April 17

History of beatboxing
In 2002, the documentary Breath Control: The History of the Human Beatbox premiered. It is a history of the art form that includes interviews with Doug E. Fresh, Emanon, Biz Markie, Marie Daulne of Zap Mama, and others. The same year even saw the emergence of a beatbox clothing label, mic(ism), sported and supported by beatboxers worldwide.

Beatboxing's early pioneers include Doug E. Fresh, Biz Markie, and Buffy from the Fat Boys. Doug E. Fresh is credited with being the first "human beatbox"[1], and Barry B for coining the term . The term "beatboxing" is derived from the mimicry of the first generation of drum machines, then known as beatboxes.

Before 1980 The art form enjoyed a strong presence in the 1980s. Many people's introduction to the art form, and perhaps its first recording, came when Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick released "La Di Da Di".

1980+ Other important beatboxers in the mid-'80s who followed the greats like Doug E. Fresh included Greg Nice, Ready Rock C from Will Smith's crew, and The Jock Box from the comically named Skinny Boys crew.

In 1984, Viv Fisher recorded the first known multivocal TV theme tune with a BBC gameshow series entitled Bob's Full House.

1990+ In many ways, beatboxing fell off the radar along with breakdancing in the late '80s; it almost slipped even deeper than the underground.

In the mid-'90s, Rahzel proved a versatile entertainer. He was formerly the vocal DJ for The Roots, a group that contributed to the popularity of live instrumentation in hip hop.

Other well-known, seminal beatboxers whose work is well known throughout the international beatboxing community include the Bronx's Kenny Muhammad (a.k.a. Kenny X, The Human Orchestra); Philadelphia's Scratch, beatboxer for the Roots; Killa Kela, one of Europe's finest, Click Tha Supah Latin, an MC and beatboxer located in Los Angeles, Shlomo, who has collaborated with Björk, RoxorLoops from Beatoxic Crew, Each who is a key organiser with the Vowel Movement located in California and Canada's own scratch pioneer Poizunus.

The Four Elements The last track on Rahzel's CD 'Make The Music 2000' is a track with his famous 'If Your Mother Only Knew' routine. The song is by most beatboxers referred to as The Four Elements, because it contains an impression of the four elements in beatbox style at the end.

Internet presence
The largest beatboxing community on the Internet is Humanbeatbox.com, created in 2002 by UK beatboxer Alex Tew (a.k.a. A-Plus) and developed by Gavin Tyte (a.k.a. TyTe, the world's only beatboxing reverend). This site has greatly fuelled the recent

resurgence in beatboxing. Beatboxers in different areas have used this site, and the Internet in general, as a means to meet in person, forming important clusters that populate Europe and the U.S. as well as organising the first Human Beatbox Convention, which took place in April 2003. TyTe developed the first Internet-based beatboxing tutorials as well as the fist video tutorials and this has helped tens of thousands of people get started in beatboxing. The central feature of HumanBeatbox.com is the community forums where beatboxers and non-beatboxers alike converge to share and discuss their interest in this art form.

This important resource has been a nexus for the art form's evolution. The emergence of values such as inclusivity, sharing, and cooperation, are present, contrasting with the prevalent fierce B-boy stance that hip hop as a whole has assumed.

In 2004, beatbox-centric company mic(ism) completed development of the non-profit International Beatbox Association. The IBA, as it became known, was created to aid beatboxers in getting paid work, and thereby to help beatboxing attain the public level of credibility as a musical art form deserved of remuneration, as already enjoyed by more mainstream instrumentation. Through the IBA, it is now possible for professional beatboxers to be contacted directly by individuals wishing to book them, without artists having to make their personal contact details publicly available. In this way, beatboxers can now be safely contacted by promoters, agents, talent scouts and record labels worldwide.

Major centers are, New York City, United Kingdom , San Francisco Bay area, Australia, Belgium, Singapore and Toronto, Canada.

Using just his mouth, he can produce all kinds of musical sounds without any instruments

ARMED with a set of versatile lips, powerful lungs and lots of heart, Charles Wong is making music.

The 20-year-old sounds like an entire line-up of rappers, synthesisers and drums - all by himself and without any instruments.

He can reproduce sounds from horns and drums, and even mimic the scratching of the turntable by a deejay. What he does is called beatboxing.

The term 'beatbox' actually refers to a machine which in the 1970s belted out beats that provided the rhythm accompaniment for a capella groups.

But it was expensive and so the poorer African-Americans resorted to churning out beats with their vocal chords instead, and this became known as beatboxing.

The usual beatbox repertoire includes mimicking musical instruments like horns and strings as well as the basic drums - such as the hi-hat, the beat and the cymbals.

'It can cover several music genres, like hip-hop, house, techno and jungle,' said Charles, who is currently serving his national service and is part of the growing community of about 40 beatboxers here.

Beatboxing is part of R&B culture, along with rapping, breakdancing or B-Boying, graffiti art and deejaying with a turntable.

'You do not need anything but your mouth. And, to me, beatboxing is the most versatile of all (the R&B elements). It can provide break beats for the breakdancers, add on to rap and a capella music,' said Charles.

Beatboxing is a male-dominated genre in Singapore, probably because R&B and hip-hop are not as popular as rock music here, said girl beatboxer Kiyoko Mori, 18.

'I know of only one other girl who beatboxes here,' said the International Community School student.

Kiyoko, who has been beatboxing for a little more than a year, is doing well. In last year's 98.7 FM beatbox competition, she took fourth place and was given tickets to see the Black-Eyed Peas in concert.

'I didn't win the competition - but at least I won something. And Fergie - the lead female singer - signed my shirt!' she gushed.

In the meantime, Charles is winning over crowds at Downtown East and Club Momo with his dynamic vocal percussions.

He has done about 30 gigs so far, and said audiences here are warming up to beatboxing.

He recalled a solo performance at the Sky Symphony Countdown celebrations - the party at Mount Faber to count off the last minutes of 2005.

'When I first started on stage, the audience was quite cold. A guy in the audience even laughed.

'I felt quite disheartened. But when I started to beatbox seriously, the crowd started cheering.

'It was amazing. They were getting into the groove and all I had was my voice.'

To keep their vocal chords in tip-top shape, beatboxers warm up by blowing their lips and rumbling their throats for 10 to 15 minutes.

They also practise with professional microphones at home and constantly swop pointers with one another.

Now, the challenge for Charles and Kiyoko is meshing singing with beatboxing. 'Instead of just singing the song, we replace some of the lyrics with beats instead. It sounds like a full song, but it is just an auditory illusion,' said Charles.

People who are eager to learn the ropes should check out online tutorials, said Dharnisoonnay Ng, 19. The Temasek Polytechnic student started beatboxing when he was 15 and is the pioneer of the scene here.

He warns, however, that the most important element of beatboxing is style - which cannot be learnt.

'If you have the style, then good for you. But if you don't, it is more difficult to succeed.'

lynnkan@sph.com.sg

Some of Beat Box available @ youtube From: amefuri (Rein & Rosy -2006)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omh2HifIUg0