Julia Dales: beat boxing champion
"My name is Julia Dales and I want to win the Beatbox Battle Wildcard." And guess what. She did. More on the Beatbox Battle World Championship in this NPR post. (Thanks, Tara McGinley!)
"My name is Julia Dales and I want to win the Beatbox Battle Wildcard." And guess what. She did. More on the Beatbox Battle World Championship in this NPR post. (Thanks, Tara McGinley!)
the latest
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i'm in love.
Good job, Julia, and congratulations on your win. Judging from the usual Boing Boing comments, I'm going to predict:
52% of readers are amazed at the amazing sounds coming from your mouth
24% of readers don't appreciate your art
15% of readers are still wondering where you've got David (after dentist) hiding in your car
7% of readers just creamed their pants
2% of readers (Cory) are trying to figure out how to keep you from getting busted by the RIAA for illegal public performance of unlicensed musical works
Yay! Canadian Girl! for winning an event I didn't even know existed before this post.
Seriously, that was some impressive beatboxing... kind of reminded me of ventriloquism here and there.
Not that the man eating his sons eyeballs while on PCP wasn't also a wonderful thing, but this was REALLY wonderfully. Awesome.
Wow, reminds me of the Police Academy actor Michael Winslow who does all the special effects & stuff.
Very talented young lady.
She's really good. But Daichi should have won. His beatboxing is so tight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZsML4uWoiw
Daichi gets bonus points for maintaining a constant tempo.
Daichi has a nice clean tempo but Dales does a stunning job with incorporating lyrics. Good on her!
Wait 'till Kutiman gets hold of this!
this was up on mefi last week. plenty of juicy links to other rad beatboxers: http://www.metafilter.com/81647/now-thats-some-vocal-percussion
Perhaps I'm not an expert in what makes good beatboxing, but I really don't think she should have won.
I was most impressed by Daichi, and there were other beatboxers in that competition who, while not as good, were better than Julia Dales. My criteria? Her rhythm is a bit sloppy (compared to the others, and Daichi in particular, who were much tighter);
Her sounds are often raspy and indistinct;
I've heard MUCH better incorporation of vocals from plenty of other beatboxers;
While I think she's going for a laid-back, punky approach to her audition, she just comes off as complacent. Other auditions put a lot of visible preparation and effort in.
On a more general note, I'll be more interested in beatboxing when it moves beyond repetitive mimicry and into original compositions and experimentation. These people have such an amazing skill, but they waste it on mimicking hip hop and techno.
I can't believe Daichi didn't come in the top 5. That's nuts.
But Dales is awesome.
I've got a fever, and the only prescription... is more cowbell!
But we have to celebrate the pretty white girl, right? Right??
Just speculating...
@13strong: please provide links to the
"MUCH better incorporation of vocals from plenty of other beatboxers"
please, or I shall assume that you are only interested in beat boxing out of a more notorious orifice.
Like #6 said, Daichi was robbed.
Cynical bastard sez: Hot girl won in part for being a girl. You see it in competitions for hip hop stuff all the time- girls placing higher than they should because they showed up at all.
But usually they don't win.
That said, she's not exactly bad.
I wanna see beatboxers form a band a la Scratch Picklz... that would be awesome.
The nerve of all those beatboxers making hip-hop and techno. Don't they have any sense of history?
@13strong: I'm guessing you're not going to take on the task yourself.
I thought her vocal mixing was excellent, and pretty casual in a if-you-missed-it-I'm-not-gonna-repeat-it kind of way (which is always good, you're left wanting more).
I don't really have any truck with keeping a constant rhythm, though; when she changes beat she changes tempo, she is only "sloppy" sounding on the transitions. So for me it isn't much of an issue, she just chose a different tactic to Daichi, and ends up showing lots of styles really quickly in the process (it's definitely the most varied, in styles and techniques, among the ranking entrants).
That said, I really liked Daichi's set (his scratch technique is serious), but he didn't even rank..
1st Place: Julia Dales - Canada
2nd Place: Primitiv - Belgium
3rd Place: D-9 - Norway
4th Place: Lytos - Spain
5th Place: The Beatbox Hitman - USA
Also, remember, this was the online champion, not the world spot, so you shouldn't be judging this too harshly (eg. comparing it to the best of the best), they are the top of their level and will only get better. And it's an excellent level all round.. definitely check the other entries.
http://www.beatboxbattle.com/magazine/155-online-world-champion-2009
Well done Julia!
@ SEARCONFLEX:
I'll see what I can dig out on YouTube.
To start, the classic example, though maybe unfair given his professional status, Rahzel's classic "If Your Mother Only Knew":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjYobyChFqo
I'm sure people have moved beyond that by now, though. Kila Kela does some decent vocal stuff here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld76MYPFtRI
and another one, with Kila Kela doing Slave 4 You:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhCCbgYwOpM
Or Butterscotch, around the 1:30 mark:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5xmb7Az8nM
I could do some more YouTube hunting, and probably find some more.
Besides, that was one part of my criticisms.
@eh, why should I? IMO I find Ms. Dales to be an excellent example of singing while beat boxing. I just think it's fair for 13strong to back up her/his statement before I just start skipping over any of her/his future comments.
@ #15
EH:
I'm not going to take on the challenge myself, no, because I have no talent at or interest in taking up beatboxing. I don't see what that has to do with anything.
There's nothing wrong with beatboxing giving recognition to its origins and influences (hip hop, techno, jungle) but it bothers me that so much of it (99% of what I've heard) is mere mimicry, and not original composition. Like I said, these people have real skills and talent, but they don't compose original music or experiment with their "instrument". And IMO, music without experimentation and development grows sterile.
Searconflex re:13Strong.. it's mostly true, check out Killa Kella, or Rahzel.
They are both excellent, but not so much better. As I said, she did great in my book.
I tried to post some links to youtube clips of beatboxers doing the beat/vocal thing better, but it seems to have got held up - probably because of all the links.
But for what its worth, my comment included links to Rahzel, Kila Kela (admittedly both pros) and Butterscotch. I'm sure there are more.
To be honest, her vocal/beat was OK, and it's actually not a technique that many beatboxers attempt, so good on her, I guess. I just wasn't that impressed, overall.
She was on the local CBC radio here (in Ottawa) the other day. She's a charming teenager who was really sincere about winning. She claimed that she won the online contest, in part, because as a woman she has a better chance at winning in the competition for women at the Berlin Championship. I have nothing to verify if that's the case or not, but hey, she's good.
@#15, eh, ...... sorry! guess I should start LOOKING at the letters on the screen, eh?
I used to live with a beatboxing busker. And, man, does that get old quick. Julia's boyfriend must have the patience of a saint.
I noticed some noises in there I don't normally hear in a beatbox routine. Fresh! (Literally.)
Also, inserting sung parts while beatboxing is nothing new, but when your voice is a sultry woman's voice that features so prominently in lots of techno, it makes a nearly complete package.
I can see why she won!
Baldhead (et al), I'm gonna call the cynical bastard(s) out, and say "bullshit" :)
The rest of hip hop / battles have nothing to do with what we can see here, in the entries listed. She is better, IMO, than the other ranked finalists. And the fact that Daichi isn't ranked in the top five means she didn't win (over him) because she is a girl. He didn't make it through for his own reasons (if he was robbed, it was by at least five people).
Also, the main World Beatbox Championships has a female category, so no one is going to be winning just because they are a girl (actually technically, one of them is going to win for being a girl, but also for being the best girl :) ).
And as for "..not exactly bad." Give her a break! She's excellent, no less.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX0sByag4Z4
Apologies for that last, crappy version..
Here's the goods:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjYobyChFqo&feature=related
@ arkizzle, thank you kindly!
found this one of him doing Iron Man (near the end)
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/407033/rahzel_iron_man_nice_beatbox/
Do you know Kenny Muhammad? He's one of my favorites, but I haven't heard much out of him in years.
With the NewYork Philharmonic (bad quality):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD_SEnNq_qE
Wind Element Live:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3679737445607673641
On Jay Leno, etc, promo vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHW4jXZKAFY
Don't know what happened to my comment with all the links to better beat/vocal beatboxers...
Oh well, people have covered some of them already here.
13stroung, you have no interest in taking it up?
Than please consider not being so ready to take it down for the sake of showing off your "outsider experitise"
gahd it's tiring reading shit like that.
@ #29
MDH:
No, I'm not interested in taking it up. I'm also not interested in becoming a novelist, a painter, or a musician, but I'll continue to express opinions, critical or positive, about the work of those who do. If critical opinions tire you, you probably shouldn't be reading internet comment boards.
It's like I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't. If I give a critical opinion and don't back it up, someone demands I back up my statements. When I elaborate on my criticisms, I'm apparently "showing off my outsider expertise". I don't get why people care so much.
Pardon my ignorance. Just a random thought: So, judging by the negs so far, one would do better better when one doesn't demonstrate the ability to change tempo / pace / cadence / style midstream?
Good on ya Julia. Have at 'em.
Even if I think she did a great job, I have to agree with 13strong.
I'm tired of people who criticize others for sharing their (admittedly sometimes harsh) critics on a post. (Although the "BB has changed" and "this doesn't fit in a directory of wonderful things persons" piss me off too.)
She's fantastic! The only way you could have a better beatboxer would be to hook her up with Beardyman and breed their offspring.
Julia makes some crazy sounds, but for making actual music, it's all about Butterscotch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93dcsXWpJ3o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyudJMR-hf8&feature=related
to be quite honest i think she was all over the place. but have to give her a thumbs up for being eclectic.
I remember the first ever beat boxing championship, back in 57. Kerouac took down Burroughs in the third round.
Just been blundering around YouTube, and found this UK beatboxer BELLATRIX, who's not only pretty damn awesome, but has some interesting things to say about beatboxing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dxp6CetTBYo&feature=channel_page
Also, the more I listen to Julia Dales' audition, the more impressed I am at the complexity of her rhythms and "samples", but I'm still not sure she should have won.
A friend of mine is a folk musician and he gets around not having a drummer for his acoustic sets by beatboxing into a sample pedal after he's put down the guitar loop and letting it ride out for the rest of the song. He then throws some harmonica on top of it for good measure. Occassionally he busts out the Nintendo DS. It's pretty unreal.
PLEASE MARRY ME
this girl is awsome!this kracks me the F up!!! n a good way hellz yeah girl!
Awesome Beats
Plus XD
God Shes Beautiful.
I Love You Julia