Beatbox and morchang meet in Bangalore

If you don’t like trance, and are not that into men in their thirties playing guitar riffs and headbanging, the Bangalore music scene ain’t got a whole lot happening.  Which is why Saturday night was great.

British beatboxer Shlomo was on a sponsored trip of India – apparently the British Council has moved on from supporting G&Ts and classical concerts to supporting G&Ts and beatboxing – and in a three-city tour Bangalore just gets to sneak in alongside Mumbai and Delhi.

Beatboxers use their teeth, lips, mouth and throat to create basslines, beats and vocals.  Shlomo’s signature trick is to do it with two microphones, one held to his mouth and the other to the side of his throat to capture “most of the bass” that escapes before the sound reaches the lips.  He can layer tracks, speed them up, slow them down and then reverse them using only his voice and occasionally a loop machine.

In the name of international collaboration, Shlomo was appearing with Raies Khan, a musician from Rajasthan who is “arguably India’s best morchang player,” according to the poster.  For anyone (else) who had to google morchang, it’s the metal instrument that looks a little like a keyhole that you place between your teeth and twang with your finger.  Here’s one, with a peacock on top of it:

The sound comes from flicking the bisecting “trigger”, and then varying the shape of your mouth and throat around the vibrations, making it oddly similar to beatboxing.  Shlomo had a go on Khan’s morchang, but said it made his face feel funny.  Khan tried out beatboxing for a couple of minutes, to pretty good effect, though Shlomo later pointed out the mic was covered in spit.  “It’s my first time,” said Khan.

Language barriers meant the two probably didn’t have much opportunity for conversation, and they cut an odd duo on stage: the tall Jewish bloke from High Wycombe in a paper hat and the smaller Rajasthani man in a red turban and embroidered coat.  But any communication barriers came crashing down once they started in their own musical style, each creating a sound or rhythm and then seemingly throwing it across to the other to develop it and throw it back.  It was fantastic.

Unfortunately later they were joined by Swarathma, a Bangalore band who tried to hide how out of their depth they were by wearing tassels and lamé trousers, and playing their folk-rock songs with very little acknowledgment for the other two on stage.  Particularly embarrassing was when they forced a gift on the international guest, a pair of miniature trainers that squeaked for his unborn child.  “Oh, that’s really great, thanks,” said Shlomo.  “Does anyone have a bucket?”

It’s a low quality recording, but you can get some idea of the two voicebox artists interacting here.

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