ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Beardyman - Beatboxer and inventor
Beardyman, “ruler of beats and destroyer of dance floors,” has developed a real-time music-production system that places live looping at the center of a new musical paradigm.

Why you should listen

Beardyman, AKA Darren Foreman, was studying product design at Brighton University in the UK when he started beatboxing. After winning two consecutive UK Beatbox Championships, he turned to live looping (recording and playing back audio samples in real time) as a way to layer his vocal ablutions into dance-floor-rocking hour-long sets. He released his debut album in 2011 and has been rocking stages all over the world ever since.

Working with DMGAudio, Beardyman built what he calls the "Beardytron_5000 mkII," a real-time music-production system that could be the solution to the problem of how to smash a dance floor using only your voice -- and how to compose and produce complex and highly nuanced electronic dance music in real time. “There was nothing available that does what I need, so I was forced to make it myself," he says.

More profile about the speaker
Beardyman | Speaker | TED.com
TED2013

Beardyman: The polyphonic me

Beardyman: 多聲道嘅我

Filmed:
2,587,846 views

由於唔可以喺同一個時間發出兩種聲音,音樂發明家 Beardyman 覺得沮喪,於是佢製作咗一個循環和分層自己把聲嘅機器,可以輕易咁發出各種聲音,包括喊緊嘅嬰兒同飛緊嘅烏蠅,亦包括各樣可以諗到嘅樂器。既然有咁多種聲音,點解唔坐低感受聲音嘅澍湃呢?
- Beatboxer and inventor
Beardyman, “ruler of beats and destroyer of dance floors,” has developed a real-time music-production system that places live looping at the center of a new musical paradigm. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
I'd like you all
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我想各位
00:15
to ask問吓 yourselves自己 a question個問題
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問自己一個你可能從來未問過嘅問題
00:17
which you may可能 never have asked問吓 yourselves自己 before:
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00:21
What is possible可能 with the human人類 voice聲音?
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人類嘅聲音有可以做到啲咩?
00:25
What is possible可能 with the human人類 voice聲音?
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00:33
(Beatboxing彈鋼琴)
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(節奏口技)
00:57
Ooh baby寶貝
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♪ 哦奀咕 ♪
01:00
baby寶貝
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♪ 奀咕 ♪
01:03
baby寶貝
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♪ 奀咕 ♪
01:05
baby寶貝 ♪ (Baby寶貝 crying)
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♪ 奀咕 ♪(嬰兒哭聲)
01:07
baby寶貝 ♪ (Baby寶貝 crying)
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♪ 奀咕 ♪(嬰兒哭聲)
01:10
baby寶貝 ♪ (Cat meowing喵喵叫)
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♪ 奀咕 ♪(貓叫)
01:15
(Dog barking)
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(狗吠)
01:22
Yeah.
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耶!
(掌聲)
01:24
(Applause掌聲)
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01:31
(Boomerang自食其果 noises噪音)
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(迴旋鏢聲)
01:39
It was coming straight for me. I had to. It was, yeah.
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頭先嗰啲全部都係嚟自我嘅聲音
冇錯,真係嚟自我
01:43
As you can probably可能 well imagine想象,
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所以你哋大概都可以想像到
01:46
I was a strange奇怪 child孩子.
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我細個係一個好奇怪嘅細路
01:48
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
01:55
Because the thing is, I was constantly係咁 trying試圖
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原因係
我一路都嘗試
令我嘅聲音做到最多嘅嘢
01:58
to extend擴展 my repertoire劇目 of noises噪音 to be
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02:02
the very maximum最大 that it could be.
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02:05
I was constantly係咁 experimenting試驗 with these noises噪音.
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我一直以嚟都喺度試緊呢啲聲音
02:07
And I'm still on that mission任務.
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我到宜家仍然喺度試緊
02:09
I'm still trying試圖 to find every noise譟聲
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我仍然探索緊我可以發到嘅聲音
02:11
that I can possibly可能 make.
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02:13
And the thing is, I'm a bit older and wiser明智 now,
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但係,我宜家已經大個咗同埋聰明咗
02:15
and I know that there's some noises噪音
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我知道有啲聲音
係我永遠都冇辦法發出嘅
02:17
I'll never be able to make because I'm hemmed包圍 in
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因為礙於身體嘅局限
02:19
by my physical物理 body身體, and there's things it can't do.
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所以有啲嘢係我做唔到嘅
02:23
And there's things that no one's人嘅 voice聲音 can do.
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而且,有啲嘢係人把聲無可能做到嘅
02:24
For example例子, no one can do two notes筆記 at the same相同 time.
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譬如,冇人可以同一個時間唱兩個音
02:28
You can do two-tone雙色調 singing唱歌,
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你可以好似僧侶咁唱兩個音,即係︰
02:30
which monks僧侶 can do, which is like...
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02:33
(Two-tone雙色調 singing唱歌)
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(複調唱法)
02:43
But that's cheating作弊.
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但係咁樣嘅唱法
係同時間唱兩個音
02:46
And it hurts your throat.
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而且會傷害你嘅喉嚨
02:48
So there's things you can't do, and these limitations限制
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所以有啲嘢你係冇辦法做嘅
人嘅聲音有局限呢樣嘢一直都困擾住我
02:51
on the human人類 voice聲音 have always really annoyed嬲啫 me,
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02:54
because beatbox口技 is the best最好 way of getting得到
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因為節奏口技雖然係最好方式
將你音樂嘅諗法帶出嚟
02:58
musical音樂 ideas想法 out of your head and into the world世界,
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03:01
but they're sketches草圖 at best最好,
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但係佢哋最多只係簡單嘅音樂
03:03
which is what's annoyed嬲啫 me.
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所以令我好困擾
03:05
If only, if only there was a way
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然後我假設有一種方法
可以將音樂嘅諗法完全咁表達出嚟
03:07
for these ideas想法 to come out unimpeded暢通
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03:10
by the restrictions限制 which my body身體 gives it.
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而唔受身體所限制
03:15
So I've been working工作 with these guys,
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於是我同呢啲人合作
03:17
and we've我哋都 made作出 a machine.
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我哋整咗部機器
03:21
We've我哋都 made作出 a system系統 which is basically基本上
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我哋做咗一個系統
基本上係一個實時嘅生產機器
03:23
a live production生產 machine,
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03:26
a real-time實時 music音樂 production生產 machine,
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一個實時嘅音樂製作機器
03:30
and it enables使 me to, using使用 nothing but my voice聲音,
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我只需要用自己把聲
即時創作出我腦海入邊聽到嘅音樂
03:34
create創建 music音樂 in real真正 time as I hear聽到 it in my head
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03:38
unimpeded暢通 by any physical物理 restrictions限制
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而唔再受到身體限制
03:41
that my body身體 might可能 place地方 on me.
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03:43
And I'm going to show顯示 you what it can do.
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我宜家會示範佢可以做啲乜嘢
03:47
And before I start初時 making決策 noises噪音 with it,
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喺我用佢整聲音
同埋用佢編輯我把聲之前
03:51
and using使用 it to manipulate操縱 my voice聲音,
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03:53
I want to reiterate重申 that everything that you're about to hear聽到
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我想講多次,所有你會聽到嘅聲音
03:56
is being made作出 by my voice聲音.
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都通過我把聲造出嚟嘅
04:00
This system系統 has --
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呢個系統有…
04:03
thank you, beautiful assistant助理 --
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唔該你,助手
04:05
this system系統 has no sounds聽上去 in it itself本身
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呢個系統本身唔會自己發聲
04:10
until直到 I start初時 putting sounds聽上去 in it,
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04:12
so there's no prerecorded samples樣品 of any kind一種.
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所以佢冇錄音範本可以用
04:16
So once一旦 this thing really gets得到 going,
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當呢部機運作
04:18
and it really starts初時 to mangle裂傷 the audio音頻 I'm putting into it,
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當佢開始轉換我把聲嘅時候
04:21
it becomes成為 not obvious明顯 that it is the human人類 voice聲音,
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聽起上嚟嘅人聲音就會冇咁似人聲
04:24
but it is, so I'm going to take you through透過 it bit by bit
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但係,出嚟嘅始終係人聲嚟
我逐步示範畀你哋睇
04:27
and start初時 nice and simple簡單.
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我哋由簡單嘅開始
04:29
So the polyphony复音 problem個問題: I've only got one voice聲音.
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首先係複調音樂問題,我只有一把聲
04:31
How do I get around the problem個問題
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咁我點可以做到
同一個時間有多個唔同嘅聲音?
04:33
of really wanting希望 to have as many好多 different不同 voices聲音
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04:35
going on at the same相同 time.
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最簡單嘅方法就好似咁︰
04:37
The simplest簡單 way to do it is something like this.
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04:39
(Beatboxing彈鋼琴)
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(節奏口技)
04:45
By dancing跳舞. It's like this.
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通過舞蹈,就會好似咁︰
04:47
(Music音樂)
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(音樂)
05:19
Thanks多謝.
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多謝
(掌聲)
05:20
(Applause掌聲)
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05:22
So that's probably可能 the easiest簡單 way.
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呢個可能係最簡單嘅方法
05:26
But if you want to do something a little bit more immediate即刻,
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但係如果你想做得更加即時
05:29
something that you can't achieve實現 with live looping循環,
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又或者想做實時循環
做唔到嘅嘢
05:31
there's other ways方式 to layer your voice聲音 up.
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你有其他方法鋪你把聲上去
05:33
There's things like pitch-shifting螺距轉移,
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譬如有音調轉移
05:35
which are awesome,
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我會畀大家聽下呢啲聲音係點樣嘅
05:36
and I'm going to show顯示 you now what that sounds聽上去 like.
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05:38
So I'm going to start初時 another另一個 beat for you, like this.
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我會打另一段拍子,好似咁
05:41
(Beatboxing彈鋼琴)
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(節奏口技)
05:49
There's always got to be a bit of a dance舞蹈 at the start初時,
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一開始都會有少少嘅舞蹈
05:50
because it's just fun有趣, so
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因為咁樣好得意
05:52
you can clap along沿 if you want.
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如果你可以鍾意嘅話
可以跟住一齊打節拍
05:54
You don't have to. It's fine. Check檢查 it out.
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宜家聽下我加低音
05:57
I'm going to lay down a bass低音 sound聲音 now.
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06:01
(Music音樂)
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(音樂)
06:11
And now, a rockabilly搖滾樂 guitar結他.
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跟住,加搖滾吉他
06:27
Which is nice. But what if I want to make, say, a -- (Applause掌聲) --
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個音出嚟好好
但係如果我想做,譬如話…(掌聲)
06:31
Thanks多謝. What if I want to make, say, a rock岩石 organ器官?
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多謝。假設我想做,例如,搖滾風琴?
06:33
Is that possible可能? Yes, it is,
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有冇可能呢?係可以嘅
06:36
by recording記錄 myself自己 like this.
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只要好我咁樣錄低我把聲
06:38
(Organ器官 sound聲音)
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(風琴聲)
06:41
And now I have that, I have that recorded記錄.
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跟住,宜家我有頭先嗰個錄音
06:46
Assign分配 it to a keyboard鍵盤.
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我擺佢到時間軸上邊
06:47
(Music音樂)
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(音樂)
06:51
So that's cool.
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咁樣就得啦
(掌聲)
06:53
(Applause掌聲)
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06:55
But what if I wanted to sound聲音 like the whole整個 of Pink粉紅色 Floyd弗洛伊德?
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但係,如果我想要聽起嚟
好似成支 Pink Floyd 樂隊咁?
07:01
Impossible冇可能, you say. No.
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冇可能,你哋覺得,冇可能
07:03
It is possible可能, and you can do it very simply淨係
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係有可能嘅,而且你可以用呢部機
07:06
using使用 this machine. It's really fantastic夢幻般. Check檢查 it out.
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非常簡單就做到。真係好神奇。聽下
07:10
(Music音樂)
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(音樂)
07:44
So every noise譟聲 you can hear聽到 there is my voice聲音.
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所以所有你聽得到嘅聲音
都係嚟自我把聲
07:47
I didn't just trigger觸發 something which sounds聽上去 like that.
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我整咗呢啲聲音
07:52
There's no samples樣品. There's no synthesizers合成.
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我係冇用到樣本音樂,冇合成
07:53
That is literally從字面上 all my voice聲音 being manipulated操縱,
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所有都係經過修改嘅我把聲
07:57
and when you get to that pointD, you have to ask問吓, don't you,
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當你明白咗製作過程,你一定會問
做呢啲嘢做咩?
08:01
what's the pointD?
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08:02
Why do this? (Laughter笑聲)
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點解要咁做?(笑聲)
08:06
Because it's cheaper than hiring招聘 the whole整個 of Pink粉紅色 Floyd弗洛伊德,
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我諗簡單嘅答案係
因為平過你去請成支 Pink Floyd
08:09
I suppose, is the easy容易 answer回答.
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08:11
But in actual實際 fact事實, I haven't made作出 this machine
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但係事實上
我仲未整到一部
模仿已經存在咗嘅嘢嘅機器
08:15
so that I can emulate things that already exist存在.
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08:17
I've made作出 this so that I can make
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於是我整咗呢部可以發出
任何我可以想像到嘅聲音
08:20
any noise譟聲 that I can imagine想象.
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08:21
So with your permission許可, I'm going to do
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你哋批准嘅話
我宜家就會表演我腦海入邊嘅嘢
08:24
some things that are in my mind介意,
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08:26
and I hope希望 you enjoy享受 them,
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我希望你哋會鍾意啦
08:28
because they're rather unusual異常,
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但我知道當佢哋本身非比尋常
08:30
especially尤其係 when you're doing things which are
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而且你哋做緊啲嘢好似呢樣咁奇呢時
08:33
as unusual異常 as this, it can be hard努力 to believe
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你哋會好難相信呢啲全部都係我把聲
08:37
that it is all my voice聲音, you see.
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08:38
(Voice聲音 effects影響)
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(聲音效果)
08:52
(Music音樂)
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(音樂)
09:13
Like this.
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好似咁
09:15
(Music音樂)
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(音樂)
10:46
So, loosely鬆散 defined定義,
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呢個就係人類聲做到嘅嘢
10:50
that is what's possible可能 with the human人類 voice聲音.
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10:54
Thank you very much, ladies女士們 and gentlemen先生.
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好多謝各位
10:56
(Applause掌聲)
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(掌聲)
Translated by Rachel Yang
Reviewed by Michael Ge 葛叔

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Beardyman - Beatboxer and inventor
Beardyman, “ruler of beats and destroyer of dance floors,” has developed a real-time music-production system that places live looping at the center of a new musical paradigm.

Why you should listen

Beardyman, AKA Darren Foreman, was studying product design at Brighton University in the UK when he started beatboxing. After winning two consecutive UK Beatbox Championships, he turned to live looping (recording and playing back audio samples in real time) as a way to layer his vocal ablutions into dance-floor-rocking hour-long sets. He released his debut album in 2011 and has been rocking stages all over the world ever since.

Working with DMGAudio, Beardyman built what he calls the "Beardytron_5000 mkII," a real-time music-production system that could be the solution to the problem of how to smash a dance floor using only your voice -- and how to compose and produce complex and highly nuanced electronic dance music in real time. “There was nothing available that does what I need, so I was forced to make it myself," he says.

More profile about the speaker
Beardyman | Speaker | TED.com