma (21),
founder member Dipesh Varma (23), Arun Solanki (26) and Khwab Haria (19).
PIC/ VIKAS MUNIPALLE
THE HANDBOOK
How to know your beatbox
The three rudimentary sounds of beatboxing are:
THE SNARE
Also known as the kettle drum, the snare produces rim shots, besides other grooves, when the drummer strikes the side of the snare. Besides drumsticks, brushes can be used on the snare to produce interesting patterns.
HI HAT
The hi hat includes the two cymbals, which produce the swishing and clanging sound, depending on the force used.
KICK
The kick drum or the bass drum, as the name suggests, produces bass beats and is played using a pedal.
BEATBOXING TIPS from professionals
Beatboxers, both professional and amateur, offer useful tips for beatboxers-in-the-making. YVETTE RIBY WILLIAMS of The Boxettes has four thumb rules:
>>PRACTICE makes perfect. Beat box along to records, songs you know, emulate the rhythms you can hear with the sounds you can already make.
>>BE MUSICAL, it is not always about how fancy you can make your beats sound. Think of your favourite songs; the catchiest grooves are always consistent.
>>EXPERIMENT. Once you've got the basics down, you are ready to start playing around with these sounds and making them your own. Try changing the shape of your mouth when you make your snare sounds, or maybe the position of your tongue with your hi hats. Everyone is unique, so there are going to be some amazing sounds that only you will be able to make!
>>ENJOY yourself -- That's what music is for! If it ain't fun, you're not doing it right! Don't miss the party.
TAUFIQ QURESHI
>BEATBOXING alters your normal breathing pattern and could make you feel giddy if you sit down and practise.
Always stand up when rehearsing.
>>IT COMBINES lung power and spit power. There should always be a circulation of spit in the mouth to beatbox well.
>>NEVER BEATBOX when you have a cold or cough.
>>BE FOCUSSED -- focus on your mind and sound and don't listen to any other sounds that might distract you. A lot of times, even at concerts, one cough sets off a chain reaction.
>>IF YOU have to cough, make that sound a part of your beatboxing set.
Learn to cover up.
PHILIPP SADEGAR of Bauchklang
>>Learning beatboxing takes the same qualities one has to master when learning any other instrument. Master different techniques, don't put yourself in musical limitations and most importantly use a childish approach to investigate the sounds within and around you. Go for musicality instead of virtuosity.
u00a0
"When people hear a song, they hum along. I just beatbox the whole track. I subconsciously break into beats," says Pinto, who also picked up tips from a DVD that featured 2007 American Idol Blake Lewis.
World champs inspire Kolkata Set the compass to the east, and you'll find Freeflo, possibly Kolkata's only hip-hop band featuring a beatboxer. Freeflo's beatboxer and synth player Shaunak Roy sought inspiration from his college band's drummer Sambit, when he watched him beatbox on MTV's Rock On. Roy introduced himself on FB and Sambit was happy to share what he knew. "I watched video clips of beatboxing battles, especially Australia's Joel Turner, a world beatbox champ," says Roy adding, "I practised all the time -- on the road, at home, at school." Says Abbie of Mumbai beatboxing group Abhimanyu Tony Sounds (ATS), "Beatboxing requires a lot of stamina, your breathing accelerates and you have to maintain the rhythm while creating music."
Up North, even as Delhi slowly warms up to the human drum machines, Chandigarh's Dewan plans to fly down to Oz to participate in amateur beatboxing battles. "I took two months to get the flute sounds right. I'm also a drummer, so I have a sense of tempo."
Original beats IIndian beatboxers have broken away from the typical hip-hop style to come up with ingenious rhythms that have been inspired by local sounds. Kumar invented the 'tapang' style of beatboxing. Tapang koothu, the South Indian version of tapori or street music has an intrinsic beat style (think the Abhishek Bachchan ad for a mobile company featuring the track Apdi Podu). Kolkata's Roy fuses the sound of the tabla and western drum when he performs with Freeflo. Home-grown beatboxing hero and percussionist Taufiq Qureshi has inspired his students to form a group called The Beatboxers, who imitate the sounds of Maharashtrian folk percussion instruments such as bagalbachcha and cholga, and dafla among others. "Beatboxing sounds good with any folk form, especially Rajasthani folk music because of its staccato sound which is close to the Spanish flamenco style of music." Which is why Indian audiences were blown away watching UK-based Jason Singh perform with the Manganiyars of Rajasthan at a concert in Bengaluru.
The beginnings
Blame American rapper Doug E Fresh, who spawned a generation of beatboxers in NYC in the 80s. Fresh was one of the earliest beatboxers to introduce the art of miming drum sounds alongside rapping, turning the hip-hop movement on its head. Soon Hollywood had its own beatboxer -- Police Academy, the cheesy over-the-top 1984 flick had vocal effects master Michael Winslow stealing the show. Qureshi recalls how a Bobby McFerrin concert in 1995 set his act rolling. "I caught the show from the fifth row and was blown away. I got thinking about incorporating Indian rhythms and sounds into beatboxing." This July, The Beatboxers from Mumbai will give Nepal its first taste of beatboxing. Bandra beatboxers Boxy Turvy open for The Boxettes. Drum roll please.
Oscar Alex Noronha does The Transformer act
WHERE TO LEARN BEATBOXING
The best beatboxing gurus are online. Get onto YouTube and look for these artists on YouTube:
>>Roxorloops, Belgium
>>Beardyman, UK
>>Joel Turner, Australia
>>Joseph Poolpo, France
ALSO CHECK OUT https://www.beatboxtutorial.net/
TREND FORECAST
WHAT NEXT AFTER BEATBOXING?
The Boxettes' Yvette Riby Williams suggests that the next level will be to go beyond the incorporation of beatbox and vocal scratching (when a person uses his/her voice to imitateu00a0 the sounds of a DJ scratching a record on a turntable). "Traditional vocal harmonies and instrument impressions will be fused into something completely new, re-birthing vocal ability and changing the world's perceptions of what a ca pella music can be," says Williams. Ghanekar adds that beatboxing could evolve to produce groups across various genres of music, even jazz, without the need for any instrumental accompaniment.
Only voices.
BEATBOX IN MAINSTREAM VISHAL DADLANI, Bollywood composer/rock band Pentagram vocalist
"Beatboxers on a CD sound like a bunch of synths, so there's no point having them on a Bollywood soundtrack. It's the visual performance that is mindbending. Randolph and I did some beatboxing on stage at Hard Rock Caf ufffd, and it was fun."
DHRUV GHANEKAR, composer, recorded Bauchklang for the soundtrack of Abhishek Bachchanstarrer Drona
"I had Bauchklang onDrona just as an experiment. If you close your eyes and listen, you could be fooled that it's instruments and not human voices that you hear."
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