Beatboxing
March 4, 2008
There is a fine art to producing vocal percussion. I have by no means mastered that art. I have, however, dabbled in it. I used that ability to gain some rapport with students at a high school today. In the lunch room I was talking with some guys, when one of them suddenly burst into lyrics he had written at some point. I proceeded to ask him and the other guys near us if they could drop a beat. To them this meant pounding on the table, to me it meant vocal percussion. I laid down the gauntlet for the guys and said that I would provide the beat if one of the guys would spit rhymes. So, this one guy, who appearantly everyone believed was a skilled lyricist, manned up and asked for the beat. I delivered the beat, but the guy didn’t spit. He was kind of taken aback at the fact that I was much better than he had expected. Well, one of his friends stepped up and asked for another beat. We started and he and the original guy went off together. I guess they both knew the lyrics to whatever they were reciting. They went a full 16, then stopped and started getting a little crazy. It was beginning to attract attention from students sitting near us, and I didn’t want to cause trouble with the administration, so I put an end to it… for today. It is amazing what you can use to reach students.
Here are some examples:
