the.com/beatbox
Making drums out of spit and consonants because drum machines are expensive.
means Using your mouth, lips, tongue, and throat to imitate drum machine sounds — kicks, snares, hi-hats — usually alongside rapping or singing.
from Blends 'beat' with 'box,' slang for the drum machine (like the famous 1980s Roland TR-808) that beatboxers were essentially impersonating with their own mouths. The vocal art form grew up alongside early hip-hop in 1980s New York, with pioneers like Doug E. Fresh and Biz Markie turning human breath into a rhythm section when actual drum machines were out of reach.
- origin
- named after 1980s drum machines, not the other way
- technique
- uses lips, tongue, throat as separate instruments at once
- record
- some loop vocals and breathing simultaneously, no pauses
- pioneer
- Doug E. Fresh called himself the human beatbox