ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Naturally 7 - A capella ensemble
The group Naturally 7 practices vocal play -- the art of using the human voice to mimic instruments. It's as if a beatboxing troupe decided they could "-box" a whole orchestra: flute, horns, drums, guitar -- building a vocal wall of sound.

Why you should listen

The men of Naturally 7 can sing like a dream. But what you might not expect from this vocal group is what else they do -- their voices contain multitudes of instruments, from a glorious trumpet to a full drum kit (with a side of turntables). They call it "vocal play" -- the art of creating instrumental music with the human voice. It's an evolutionary step beyond beatboxing, which is a solo pursuit -- these seven musicians are a tight orchestra.

Naturally 7's sonic range is clear even by reading the member lineup: Roger "N'glish" Thomas is a baritone and rapper; Rod Eldridge handles tenor, trumpet and scratching; Warren Thomas brings percussion, guitar and a third tenor. Baritone Dwight Stewart; tenors Jamal Reed and Garfield Buckley (who also plays harmonica); and bass Armand Hutton round out the group.

More profile about the speaker
Naturally 7 | Speaker | TED.com
TED2009

Naturally 7: A full-band beatbox

Filmed:
1,907,500 views

One-of-a-kind R&B group Naturally 7 beatboxes an orchestra's worth of instruments to groove through their smooth single, "Fly Baby."
- A capella ensemble
The group Naturally 7 practices vocal play -- the art of using the human voice to mimic instruments. It's as if a beatboxing troupe decided they could "-box" a whole orchestra: flute, horns, drums, guitar -- building a vocal wall of sound. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

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♫ I think I'm ready to do my thing ♫
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♫ I think I'm ready to take my chances ♫
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♫ I've been dining out and all stressed out ♫
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♫ Due to the circumstances. See? ♫
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♫ I gotta get up, get up, get up, get up ♫
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♫ Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up ♫
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♫ I see what you're saying ♫
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♫ We sent a demo to the world, they said it sounds like Take 6 ♫
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♫ I said "Hold on, wait a minute, I'll be back with the remix" ♫
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♫ They looking at us funny, we can't make any money ♫
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♫ It took us years to figure out that we was dealing with dummies ♫
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01:54
♫ They didn't understand the sound from the Bronx, that's the boogie down ♫
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♫ to Huntsville, Alabama, there's no circles in my planner, so ♫
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02:00
♫ It was time to make the product, so we hooked up with Townsend ♫
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♫ Made a deal with John Neal, on the road sold ten thousand ♫
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♫ WBA, that means a trip to Nashville ♫
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02:07
♫ Festplatte showed up and said them boys are naturals ♫
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02:10
♫ Can you hear what they were hearing? See what they were seeing? ♫
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02:12
♫ From Bronx to Berlin, we took the tour European ♫
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02:15
♫ All vocal yeah, we widit, call the album "What is it?" ♫
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02:17
♫ With Sarah Connor, set the goal for number one and we hit it ♫
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♫ But now it's Kev, Sim, Drew, Stew, time for a new day ♫
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02:22
♫ Ring the alarm, hit 'em on Skype or a two-way ♫
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02:25
♫ Sung by the words, we ready to fly! ♫
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02:28
♫ Fly baby! Time to leave that nest ♫
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♫ Fly baby! This ain't no time to rest ♫
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02:32
♫ Come on fly baby, we got work to do ♫
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♫ Here we go, spread my wings and ... ♫
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♫ Fly baby! Time to leave that nest ♫
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♫ Fly baby! This ain't no time to rest. Come on ♫
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♫ Fly baby! We got work to do ♫
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♫ Here we go. Spread my wings and fly. One more time ♫
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♫ Fly baby! Time to leave that nest ♫
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♫ Fly baby! This ain't no time to rest ♫
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♫ Fly baby! We got work to do ♫
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02:57
♫ Here we go, spread my wings and ... ♫
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03:00
♫ Fly baby! Fly baby fly ♫
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03:03
♫ Fly baby! Fly baby high ♫
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♫ Fly baby! Up to the sky ♫
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03:08
♫ Spread my wings and fly ♫
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03:11
Instrumental!
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03:31
♫ We're ready to fly! ♫
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03:34
(Applause)
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03:45
Thank you very much.
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03:47
(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Naturally 7 - A capella ensemble
The group Naturally 7 practices vocal play -- the art of using the human voice to mimic instruments. It's as if a beatboxing troupe decided they could "-box" a whole orchestra: flute, horns, drums, guitar -- building a vocal wall of sound.

Why you should listen

The men of Naturally 7 can sing like a dream. But what you might not expect from this vocal group is what else they do -- their voices contain multitudes of instruments, from a glorious trumpet to a full drum kit (with a side of turntables). They call it "vocal play" -- the art of creating instrumental music with the human voice. It's an evolutionary step beyond beatboxing, which is a solo pursuit -- these seven musicians are a tight orchestra.

Naturally 7's sonic range is clear even by reading the member lineup: Roger "N'glish" Thomas is a baritone and rapper; Rod Eldridge handles tenor, trumpet and scratching; Warren Thomas brings percussion, guitar and a third tenor. Baritone Dwight Stewart; tenors Jamal Reed and Garfield Buckley (who also plays harmonica); and bass Armand Hutton round out the group.

More profile about the speaker
Naturally 7 | Speaker | TED.com