Microphone Check -- Weekly Inspiration from Eric!

This week's inspiration comes from our fabulous photographer & bassist, Eric!  I don't know about you, but I was pretty jazzed up by what he wrote!  Enjoy!  And check back each Friday for more Weekly Inspiration from Fifth House Ensemble!  

I am constantly on the look out for what is new and exciting in the world. From the latest gadgets to the newest online social communities, I like to have my hands in everything and keep on top of what is popular. Being a part of Fifth House let's me indulge in this sometimes distracting habit by always looking out for great musical ideas and potential future collaborators. The past several months I have been particularly overcome with interest in the rebirth of beatboxing.

For those of you who are not aware of what beatboxing is - it is basically creating percussive beats and sounds with nothing more than your mouth and a mic. While trolling through YouTube, as I often do, I found some young guys that are pioneering this effort to bring beatboxing from the underground to popular performance. One of these guys goes by the name Roxorloops and you can see one of his more impressive videos here.  What I love about him is that he explains his process and tells you the sound that he is going to create, then turns it into art. At first, you are entranced that he is able to replicate these sounds so well, but then you are just taken away at the true artistry and his ability to create such an awesome musical picture. It goes to show you that it really does not matter what the instrument is, if you put your heart into it and take the time to hone your skills, you can make any medium beautiful and amazing.

Another beatboxer to be on the lookout for is a guy called Blady Kris. You can see one of his videos here.  On top of his astonishing skill he interweaves an incredible message into the video. He describes how he gained interest in music and lets you into the secret of his success - practice, musical thievery, and COLLABORATION! He is all about building a community and learning from those around him.

I think we as classical musicians can learn a lot from these concepts of artistic honing and working together as a community to help it grow. Too often we become separatists and are too eager to do our own thing and be better than everyone else without thinking of the larger picture. Leave it to a bunch of guys with nothing more than a mic and a whole lot of skill and determination to help change the musical scope. Don't believe me....when is the last time you saw any classical performer get over 10 million hits on one video.

People pay attention to innovation, but they follow passion.

And don't think I have not put emails out to these guys to see if we can find a way to perform with them...

Til next next time!