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

ჯეიმს ბარჩფილდი უკრავს (უხილავ) თარნთეიბლზე

Filmed:
860,132 views

ბითბოქსერი ჯეიმს "AudioPoet" ბარჩფილდი წარმოგვიდგენს რთულ, სამ წუთიან კომპოზიციას -- სექსუალურ, რითმულ ჰიპ-ჰოპს და თარნთეიბლის იმიტაციას -- მხოლოდ მისი ხმის მეშვეობით.
- 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.
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მოდით, დავიწყოთ.
00:22
Okay, just a moment.
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კარგი, ერთი წუთით
00:25
(Whirring)
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(შრიალი)
00:31
All right.
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კარგი
00:33
(Laughter)
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(სიცილი)
00:45
Oh, sorry.
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უი, ბოდიში.
00:48
(Music) (Beatboxing)
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(მუსიკა) (ბითბოქსინგი)
04:34
Thank you.
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მადლობა.
04:35
(Applause)
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(აპლოდისმენტები)
Translated by George Tsaava
Reviewed by nini popkhadze

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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