TEDxSydney
Tom Thum: The orchestra in my mouth
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In a highly entertaining performance, beatboxer Tom Thum slings beats, comedy and a mouthful of instrumental impersonations into 11 minutes of creativity and fun that will make you smile.
Tom Thum - Beatboxer
Hip-hop musician Tom Thum whirls together beatboxing, performance and an array of mouthsounds. Full bio
Hip-hop musician Tom Thum whirls together beatboxing, performance and an array of mouthsounds. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
My name is Tom,
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and I've come here today to come clean
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about what I do for money.
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Basically, I use my mouth in strange ways
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in exchange for cash.
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(Laughter)
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I usually do this kind of thing in seedy downtown bars
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and on street corners,
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so this mightn't be the most appropriate setting,
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but I'd like to give you guys a bit of a demonstration
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about what I do.
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00:45
(Beatboxing)
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02:14
And now, for my next number,
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I'd like to return to the classics.
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02:22
(Applause)
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We're going to take it back,
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way back,
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back into time.
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(Beatboxing: "Billie Jean")
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♫ Billie Jean is not my lover ♫
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♫ She's just a girl who claims that I am the one ♫
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♫ But the kid is not my son ♫
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(Applause) All right.
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Wassup.
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Thank you very much, TEDx.
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If you guys haven't figured it out already,
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my name's Tom Thum, and I'm a beatboxer,
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which means all the sounds that you just heard
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were made entirely using just my voice,
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and the only thing was my voice.
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And I can assure you
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there are absolutely no effects
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on this microphone whatsoever.
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And I'm very, very stoked —
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(Applause)
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You guys are just applauding for everything. It's great.
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Look at this, Mom! I made it!
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I'm very, very stoked to be here today,
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representing my kinfolk
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and all those that haven't managed to make a career
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out of an innate ability for inhuman noisemaking.
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Because it is a bit of a niche market,
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and there's not much work going on,
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especially where I'm from.
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You know, I'm from Brisbane,
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which is a great city to live in.
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Yeah! All right! Most of Brisbane's here. That's good.
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(Laughter)
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You know, I'm from Brizzy,
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which is a great city to live in,
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but let's be honest --
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it's not exactly the cultural hub of the Southern Hemisphere.
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So I do a lot of my work outside Brisbane
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and outside Australia,
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and so the pursuit of this crazy passion of mine
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has enabled me to see
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so many amazing places in the world.
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So I'd like to share with you, if I may, my experiences.
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So ladies and gentlemen,
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I would like to take you on a journey
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throughout the continents
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and throughout sound itself.
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We start our journey in the central deserts.
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05:02
(Didgeridoo)
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(Airplane)
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India.
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(Beatboxing)
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(Sitar)
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China.
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(Guzheng)
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(Beatboxing)
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Germany.
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06:00
(Beatboxing)
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Party, party, yeah.
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(Laughter)
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And before we reach our final destination,
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ladies and gentlemen,
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I would like to share with you some technology
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that I brought all the way from the thriving metropolis of Brisbane.
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These things in front of me here are called Kaoss Pads,
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and they allow me to do a whole lot of different things
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with my voice.
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For example, the one on the left here
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allows me to add
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a little bit of reverb to my sound,
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which gives me that --
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(Trumpet) --
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flavor.
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(Laughter)
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And the other ones here,
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I can use them in unison
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to mimic the effect of a drum machine
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or something like that.
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I can sample in my own sounds and I can play it back
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just by hitting the pads here.
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07:20
(Noises)
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TEDx.
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(Music)
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(Applause)
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I got way too much time on my hands.
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And last but not least,
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the one on my right here allows me to
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loop loop loop loop loop loop loop loop
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my voice.
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So with all that in mind, ladies and gentlemen,
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I would like to take you on a journey
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to a completely separate part of Earth
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as I transform the Sydney Opera House
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into a smoky downtown jazz bar.
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All right boys, take it away.
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(Music)
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Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you
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to a very special friend of mine,
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one of the greatest double bassists I know.
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Mr. Smokey Jefferson, let's take it for a walk. Come on, baby.
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(Music)
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09:38
All right, ladies and gentlemen,
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I'd like to introduce you to the star of the show,
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one of the greatest jazz legends of our time.
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Music lovers and jazz lovers alike,
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please give a warm hand of applause
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for the one and only Mr. Peeping Tom. Take it away.
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(Music)
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(Applause)
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Thank you. Thank you very much.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Tom Thum - BeatboxerHip-hop musician Tom Thum whirls together beatboxing, performance and an array of mouthsounds.
Why you should listen
Coming out of the small Brisbane, Australia, hip-hop scene, Tom Thum has become a world presence with his unhuman beatboxing sound. In 2005, he and Joel Turner won the team battle in the World Beatbox Championships, and Thum came second at the Scribble Jam Beatbox Battles, America’s most prestigious hip-hop competition, in 2006. He's a cast member in the hip-hop/circus performance troupe Tom Tom Crew, appearing on Broadway and London's West End.
Thum is also committed to teaching hip-hop, and travels throughout Australia sharing the positive message that music preaches.
Tom Thum | Speaker | TED.com