How to Make Your Own Beatbox Song
Beatboxing is the art of creating music with only your mouth as an instrument. Top beatboxers can create a drum rhythm, treble and even a vocal simultaneously, by creating different sounds with their mouths. Creating your own beatbox song might seem an impossible task when you first hear beatboxing done, but even professional beatboxers primarily use a few basic techniques that can be learned. After that, it is all about practicing and perfecting.
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Instructions
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Buy a decent computer and music software package. Depending on whether you buy a PC or Mac, Cakewalk Sonar studio or Apple Logic Pro are good music packages, respectively. Steinberg Cubase recording software can be used with both Macs and Windows. Purchase a microphone, too. The microphone is a useful tool for practicing beatboxing, even before you begin to record your beatbox track.
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Learn the basic beatbox sounds. The three most basic beatboxing sounds are a "kick drum" effect, made by an exaggerated "b" sound; a "hi-hat," "ts" sound produced by putting your tongue just behind your front teeth; and a "snare drum," created by the more difficult "pf" combination. Practice creating a beat out of these three sounds.
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Incorporate more difficult beatboxing sounds into your repertoire gradually. Try a "bass drum," created by pulling down your jaw to elongate your face but only leaving a small circular hole where your lips are, force your Adam's apple in and out and let the noise reverberate around the chamber of your mouth and exit. Or try a "cymbal" sound effect, created by clenching your teeth together and saying "chish." Keep the sound as short and sharp as possible to create an effective cymbal. Another good sound effect is the "techno snare," made by putting the base of your tongue against the roof of your mouth and creating a "g" sound.
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Listen to beatbox professionals. If you get a chance to see them live, even better. Two of the top beatboxing professionals touring today are Killa Kela and Rahzell. When you watch these beatboxers, pay attention to the movements of their mouths and the sounds that are created. Keep looking to incorporate new sounds into your beatboxing repertoire.
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Record a beatbox track. MIDI--Musical Instrument Digital Interface--is the process allowing a range of musical input to be registered by a computer so that one person can create multi-part music by his or herself. A MIDI interface makes computers the ideal tool for recording a beatbox track. Record each sound you have mastered separately, then overlay them in your final edit to create your very own beatbox song.
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Tips & Warnings
Beatboxing can be done anywhere. Unlike other instruments the must be carried, you always have your mouth with you. That is the only instrument you need to beatbox. Whether you are riding on a train, sitting in a park or walking to school, you should be practicing your beatboxing.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Graffiti Beatbox Anarchy image by Jazzman from Fotolia.com
