USC Viterbi’s Michael Proctor, Krishna Nayak, and Shrikanth Narayanan and other scientists recently published their research on the mysterious ways in which beatboxers create percussion sounds with their mouth, throat, and voice. The researchers found out exactly what happens inside the head of a beatboxer by using real-time Magnetic Resonance Imaging (rtMRI) to observe the mechanisms of sound production in the performer’s mouth and throat.
Their findings have garnered interest around the world. Below is a sampling of the media stories that covered this research. Click on the logos to read them.
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Human beatboxing is a skill guaranteed to impress at any party - but until now, how it is done has remained a mystery. |
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A group of scientists in California have used a new approach to try to understand the complexities of human vocal ability. |
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Using the mouth, lips, tongue and voice to generate sounds that one might never expect to come from the human body is the specialty of the artists known as beatboxers. |
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When first generation rapper Doug E. Fresh, former Roots beatmaker Rahzel or "Yo Gabba Gabba" rapper Biz Markie learned to mimic a hip-hop rhythm using only their voices, chances were they had little idea what they were actually doing with their mouths. |
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Using the mouth, lips, tongue and voice to generate sounds that one might never expect to come from the human body is the specialty of the artists known as beatboxers. |
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In a YouTube video with over 48.5 million views, Kyle “Scratch” Jones takes the stage and begins waving his hands in front of him, mimicking the motion and sound of a record pushed back and forth on a turntable. |
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A team of linguists and audio engineers has used magnetic resonance imaging to examine how a beatboxer creates his broad range of percussive sounds. |
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The art of beatboxing is unparalleled – intricate layers of booms and clicks produced by a single person’s mouth in ways that seem almost super-human. |
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Using the mouth, lips, tongue and voice to generate sounds that one might never expect to come from the human body is the specialty of the artists known as beatboxers. |
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Because why not, a group of linguists and audio engineers at the University of Southern California put a 27-year-old MC in an MRI and watched him beatboxing. |
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It is always interesting to watch a beatboxer perform. The artist, in the thrust of performing, can reach a compulsive fit as he musters up the rhythmic sounds of percussion instruments a cappella-style. But what does beatboxing looking like from the inside? |
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A group of scientists at the University of Southern California are trying to figure out exactly how beatboxers make that music with their mouths, using real-time magnetic resonance imaging (rtMRI) to track the physics behind the complex vocal performances. |
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Researchers from the University of Southern California have taken real-time MRI images of people beatboxing to see how performers can make percussive beats. |
