Voice vs Machine, a powerfull musical synergy - Grand Beatbox Loopstation Battle 2017

Beatboxing, the art of creating sound, beats, rhythms and songs using just ones voice has been successfully paired with the uprise of loopstations. Loopstations are devices that can record and play sound loops, which artists use to record and create layered tracks making it possible to create entire tracks in a live performance. The combination of these two skills have created a whole new way of making music in the last decennia.¹

¹watch a Schlomo tutorial on beatbox looping

The first prime example of beatboxing paired with loopstations dates back from 2009, when Beardyman performed an hour long show, of just him using his voice and his loopstations (along with some other controllers and synthesizers to further enhance the sound). ²

²Beardyman Live @ the Underbelly

Beardyman's setup, (humorous stagemanship) & performance showed that the one-man-band transformed from the acoustic instrumental tinkerers to electronic and musical hackers. It's incredible to see that one person understands the rhythms, build-ups and structure of many musical genres and is able to recreate them on the spot (and in Beardymans case even based on audience input). The ability to layer loops to create the musical backdrop has given artists the oppertunity to start adding singing, rapping and other FX effects and transitions to their music in contrary to traditional beatboxers that don't use loopstations.

Along with Beardyman a stream of artists have started using their looped vocals as the base for their songs. Jamie Woon for example arrived at the scene in 2008 with his track Spirits that consists solely of looped vocals. ³ Jamie Lidell is also known to include beatbox sampling in his live shows ⁴ and remixes like these from SBTRKT's Wildfire by artist Jeni⁵ are an amusing watch as it shows that electronic music has digressed from being static copied and pasted samples to being something that can be organically created live.

³Jamie Woon - Spirits
⁴Jamie Lidell - A Little Bit More (Looped live)
⁵SBTRKT ft. Drake & Little Dragon - Wildfire (Jeni Cover)

Beatboxing and loopstations combined are a great things, but it's not that they need eachother. Watching a great beatboxers using just a mic and hearing the range of music that one is able to create using just their voice is a unique skill on it's own.⁶ On the other hand loopstations have shown their value for non-beatbox artists as well. Dutch artist Binkbeats, who recreates electronic music live with looping accoustic instruments is also on a different level.⁷

⁶Father vs Daughter beatboxing, no loops just voice
⁷BINKbeats Beats Unraveled, no beatbox just loops

Last month (17-18 march 2017) the Grand Beatbox Loopstation Battle was held in Basel Switzerland, with participating competitors from all over the world. It was eventually the Frenchman Saro who won the finals (getting all judge votes and even getting praise mid-competition from his competitors.) Saro's ability to create incredibly catchy dance music ranging from house to trap and dubstep paired with his sonic ability of creating deep and rich sounds is a joy to watch. At times, just like turntablism and controllerism, as an uneducated listener it is impossible to follow where the sounds are actually coming from.

The semi-final between Saro and fellow Frenchman MB14 made for the most interesting battle. The different musical vibes paired with decent singer songwriting of MB14 vs the entrancing EDM blitzes of Saro.

Loopstation Beatboxing is on a forefront of the way electronics and humans are redefining the possibilities of what we call and can enjoy as music. Just like the hypeman in between rounds of the semi-final states: "100% proof that beatbox is music", as if there still is a doubt...