Real-time Magnetic Resonance Imaging (rtMRI) was used to examine mechanisms of sound production in five beatboxers. rtMRI was found to be an effective tool with which to study the articulatory dynamics of this form of human vocal production; it provides a dynamic view of the entire midsagittal vocal tract and at a frame rate (83 fps) sufficient to observe the movement and coordination of critical articulators. The artists’ repertoires included percussion elements generated using a wide range of articulatory and airstream mechanisms. Analysis of three common beatboxing sounds resulted in the finding that advanced beatboxers produce stronger ejectives and have greater control over different airstreams than novice beatboxers, to enhance the quality of their sounds. No difference in production mechanisms between males and females was observed. These data offer insights into the ways in which articulators can be trained and used to achieve specific acoustic goals.
Cite as: Patil, N., Greer, T., Blaylock, R., Narayanan, S.S. (2017) Comparison of Basic Beatboxing Articulations Between Expert and Novice Artists Using Real-Time Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Proc. Interspeech 2017, 2277-2281, doi: 10.21437/Interspeech.2017-1190
@inproceedings{patil17b_interspeech,
author={Nimisha Patil and Timothy Greer and Reed Blaylock and Shrikanth S. Narayanan},
title={{Comparison of Basic Beatboxing Articulations Between Expert and Novice Artists Using Real-Time Magnetic Resonance Imaging}},
year=2017,
booktitle={Proc. Interspeech 2017},
pages={2277--2281},
doi={10.21437/Interspeech.2017-1190}
}