Thursday
5 July 2007
19:00 - 21:00
Whether you’re a beginner or beatboxing veteran, prepare for a night of acoustic discovery and mayhem… We invite you to immerse yourselves in the vocal percussion of hip hop culture. Learn the tricks of the trade in workshops with professional beatboxers and let your tongue get involved in the bassline. Ultrasound technology allows you to see this happen on the big screen! Talk about current acoustic research, beatboxing and health with scientists. The evening ends with inspired beatbox performances.
Performances are by Southbank Centre Artist-in-Residence Shlomo and Edinburgh Maad Skillz artists Bigg Taj and Psylent V. They will all be running workshops to get you started in the art of beatboxing, or improve your technique.
How do we produce different sounds in beatboxing? Scientist Rachael-Anne Knight will operate a portable ultrasound scanner that enables you to see the actual vocal percussion process—and the anatomy involved—inside beatboxers’ mouths in real time, on the big screen. She’ll be talking about what this technology is used for in current research.
How do we generate particular sounds? Linguist Mark Jones will be discussing sound generation. He will specifically looking at how ‘r’ sounds are made and the many different ways there are of producing this sound.
Curious about the impact of beatboxing on your vocal cords’ health? Talk to voice specialist Ruth Epstein about the relationship between beatboxing and health, and what current research shows.
To seal this evening’s beatboxing experience, beatboxers Bigg Taj and Psylent V open with a set before Shlomo takes to the stage for the final performance. Prepare to be inspired and amazed by the skill and ingenuity of the human beatbox.
This event supported by the Wellcome Trust and is part of Sing London, a pan-London festival to unite the city in song from 29 June to 8 July: all kinds of people singing all kinds of music, in all kinds of places.
Live a little…Sing a little….Sing London!
Event organised by:
The Science Museum
Video
Speakers
Ruth Epstein, Head of Speech and Language Therapy, Royal National Ear Nose and Throat Hospital
Mark Jones, Linguist, University of Cambridge
Rachael-Anne Knight, Acoustic scientist, City University.
Beatboxers:
Bigg Taj, Edinburgh Maad Skillz
Psylent V, Edinburgh Maad Skillz
Shlomo, Artist-in-residence, South Bank Centre
Facilitator: Dusty Limits, Cabaret artist and compere
Why not discuss online what you think about the science of singing, on the Dana discussion boards.