06/21/04’s illustrious band:
The Man Who Swallowed Drums
Brought to you by Jeff Thacher, pioneering vocal percussionist of my current voices-only faves, Rockapella.
Vocal percussionists are mouth drummers, human beatboxes, people who spit for a living. VPs, as they’re called, in addition to being very popular at parties, allow a cappella ensembles to put a beat in the background without polluting their purity with actual instruments.
Far beyond the boom-chicka-boom rap rasps of the 80s, modern VPs can simulate everything from snare drums, tom-toms and cymbals to wood blocks and sleigh bells. VPs use specialized equipment like sound pickups (developed by Thacher) that adhere to the throat to capture sounds not articulated by the lips and tongue. And waterproof microphones, of course. They have their own online newsletter, got spit? and community sites like MouthDrumming.com and HumanBeatBox.com.
Why do I care? Because it’s amazing the range of sounds the human body can create by itself -- and amazing how much technology people will use to produce an “all-natural” sound.
Today around the world: June 21 is the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. Yay extra minutes of light! In honor of this occasion, I’ll be blasting Rockapella’s arrangement of Here Comes the Sun down the length of Highway 62 this evening. Look for the black Mediamobile with the windows down and the sunroof open.
Visit the BND archives at http://jugglernaut.blogspot.com.
posted by Jugglernaut at 4:13 PM
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