May 9 - 15, 2013
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VILLAGER ARtS & enteRtAInMent Rhyme Machine Kid Lucky and La MaMa celebrate ‘the art of human noise’ AMERICAN HUMAN BEATBOX FESTIVAL 2013 Fri., May 24, 10pm: Beatrhyme Battle Sat., May 25, 11am: La MaMa Kids: Beatbox Workshop Sat., May 25, 10pm: Vocal Wars: Hip Hop Team Battle Sun., May 26, 5:30pm: “Nos States” (film) Sun., May 26, 8pm: Baba Israel and Playback NYC: Tribute to Steve Ben Israel At La MaMa The Club, 74A E. 4th St. (btw. Bowery & 2nd Ave.). May 25 Workshop, 2nd floor of The Annex (66-68 E. 4th St.) Tickets: $10 in advance, $20 at door ($15 for students/seniors) Workshop: $10 per family (in advance & at door) Film: $10 (in advance & at door) Reservations: 212-475-7710 or lamama.org Photo courtesy of the artist and La MaMa
Kid Lucky, at the 2011 La MaMa World Block Party.
By ToM Tenney In a 1913 letter to the composer Francesco Balilla Pratella, Italian Futurist Luigi Russolo declared, “The variety of noises is infinite…today we have perhaps a thousand different machines, and can distinguish a thousand different noises, tomorrow, as new machines multiply, we will be able to distinguish ten, twenty, or thirty thousand different noises, not merely in a simply imitative way, but to combine them according to our imagination.” This letter, which became a known as “The Art of Noises,” advocated a new sonic vocabulary through the imitation of machines — and became one of the
most important manifestos in the history of sound. As technological advances at the turn of the century paved the way for a revolution in mass media, they also created new possibilities for individual expression. By mid-century, the computer had opened new sonic territory by permitting an unprecedented extension of sounds and scales, pushing the boundaries of music beyond what the Futurists ever imagined. In 1983, 70 years after Russolo’s letter, a British avant-garde electronic group that called itself The Art of Noise (after the manifesto) released a song that mixed sampled sounds of car engines and industrial machinery with time-warped drum
beats and orchestral stabs. This song would become one of the most influential instrumentals in the world of hip-hop, sampled by artists from X-Clan to Marky Mark. The name of that song was “Beat Box.” A year later, an 18-year-old rapper from Harlem by the name of Doug E. Fresh pioneered the art of imitating electronic drum machines using only his voice. The art of “beatboxing” was born, and the verity of Russolo’s vision was, once again, affirmed. As do all musical genres, beatboxing has evolved in the intervening three decades, spawning a variety of techniques — including the “human turntable” (a style invented by Wise of the group Stetsasonic) and
“mouth drumming” (developed by Wes Carroll). From May 24-26, the Third Annual American Human Beatbox Festival at La MaMa Theatre will give New Yorkers the opportunity to sample some of the most eclectic beatboxing styles by artists who make percussive rhythms with the human voice. This three-day exhibition of performances, workshops and film kicks off on Friday night with a battle, not of beatboxers, but beatrhymers — performers who beatbox and rhyme at the same time. Beatrhyming was developed and popular-
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