Breath Control: History of The Human Beat Box
Director: Joey Garfield
Website: http://www.ibeatbox.com
Breath Control is a documentary about making music with nothing but the human voice. The human beat box is one of the key elements in the development of Hip Hop culture, alongside Dj-ing, Graffiti, Breakdancing, and MC-ing. Unfortunately, its contribution has been largely overlooked, as has the fun, expressive, human, and spontaneous dimension of Hip Hop that it represents. As the first documentary of its kind, Breath Control: The History of the Human Beat Box uses interview's, live performances, archival footage, and animation to bring to light this important and neglected ingredient of Hip Hop's identity .
With the help of Beat Box pioneers DOUG E. FRESH, BIZ MARKIE, and THE FAT BOYS, Breath Control traces this art form from it's basic beat beginnings in the Eighties to it's present day multi-layered, polyrhythmatic figurehead's RAHZEL and SCRATCH of the Hip Hop group THE ROOTS. But Breath Control isn't limited to Hip Hop. Musician ZAP MAMA opens up the idea that human beat boxing is an artform practiced all over the world and has been refined by many different cultures. Breath Control is a half historical, half tutorial look at humans as actual instruments.
Breath Control has languished in a state of flux since its film festival premeire at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2002. Although it has gained many fans and played festivals around the world, music clearance issues and the unrealistic financial expectations of major labels have made a commercial release all but impossible. Ghost Robot is currently working with Standford Law to identify how Fair Use can be applied to the music, footage and other copyright protected material in the film.
Stick with us. We're close to getting it out to the world.
With the help of Beat Box pioneers DOUG E. FRESH, BIZ MARKIE, and THE FAT BOYS, Breath Control traces this art form from it's basic beat beginnings in the Eighties to it's present day multi-layered, polyrhythmatic figurehead's RAHZEL and SCRATCH of the Hip Hop group THE ROOTS. But Breath Control isn't limited to Hip Hop. Musician ZAP MAMA opens up the idea that human beat boxing is an artform practiced all over the world and has been refined by many different cultures. Breath Control is a half historical, half tutorial look at humans as actual instruments.
Breath Control has languished in a state of flux since its film festival premeire at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2002. Although it has gained many fans and played festivals around the world, music clearance issues and the unrealistic financial expectations of major labels have made a commercial release all but impossible. Ghost Robot is currently working with Standford Law to identify how Fair Use can be applied to the music, footage and other copyright protected material in the film.
Stick with us. We're close to getting it out to the world.
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