No Records, No CD's, No MP3's

January 23, 2011 10:19 PM

A mix created by one man's voice, some special effects pads, and a keyboard - no records, no CD's, and no MP3's (Video Clip); this week's Radio 1 Essential Mix from two time UK beat-box champion Beardyman. Previously.
posted by forallmankind (25 comments total)

Watching that, all I could think was, "THIS IS THE FUTURE!"
posted by saul wright at 10:45 PM on January 23, 2011

DJs have been using those effects pads for a decade now (here's DJ Enferno from 2006), but the beatboxing thing is kind of new-- definitely new for an emix. Looking forward to listening tomorrow.
posted by empath at 10:48 PM on January 23, 2011

A song performed with vocals and an instrument, you say? THIS IS THE FUTURE!

ALSO THE PAST
posted by robcorr at 11:20 PM on January 23, 2011

I just saw dubfx last night, and he is doing a somewhat more.... pure version of this. No keyboard, just him and looping.

(the grove of anaheim is a terrible venue. but he was great.)
posted by flaterik at 11:43 PM on January 23, 2011 [2 favorites]

The effects pad the he uses is the Korg KP3.

excuse me...effects PADS. Jeezuz.

anyway, I have one and they're great fun. Nice to see someone using it in some professional capacity. Typically I'll use it in conjunction with my Electribe for effects, and then record a loop and switch to another "song" while fading out the previous one.
posted by hellojed at 11:53 PM on January 23, 2011

Something similar from Emily Wells and Imogen Heap. Also, Beardyman is awesome.
posted by Evilspork at 1:22 AM on January 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

He is very good what he does.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:23 AM on January 24, 2011

I've got one of those KP3s and a Kaosssilator Pro (the green one he had at the end), unfortunately, I am lacking in both talent and experience and have not really been able to much more with them than noodle around a bit.
They are fun to play with, though.
posted by bashos_frog at 4:09 AM on January 24, 2011

Neat. The sound isn't blowing me away, but the performance is really impressive. He's like a baby Kraftwerk.
posted by cashman at 7:29 AM on January 24, 2011

Very impressive. Very talented.

It's awesome because he's busy reconfiguring everything in real time.
It's at times repetitive sounding because he's busy reconfiguring everything in real time.
posted by cleancut at 9:11 AM on January 24, 2011

Beardyman fucking rules.
posted by Scoo at 10:16 AM on January 24, 2011

I thought this was going to be some meh beatboxing with a spittle covered microphone, but this was very very cool ...
posted by carter at 10:18 AM on January 24, 2011

That is not beatboxing. How did this get to be called beatboxing? It's like those handmade gifts I gave for Christmas in which I used nothing but my hands, an injection-molding factory in China, and the global economy.
posted by Galaxor Nebulon at 10:29 AM on January 24, 2011

this is pretty neat. i have a friend who makes music with a bunch of gadgets and lately and most importantly if you ask him, he uses a monome. i don't really understand how you can keep track of all the buttons.
posted by rainperimeter at 11:47 AM on January 24, 2011

@Galaxor Nebulon: This does not get called beatboxing (I missed it if it did). Beardyman is a very successful beatboxer. Here he does something different, partly using his beatboxing skills.
posted by Kickdrum at 1:00 PM on January 24, 2011

I don't know what you call this subgenre of music, but I'm a big fan of the one-man-band showmanship of Reggie Watts and Australia's Mr Percival.
posted by elphTeq at 2:53 PM on January 24, 2011

that's pretty wonderful. thanks! this isn't my type of music, but I LOVE seeing it performed so fluidly organically. I know that a lot of electronic artists are this good, but the traditionalist in me has a hard time enjoying the usual 'man-shoe-gazing-hunched-over-boxes' aspect of it. it's really a thrill seeing this guy move and work and think.

haters be damned. it's a great video.
posted by es_de_bah at 4:02 PM on January 24, 2011

Mad skillz of a real craftsman!
posted by Twang at 4:57 PM on January 24, 2011

Damn, dubfx in the states and I missed it!

Also, this was a wicked video as well. I love fiddling with those effects pads, although I've not used one as fancy as that. Impressive how he can coordinate all that.
posted by inparticularity at 8:30 PM on January 24, 2011

DubFx'll be back in june or july (I don't remember which). My buddy has been on stage with him before, and if things go as planned he'll either be at an event we throw or just performing on venice boardwalk when he returns... I'm going to totally forget about this scheming but I hope he doesn't!
posted by flaterik at 12:40 AM on January 25, 2011

Could someone explain how he manages to record with the amplifiers on, and avoid audio feedback ?
posted by nicolin at 3:35 AM on January 25, 2011

Yeah, he is wearing headphones.
posted by empath at 6:18 AM on January 25, 2011

One of the greatest things is that the volume on their player goes to '11'
posted by synthetik at 8:36 AM on January 25, 2011

Finally got around to listening to this. It's not that bad. If someone hadn't told me it was done this way, i'd have thought it was a normal e mix.
posted by empath at 9:22 AM on January 25, 2011

Along the same style of beatboxing, MastaMic from Russia. KP3 mixing at the 2:00 mark.
posted by maortiz at 8:00 PM on January 25, 2011