ABOUT THE SPEAKER
James Burchfield - Human beatbox
James Burchfield is a human beatbox. Using only his mouth, tongue, throat and vocal cords, he performs heavy, layered, club-style jams that seem to come from real drum machines and lusciously scratched turntables.

Why you should listen

Outside of the hip-hop world, the art of "human beatboxing" was mostly overlooked until the droves came to YouTube. For that trend -- from obscure fad to open mic-night fixture to full-scale Internet meme -- some credit is due to James Burchfield. Known by the handle AudioPoet, the young artist was a main figure in Seattle beatboxing competitions and open-mics in the early 2000s, and then on larger stages like San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts Theatre.

For a musician whose goal is "enlightenment of the mind," Burchfield has a fairly concrete tack: studying the mathematical formulas that are the foundation of music. He brings that knowledge -- and an instinct for dance-friendly grooves that simulate seemingly impossible-to-mimic machine sounds -- onto every stage.

More profile about the speaker
James Burchfield | Speaker | TED.com
TED2003

James Burchfield: Playing invisible turntables

James Burchfield ben muzike ne disqe (te padukshme)

Filmed:
860,132 views

Njeriu beatbox James "AudioPoet" Burchfield performon per tre minuta nje mori ritmesh te nderlikuar -- seksi, shtytes -- duke perdorur vec zerin e tij.
- Human beatbox
James Burchfield is a human beatbox. Using only his mouth, tongue, throat and vocal cords, he performs heavy, layered, club-style jams that seem to come from real drum machines and lusciously scratched turntables. Full bio

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

00:13
Let's just get started here.
0
739
3594
Le te fillojme.
00:22
Okay, just a moment.
1
9712
3238
OK, vec nje minute.
00:25
(Whirring)
2
12950
5315
(Zhurme/tinguj)
00:31
All right.
3
18265
2128
Ne rregull.
00:33
(Laughter)
4
20393
1941
(Te qeshura)
00:45
Oh, sorry.
5
32923
3175
Oh, me falni.
00:48
(Music) (Beatboxing)
6
36098
10611
(Muzike) (Beatboxing)
04:34
Thank you.
7
261272
1894
Faleminderit.
04:35
(Applause)
8
263166
2772
(Duartrokitje)
Translated by Iris Xholi
Reviewed by Alisa Xholi

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
James Burchfield - Human beatbox
James Burchfield is a human beatbox. Using only his mouth, tongue, throat and vocal cords, he performs heavy, layered, club-style jams that seem to come from real drum machines and lusciously scratched turntables.

Why you should listen

Outside of the hip-hop world, the art of "human beatboxing" was mostly overlooked until the droves came to YouTube. For that trend -- from obscure fad to open mic-night fixture to full-scale Internet meme -- some credit is due to James Burchfield. Known by the handle AudioPoet, the young artist was a main figure in Seattle beatboxing competitions and open-mics in the early 2000s, and then on larger stages like San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts Theatre.

For a musician whose goal is "enlightenment of the mind," Burchfield has a fairly concrete tack: studying the mathematical formulas that are the foundation of music. He brings that knowledge -- and an instinct for dance-friendly grooves that simulate seemingly impossible-to-mimic machine sounds -- onto every stage.

More profile about the speaker
James Burchfield | Speaker | TED.com