You are completely entitled to your opinion on this track.. not that fond of it myself, tbh.... but pretty much everything else you've said is simply untrue.

First up, digital instruments are still instruments. Some of them require great skill to play in real time (see Beardyman for example).

Some are authoring tools that aren't used for performance. So what? In the past, we called those kinds of tools sheet music, where a composer could write some music and have others perform it.

Second, it's not a zero-sum game. Just because some people use a sampler doesn't take away from people playing guitar.

Finally, there are literally millions of musicians still playing instruments (by which I'm assuming you mean traditional instruments like strings, percussion, wind, etc). With the web as a distribution and learning tool, it has never been easier to learn, write and record music. So if you want to listen to rock or classical or blues or jazz or soul or funk or metal or folk or any combination thereof, it's out there. Go look for it.

Your video, TEDTalks | Beardyman: The polyphonic me, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

That's an interesting point. In a way, it could be argued that the skill needed in order to make any given instrument produce whatever it is that you've got in your head could represent a sort of ideational friction. Beardyman has obviously spent most his life practicing with his voice, and as such, his voice has become his instrument of choice. However, as he pointed out, he eventually realized that his voicebox simply wouldn't be able to do all the things he wanted it to do, and because this was an issue of biology, there was no linear path through this particular obstacle.

So he had to get a bit lateral instead.

And really, the same goes for guitars. They started out accoustic, but then somebody decided that he wanted to do more with them; and thus the electric guitar was born.

Creative people of all stripes tend to spend their lives looking for a high-fidelity method of getting the stuff inside their heads into everybody else's heads, and Beardyman is no different in that regard.

It's cool and impressive and so on, but I'm still not sure what the point is?

He talks about being able to replicate "the sound in his head". Ok, cool. Musicians have been trying to do that for years. Electric guitarists, for instance, can spend hours/weeks/months tweaking settings on a dizzying array of gear to produce the sound they want. But ultimately, the expression of the music still comes from the guitar, from the physical manipulation and vibration of the strings.

I have no problem with Beardyman using his voice as an instrument, or even manipulating it, looping it or whatever. But surely there comes a point where the manipulation is so extreme that the "source" is lost, i.e. there is nothing about the output that is affected by the input. At which point, I have to ask, why bother with voice as an input in the first place? Why not just use a wave generator?

Actually, I think I might have answered my own question. I guess it's the fact that his voice is an easily manipulatable starting point.

I can agree with that. However, the thing that makes this so interesting for me is the idea that the human being is a fundamentally unnatural creature, and the idea that modern technology more and more allows us to be an essentially modular animal, with endless possibilities.

As we innovate, we constantly redefine what it means to be a human being - clothes are so ubiquitous and culturally deep-seated that they can almost be seen as just another layer of skin, and allow us to inhabit vastly different climates, where most other animals really only function in a single setting. The same can be said for telephones and the internet, two inventions that vastly improve our ability to communicate with each other.

And what Beardyman shows us here is an example of this modularity. The "natural" human being can only produce one tone. Through cultural innovation, we can learn to sing with two tones. Through technological innovation, we can even learn to create an entire orchestra by using the input of a single man's voice.

To me, that is pretty extraordinary.

As much as I love Beardyman and music as a whole, that didn't seem anything new and exciting, as he or dubFx or many others have been doing this with existing equipment for years.

this guy does same thing as Beardy, only Beardy is has been doing it lot longer.

Beardy does it all with his mouth, then he used to use Korg Kaoss Pad III's that this guy goes to halfway into the presentation. Which is also seems to be direct copy of Beardy's style. Since a lot of beatboxers started using Korg Kaoss Pad's Beardy sorta got annoyed and moved to using 2 tablets with proprietary software he had written he calls the Beardytron. Go to Beardyman's channel on youtube his concerts are free

http://www.youtube.com/user/beardyman/videos

here's his very old one before his popularity exploded when he used the Korg pads: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qciVXUHTN10

In fairness, doesn't Beardyman usually use looper pedal?

this guy is an amateur compared to Beardyman

Beardymans' the shizzz...he tries to get the sax-man to trade fours with him but the cats' not up to it-

Someone needs to get Beardyman a pet lyrebird immediately.

>> ^Crosswords:

So basically its, 'look what you an do when you have 100k+ worth of sound equipment'? Its cool, but as far as a feat of human vocal prowess not so much. Reggie Watts is far better in that respect, plus he's got awesome fluffy hair.
Yes, Reggie Watts or Beardyman are more impressive.

In reply to this comment by enoch:
beardyman,DUBFX and now?
this dude...he is damn good.
*promote

Thanks so much for the promote!

beardyman,DUBFX and now?
this dude...he is damn good.
*promote

*quality

Exactly the type of song Beardyman was lampooning, although Coldplay aren't really indie exactly. It only needs some glockenspiel.