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FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
1) My sounds aren’t loud enough and my kick sound is weak and lacking bass. How can I get louder and more powerful?
Your lack of bass and loudness is very normal for beginners. In fact, it is always the case. As you practice, the muscles surrounding your mouth are beginning to develop. You simply have to practice more, and as your muscles strengthen, so will your sound.
One point of interest: The “kick” sound, as well as “snare 1″, are both made using the same basic technique, which involves a tightening of your lips followed by a loosening as you “expel” the sound. Often times, a lot of sound is lost in the loosening phase of the technique. I want you to really concentrate on both parts (tightening and loosening) and for the time being, think of them as separate techniques. For Snare 1, try thinking about and forming the letters
“PB”
as you tighten, and then pronounce the letter
“F”
as you loosen. Remember, for snare 1 the air is expelled from the front of your lips, but the kick is expelled from the side of the mouth. The amount of “F” as you loosen will determine the “character” of the snare (e.g., short, long, sharp, loose, etc).
2) I can’t hum or sing while I beatbox. What’s wrong?
Try humming first. Remember, the “hum” comes from vibrations in your nasal passage. Try saying “Unnnnnnn” The “nnn” is the hum tone you work with. Once you’ve got that sound, try executing a kick sound. Got that? Now, make the kick sound and, at the same time, vibrate to get the “nnn” tone.
If you lose the hum tone, it probably has to do with breathing. It takes air to cause vibration. So concentrate and breathing in between sounds (beats). It takes a while, but you’ll get it!
Many people are interested in the technique of beatboxing and talking/singing simultaneously. Take a look at this quote from Beatboxer Killa Kela:
“When you hear Rahzel’s ‘If Your Mother Only Knew’, think ventriloquism. Think using your tongue to say the words, and let your mouth do the talking, let your mouth do the beatbox, and let your tongue do the talking, does that make sense? You gotta think that way, and all you’ve got to worry about then is impressing the people.” (taken from www.humanbeatbox.com)
This pretty much sums it up. The technique of talking and beatboxing at the same time is 50 percent actual technique and 50 percent convincing the audience.
Here are some hints as to technique:
You will notice that certain techniques begin with specific letters of the alphabet. For example, the kick technique starts with a “B.” A very easy way to insert a word into a beatbox pattern is layering a “b” word (example: Beatbox) over a kick. Try saying “BEAT” while making a kick sound. You will notice that the “BEA-” portion of the word fits well over the kick, and if you pronounce the “–T” at the end of “BEAT” you have just made a hi-hat as well! Play around with this for a while. Then, once you’re comfortable with this, add the “BOX” into the puzzle. You can insert the segments of the words all over, and in doing so create new rhythms as you go. Sometimes, say the whole word, sometimes just a segment. Try new drum patterns, add sounds like open hi-hats (see tutorials) and scratches. The more sounds you can involve, the more you can “get away with.” (see the above Killa Kela quote).
This should get you started. Good luck, and I’m sure you will find your own ways to manipulate and innovate!
3) Who is the guy beatboxing with the harmonica? He’s amazing! How does he do that?
That guy is Yuri Lane, and he is a really good beatboxer. He has been working on his harmonica technique for quite awhile. I have played around with the technique a little.
The basic idea is to harness the air that is expelled from your mouth as you make different sounds.
For example, if you make a “snare 1″ (see tutorials) and put your hand in front of your mouth, you will feel air hitting your hand. Replace your hand with a harmonica. The air from your snare will move through the harmonica, producing a sound simultaneously with your snare. Beatbox techniques fit in one of 2 categories: they are produced by 1) breathing IN or 2) breathing OUT. You can experiment with a harmonica using both types of techniques. For example, snare 1 is made by breathing out. Combine that with snare 2, which is made by breathing IN, and add a harmonica, and you’ve got something going!
4) What’s on the DVD “Foundations?” Where can I buy it?
“Foundations,” is Beatbox.Tv’s first DVD release and received a positive review in XXL magazine (see Press section). The DVD offers a well-developed set of video tutorials featuring Beatbox.Tv’s interactive “Loop Practice Mode” that will get you hitting advanced patterns in no time. High quality video allows you close-up footage of subtle beatboxing secrets. Foundations has dope video footage from the Metro Beatbox Expo featuring Shodekeh and Yuri Lane as well as beatbox movies not available on Beatbox.Tv.
Foundations is currently available here:
5) How do I do drum fills?
Try placing your upper teeth lightly against your lower lip. Now, attempt to vibrate your tongue in the space between the roof of your mouth and your teeth. This should be rather easy, and your will get something similar to the sound of a motorboat. Now, when you have this motion down, make the “P” sound right in front of the tongue vibration, and put it together in one short burst. So it will sound like “Pffvvvvvvvv” where the “vvvv” is the sound of your vibrating tongue. Now, insert a kick drum DIRECTLY at the end of the roll. Use the little roll technique to spice up otherwise bland drum sequences.
6) I need help with Drum and Bass style beatboxing!
Drum and bass can be conceptualized as an exterior framework of Kicks and Snares. This Kick/Snare framework is filled out with “Ghost notes” when needed. These ghost notes are of course usually lower in volume and can be triggered rapidly to fill the “gaps” in between the Kick/Snare framework.
The Kick/Snare Framework is as follows. PLEASE START SLOWLY. If working within a simple 4-beat pattern (1, 2, 3, 4), the first kick falls on beat 1, and the first the snare on beat 2. Tap your foot DOWN on each beat. This is the DOWN BEAT. Your tapping foot should have a steady rhythm of down and up, the down motion of your foot being the DOWN beat. The second kick is triggered at the rising on your foot after beat 3, and the second snare is then triggered at beat 4. To summarize, the drum and bass framework can be stated as “KICK..SNARE..(rest)KICK.SNARE.”
Ghost notes are used to fill in the KICK/SNARE framework. Take a second look at the Drum and Bass tutorial. Now you should be able to differentiate between the Kick/Snare Framework and the subsequent ghost notes. In fact, listen to some drum and bass recordings, and these two aspects of the rhythm should be quickly evident.
7) I need help with the Kick sound. How do you get a low, deep tone?
The kick is not an easy technique! Everybody starts out with a high-pitched fart sound. I’ve come to the conclusion that the depth of the kick is a result of two factors…the amount of control you have over the vibrations along the side of your lips, where the technique originates, and the subtle capacity to open your throat as you expel air from your mouth.
I’ve included some text below that should provide you with more detailed instruction on the kick and snare 1 (which are similar in some key ways). The DVD has the best Kick instruction to date, so keep that in mind as well.
Your lack of bass and loudness is very normal for beginners. In fact, it is always the case. As you practice, the muscles surrounding your mouth are beginning to develop. You simply have to practice more, and as your muscles strengthen, so will your sound.
One point of interest: The “kick” sound, as well as “snare 1″, are both made using the same basic technique, which involves a tightening of your lips followed by a loosening as you “expel” the sound. Often times, a lot of sound is lost in the loosening phase of the technique. I want you to really concentrate on both parts (tightening and loosening) and for the time being, think of them as separate techniques. For Snare 1, try thinking about and forming the letters
“PB”
as you tighten, and then pronounce the letter
“F”
as you loosen. Remember, for snare 1 the air is expelled from the front of your lips, but the kick is expelled from the side of the mouth. The amount of “F” as you loosen will determine the “character” of the snare (e.g., short, long, sharp, loose, etc).
SNARE 1
As you practice, the muscles surrounding your mouth are beginning to develop. You simply have to practice more, and as your muscles strengthen, so will your sound.
One point of interest: “Snare 1″ is made using a basic technique that involves a tightening of your lips followed by a loosening as you “expel” the sound. Often times, a lot of sound is lost in the loosening phase of the technique. I want you to really concentrate on both parts (tightening and loosening) and for the time being, think of them as separate techniques. For Snare 1, try thinking about and forming the letters
“PB”
as you tighten, and then pronounce the letter
“F”
as you loosen. Remember, for snare 1 the air is expelled from the front of your lips, but the kick is expelled from the side of the mouth. The amount of “F” as you loosen will determine the “character” of the snare (e.g., short, long, sharp, loose, etc).
SNARE 2
Snare 2 is produced by sucking air IN. I believe the sound itself is produced as air is channeled through your teeth and down your throat. To start, your tongue must be on the ROOF of your mouth. Now, without sucking air in, practice SMILING. Exaggerate it! Try to smile “from ear to ear.” Another way to think of it is pretend to say the word “HEY” and stop right at the END of the word. This is the basic motion you need to produce snare 2. Now all you need is the air!
As you bring the air back across your teeth, think about channeling the air along the sides of your mouth. Depending on how widely you open your mouth, your tone will range from a higher pitch to a lower, hollower sound. There are a lot of possibilities with this technique, so as you begin to master it, play around with different amounts of air and opening/closing your mouth.
RIMSHOT
I think there are 2 major components of the rimshot technique.
First, the sound is produced by suction. The upper and middle region of the tongue are placed firmly against the upper-right (or left, your preference) of the roof of the mouth. Now, making sure the TIP of the tongue remains in touch with the roof of the mouth, “pop” your tongue by sucking air along the middle of your tongue (where it is in contact with the roof of your mouth) and break the connection to the roof of your mouth. This should produce a loud popping noise. This is the first component of the rim shot. More force will produce more sound. But how to control the “tone” (pitch) of the rimshot?
The second component of the rimshot technique allows one to control the tone of the rimshot. One must “shape” their mouths to control tone. For example, if you desire a high-pitched rimshot, pull your lips back into a tight grin as you “pop” your tongue (see above for info on popping). You should feel some tightness in your cheeks. On the contrary, should you desire a lower pitched, hollower rimshot, you must form your lips into an “O” shape as you pop your tongue. Variations of mouth shape and tightness will produce whatever tone you desire.
Another way you can make a snare sound is by compressing air out of your throat. Try saying “ISH” while emphasizing the percussive initial “IH” to produce a “pop” of your throat.
I hope this helps. Remember, every style has 10 variations or more. Experiment, experiment, experiment!
9) I can’t beatbox fast enough. My beats are too slow! What do I do to speed up?
For developing speed, try this pattern:
[KICK-HiHAT-SNARE2-KICK-HiHAT-SNARE2-KICK-KICK]
Start slowly! Make sure you have the rhythm just right. It should “loop” nicely.
As you grow comfortable with repeating this pattern, start to speed up. Make sure you draw a deep breath before you begin to speed up. Speed up just to the point where your techniques start to “blend” together. You must make sure to keep your techniques as loud as possible, and separated. Bring the speed back down to a slow tempo. Regain control over the pattern. Your lips will progressively warm up as you repeat this slow-to-fast activity. As your lips warm up, try to become aware of the small details of feeling in the transition between techniques. Go from slow to fast at least five times. Each time should get faster!