One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
Where The Flute Meets The Beat Box
Greg Pattillo says he uses mnemonic devices to teach beats and create certain sounds with his mouth.
Listen
7:59
When flutist Greg Pattillo moved to New York and began busking at subway stations, he went a traditional route.
"I couldn't find work playing music anywhere," he says. "And so the logical conclusion was to take my music into the subway, which is a tough audience because in the subway everyone's there to go somewhere else and not there to hear you."
He would play for an hour, he says, and make only a dollar in change. So he decided to experiment.
He tried out a style of playing described as "beat-boxing flute" or "rhythm flute," that incorporates hip-hop beats made with his mouth.
"As I was packing up, I would do a little beat-boxing with, say a video game tune, and voila, 10 bucks in the case," he says. "So I started to put two and two together, and realized that people like 'beat-box flute.'"
And he soon discovered this style was a big money-maker.
Pattillo says that a lot of the standard flute techniques are also used in beat-boxing.
Sponsored message
"We use our tongue to clarify the notes that we play," he explains. "And if you overpronounce them and pop some P's, you get some beat-box rhythm. Beat-boxing, I think you can safely define it as making beats with your voice and your mouth."
Pattillo says he uses mnemonic devices — such as the words "boots" and "cats" — to teach beats and create certain sounds, specifically emphasizing and popping the consonances to make the sounds carry beyond the mouth.
To hear the full interview, click on the audio link above.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDA1OTI3MjQ5MDEyODUwMTE2MzM1YzNmZA004))
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
