I'll start.

Hi, I'm Andrew Chaikin. I'm leading the class. I've been vocal percussing for (yikes!) about 18 years or so. I was a founding member of the House Jacks, and now I percuss with a bunch of different artists. I'd say my core VP styles are: rock, funk, hip hop, techno, drum machines, turntablism, Latin percussion, etc.

One thing I'm interested in exploring in the class is doing bass lines along with VP. In listening to your auditions, I noticed that some of you are already doing this, but that each of you had a different style or technique. So I think this will be one place where we'll be able to learn from each other.

I'll be weighing in with other ideas as the conversation gets going. Peace.

Hey Y'all, I'm 19 and have been vping for about a year and a half, I am really looking forward to tapping all y'all for your wisdom and experience. Looking forward.

James Poole

Howdy. Sam Rogers here, 25, made noises all my life but the first people started to listen about 10 years ago. My VP technique has changed a lot in the last few months or so as I've been honing my "One Mouth Band" solo act and acting as the "one mouth rhythm section" for a local a cappella group. Some of you may have heard me this past weekend at the regional Harmony Sweeps where I provided the vocal drums and bass for The Irrationals. I’ve done a moderate amount of performing with various a cappella groups on a small scale. My favorite music to make is groovin group improv kinda stuff.

I'm seeking to expand my sound palette some more while I'm on a roll (in other words, before the next learning plateau), and more importantly, improve my stamina. Of course I'm open to anything else I get out of the class, like inspiration, new rhythms, and fun! Long have I worshipped Andrew the Vocal Percussion God from afar, but until now have not percussed in his presence. I look forward to getting over that and meeting all of you!

Hi. My name is Ian and I'm 16. I've been doing vocal percussion for about 6 months. I think doing the bass lines sounds awesome. I'd also really be interested in learning how to do turntables and mic manipulation, as well as just expanding my vp sound repetoire. I'm really looking forward to the class. See you all then!

Welcome, all. Ian, what do you mean when you say "mic manipulation?"

Hey everyone-
My name is Chris, and I'm a 19 year old freshman at Stanford University. I started percussing (and singing) in early October after I joined Mixed Company, a co-ed a cappella group here. I'm a bass.

I guess I was first introduced to vocal percussion after hearing Rahzel's beat and the chorus at the same time "if your mother only knew" spiel on the radio. That was probably about two years ago. A year ago, I got introduced to a cappella and the whole collegiate a cappella scene, and thought that the vocal percussion was one of the coolest parts about it. A year later, I find myself singing and percussing for my favorite collegiate group.

I'm open to learning anything and everything. In particular though, bass/beat concurrently, sing/beat concurrently, turntablism, and different types of rhythms and styles. And, of course, to simply expand my drum kit as much as I can.

Look forward to meeting all of you.

Jason Smith here. I've been spitting on the beat for about 4 years now. 3 of those years were spent with a semi-pro group in Utah called InsideOut. We've had a fun run, selling 30,000 cds in the last 3 years. I recently (4 weeks ago) moved to the bay area to start work in the real world (as opposed to the mystical fantasy world of 'college').

My main interests are improving accuracy and precision, and exploring very unique sounds, such as throat singing (VVM), turntableism, and multiple (or apparently multiple) sounds at once. There are also some very specific riffs I'm interested in, which I'm hoping one of you guys (and/or girls) will be able to help with.

I'd list the following as my influences in order of my introduction to them.

Dave Boyce
John Luthy
Andrew Chaikin
Greg Nice
Click tha Supah Latin
Kenny Mohammed
DJ Scratch

I'm very excited about the prospect of knowing 10 other people that get a kick out of this as much as me.

Feel free to email me at jsmith@ilm.com

JASON SMITH

Waw! So many extraordinary people: I don't even need to see Andrew to have lots of fun!...:)

Well, -- seems that I'm the only one here who is NOT a VPst. I'm an a capella arranger, currently working on a studio project (jazz, classical, fusion, gospel and folk kind of stuff), and I cannot find a VP, so I'm trying to learn as much as possible myself - just to cover the worst case scenario. Hope I won't spoil your workshop, guys; whatever you're going to learn will be of a great interest for me.

Andrew, thanks for the invitation!

PS: still, I can already do a snare I think:). So just a few things are missing:).

Your humility is touching, Vlad, but unfounded. Your chops are spot-on, and your ability to absorb new skills quickly is most impressive. If I felt you would be spoiling the workshop, I would have said, "Let's just stick to the private lessons." :)

Andrew,
When I said "mic manipulation," I just meant that I'd like to learn how to utilize the microphone when doing vp. I'd like to know what types of sounds are most effective on a microphone and how to use a microphone to make my vp sound better, as opposed to just more breathy. It sounds as though a lot of the people signed up for this class have experience with this, so just brief tutorial would be appreciated. Thanks.
-Ian

Gotcha. Yup, mike technique's very important. The whole playing field changes when you go from miked to unmiked, and vice versa. I'll happily cover that.

Hi, I'm the bass&beatbox person for Hookslide, a 4 person vocal band that performs pretty regularly around the bay area. We're going into the studio late in March to finish tracking our first album and I wanted to pick up a bunch of new ideas from Andrew and from the other students. I'm particularly interested in what sounds and rhythms can be best used to create a certain feel (hip-hop vs rock vs funk, etc., etc.). I'm also always looking for a new sound.

Howdy folks! I just talked to the Jazzschool -- due to a little mixup with the registration office, there will actually be 11 people at Sunday's class, not 10. I know I promised you 10, so I will compensate by going 'til 4:15 instead of 4:00. :)

By the way, the amazing world-jazz a cappella group SoVoSo will be performing at the Jazzschool starting at 4:30, so plan to stick around!

Hi all, thanks Andrew for setting up this forum before the class! I'm Kelly Takunda Orphan, singer, percussionist and a musician whose influences are in the world music genre, plus a lot of American funk, and music that seeks to bend the catagories of music. I'm not calling myself a VPer at the moment, but I love to sing rhythms-from Indonesian Kecak, to West African rhythms, etc...
What I want to do towmorrow is have a balance of playing and learning technique. I know in 2 hours, I won't become a master technically, so I'll look forward to spitting out whatever shape my rhythms sound like and just jamming! see ya soon!

I just heard Click Tha Supah Latin and realized that I have a long way to go in the beat-boxing realm. Whoa, unbelievable!
I hear he has changed his name to Click 88 and want to see him again. Anyone know where he will be playing?

Hello if any one have any questions for click you can email them to me or get in contact with me... I work for click.....
Peace

So im 17 and ive been beatboxing for bout four years now. my main intrests are on clarity and new sounds. My main infulences have definatley been jason Smith from insideout. Kevin Jones from the group eclipse has also been a big influence. his beats fit the music just right for their type of music. Ive been working on some of his crazy beats, but i just have a hard time getting the multiple sounds down at "once". So anyways thats whats up.

So im 17 and ive been beatboxing for bout four years now. my main intrests are on clarity and new sounds. My main infulences have definatley been jason Smith from insideout. Kevin Jones from the group eclipse has also been a big influence. his beats fit the music just right for their type of music. Ive been working on some of his crazy beats, but i just have a hard time getting the multiple sounds down at "once". So anyways thats whats up.