I know it's beatboxing. I know it's Brandon Bailey. But if you want to see the root of that stuff, study Henry Whittier, DeFord Bailey, Sonny Terry and Peter Ruth.
The theory behind what L.D. is doing is simple. In practice, it ain't that simple. But he's playing a draw chord. Then on the beat he's not playing the draw chord, he's doing his beatbox on the breath out. Try it very, very slowly and speed up as you get it.
I'll tell you what would be so awesome, the universe might in fact, fold in upon itself... doing what L.D. is doing on a 48 chord harmonica. The only problem I see with that is the minor chords are all blow on the 48, but there has to be a way around it - there is a way to get around anything. Brandon is the Total Tofu Kung Fu Master at this, perhaps he can be of assistance.
By the way, you know this is completely awesome, when Richard Sleigh is just standing there recording it on his cell phone - precisely what I would be doing.
There's some awesome jams at SPAH. I've been to one, the one in 2010. One of the awesomest things I've ever been a part of was "Lonesome Moonlight Waltz" with David Naiditch on Chromatic, Todd Edmunds on bass fiddle. I was playing 48 chord. ---------- David Elk River Harmonicas
I actually recorded an entire video lesson on this for David Barrett's website which can be found at the following link: http://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/harpboxing
L.D. is using the three simple sounds in beatboxing (kick, high hat, snare) alternated with simple blow and draw chords. I was there during the recording of that video, standing to the side bummed that I didn't have a harmonica in the proper key :P My how things progress after three years.
Anywho, it should also be noted that Larry is using a minor tuned harmonica in that video. The true secret to great harpboxing is using minor tuned harps ;) ---------- Brandon O. Bailey Official Website of Superchucker
"Henry Whittier, DeFord Bailey, Sonny Terry and Peter Ruth"
I have no clue why Mad Cat doesn't get brought up more regarding rhythm playing and "harp boxing". AFAIC, he is the godfather of that style....I know guys like Sonny Terry were throwing vocalizations in with harmonica playing, but MC literally wrote the book (recorded the video) on the subject.
I remember first starting out and buying this video (VHS) thinking it was going to be about playing rhythm harp....like a guitar...not like a drummer, lol.
It is the only instructional harp vid I own (I now have the DVD too).
The next wave probably started around some of the Yuri Lane stuff??? Vocal percussionists had added elements of harmonica a ways back. Son of Dave is probably the most successful contemporary with it (although he doesn't tour the states), but that isn't really the gimmick he markets. Brandon Bailey is probably the most notable (in the harp world anyways) person to actually be above proficiency in both harp and beatboxing...and combining the two. ---------- Mike VHT Special 6 Mods Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas - When it needs to come from the soul...
It certainly gives it a more modern and hip-hop flavored vibe. Standard chords always sound like country blues, lol.
I don't really harpbox, so I cheat by just using minor positions and not minor tuned harps....or double stops. ---------- Mike VHT Special 6 Mods Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas - When it needs to come from the soul...
I have a tremendous amount of respect for Peter as a player and as a human being. I was at Buckeye a few years back, the Sgros were getting ready to go on, so I had my pocketknife out shaving the paint off part of the back of the comb on my 48 chord so I could have a place to get Tony Sgro to sign it. Peter was hanging out alone at his table, vegging and listening to Al and Judy Smith playing a show in the adjacent hall... he was the headliner that night and was going on after the Sgros. So, he was sitting on the corner of his table, it had all his CDs and whatever he was selling spread out upon it. The table was just full of his stuff. Danny G drops by and we were all three sitting their talking about stuff. As I'm carving the 48 chord with my pocket knife, I notice the table slowly rising in front of me. At first it was in slow motion, but then it picked up speed. the table went up, Peter went down, hitting his head on the wall and busting his ass on the floor. He leaped to his feet from the floor and continued on LIKE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAD HAPPENED!!!! Peter said, in the calmest voice imagineable, "Gee. I hope I didn't break the table," then started methodically inspecting the table for damage. Meanwhile, Danny G is freaking out, interupted him, saying "I don't give a s..t about the table! Are YOU OK?" Peter was just as calm as could be. When he was satisfied the table was OK, he looks down on the ground. I helped Peter put the table back, then helped him pick up all these CDs and stuff that were everywhere, he said "That's OK. I got it." But CDs, papers, books were everywhere. I mean everywhere, when it swung up that table threw everything around like it was a trebuchet. Then, as the three of us pick up the carnage, Peter resumes the original conversation, as if nothing had ever happened.
Is Madcat using a standard tuning in that video? At about 54 seconds he says he's playing 1/2/3 draw twice, then 1/2/3 blow twice. But when he demonstrates it I'm hearing 2/3/4 on the blow. If I found him making a mistake I'm going to write about it in my diary.
Do we know he started it? I am asking a genuine question and not being passive aggressive.
His 1999 release doesn't appear to be on Spotify and I don't recall if he was beatboxing on that or not...by his 2000 release, he certainly was, though...I think 01 was released in 2000 anyways.
Yuri Lane released a harp/beatbox album in 2007...but I can't find any specifics on when he started performing with that format. That for sure had harpboxing, as well as his huge YT bid, so it is safe to assume he started in at least 2006, lol.
His bio says he began beatboxing in the 80's, and in this interview you can infere he learned harp before 2001 (http://gapersblock.com/ac/2008/05/19/interview-with-yuri-lane-human/), as he played harp and was beatboxing before releasing Sountrack City .
There actually seems to be a fair amount of overlap in their timelines.
I'm not arguing the Son of Dave thing, I'm saying that this type of thing, using throat or mouth sounds while you play is a very, very old thing. You couldn't call it beatbox, because there was no hip hop, so I am in no way saying these people were beatboxing. people were doing this type of effect in the 1920s. Heck, Junior Wells did a lot of stuff like that. Sometimes he got a little crazy with tongue clicks, etc. But a lot of times you hear him do a gutteral grunt on the beat while he is playing, etc. Again, that's not beatboxing, but it's the same concept, I think. I'm not really in a position right now to search around for different Junior Wells sounds, but here's one... You can hear him do it at 1:10 to accent the beat and elsewhere in the song... like he is with everything, Junior is very minimalist about it in this song:
I made a video tutorial for how to that exact LD Miller beat. I'm travelling right now (and doing this post on my kindle fire) so I can't embed it for you in this thread right now, but click the link in my signature and go to my youtube channel and you will find it in there some where. Brandon bailey also has some really good harpnoxing tutorials on his youtube channel as well. Also look up a guy who does beatbox flute on youtube. He's got some really great tutorials as well. Hope that helps! ---------- == I S A A C ==
The first time I heard a fox chase it was some modern guy playing it and I hated everything about it. It was just random yips and barks. Then I hear DeFord Bailey it completely changed how I thought about fox chases. His yips and barks were park of the music. :)
Elk, your table story reminds me of something that happened to me once. I had an internship with the local Junior College's public relations office. One of my jobs was covering big sports events. Our men's basketball team was undefeated in the regular season, and our women's team made the playoffs too. I just so happened that we had a brand new sports complex that we were showing off (named after a convicted felon, but that's a story for another day) and we were hosting the regional AND national junior college tournaments that year. Well, our men's team was a big let down. They got eliminated almost right away, but the women's team marched through the regionals to the final game to take on an undefeated Jefferson. Jefferson had a freakishly tall young lady at center. In one of the other games she had a tournament record 19 blocked shots. Our squad battled and battled, but we trailed the entire game, from the first shot but as time was running out we were still in it. Near the end of the game our point guard went diving for a ball on the sidelines and ended up on the scoring table, nearly in my lap. She was maybe 5'2", 100 lbs. soaking wet. Papers went flying everywhere. So there she is on the table, and she looks up at me (a relatively svelte 220 lbs at the time) and was like, "Oh my god, are you okay? I'm so sorry!" Thankfully she was okay. With time running out we took the lead on the last shot of the game to win the regional title. The top two teams advanced, so we had to play Jefferson again in the final game of the national finals. There was a huge blizzard the final day of the tournament. I probably could have made it through the snow to make it to the game but would have never have been able to make it home. To this day I regret not going. We won the NJCAA title that year, and the worst case scenario if I'd gone would have been being snowed in with the woman's basketball team. :)
Madcat Ruth is a positively masterful musician and has as complete and solid harp technique as just about anyone. There's no aspect of diatonic harmonica technique that he does not have mastery over. Although he doesn't do it when performing, he OBs effortlessly when he wants to. Besides masterful technique, he also has an incredible ear. And he's a genuinely nice guy.
There may be a few diatonic harp players on the planet who are better than Madcat, but it would be a very short list.
Last Edited by on May 31, 2012 3:47 PM
"Madcat Ruth is a positively masterful musician and has as complete and solid harp technique as just about anyone. There's no aspect of diatonic harmonica technique that he does not have mastery over."
There is no aspect of being awesome that he does not have mastery over.
