Tom Thum: The orchestra in my mouth | TED

My name is Tom,

and I've come here today to come clean

about what I do for money.

Basically, I use my mouth in strange ways

in exchange for cash.

(Laughter)

I usually do this kind of thing in seedy downtown bars

and on street corners,

so this mightn't be the most appropriate setting,

but I'd like to give you guys a bit of a demonstration

about what I do.

(Beatboxing)

And now, for my next number,

I'd like to return to the classics.

(Applause)

We're going to take it back,

way back,

back into time.

(Beatboxing: "Billie Jean")

♫ Billie Jean is not my lover ♫

♫ She's just a girl who claims that I am the one ♫

♫ But the kid is not my son ♫

(Applause) All right.

Wassup.

Thank you very much, TEDx.

If you guys haven't figured it out already,

my name's Tom Thum, and I'm a beatboxer,

which means all the sounds that you just heard

were made entirely using just my voice,

and the only thing was my voice.

And I can assure you

there are absolutely no effects

on this microphone whatsoever.

And I'm very, very stoked —

(Applause)

You guys are just applauding for everything. It's great.

Look at this, Mom! I made it!

I'm very, very stoked to be here today,

representing my kinfolk

and all those that haven't managed to make a career

out of an innate ability for inhuman noisemaking.

Because it is a bit of a niche market,

and there's not much work going on,

especially where I'm from.

You know, I'm from Brisbane,

which is a great city to live in.

Yeah! All right! Most of Brisbane's here. That's good.

(Laughter)

You know, I'm from Brizzy,

which is a great city to live in,

but let's be honest --

it's not exactly the cultural hub of the Southern Hemisphere.

So I do a lot of my work outside Brisbane

and outside Australia,

and so the pursuit of this crazy passion of mine

has enabled me to see

so many amazing places in the world.

So I'd like to share with you, if I may, my experiences.

So ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to take you on a journey

throughout the continents

and throughout sound itself.

We start our journey in the central deserts.

(Didgeridoo)

(Airplane)

India.

(Beatboxing)

(Sitar)

China.

(Guzheng)

(Beatboxing)

Germany.

(Beatboxing)

Party, party, yeah.

(Laughter)

And before we reach our final destination,

ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to share with you some technology

that I brought all the way from the thriving metropolis of Brisbane.

These things in front of me here are called Kaoss Pads,

and they allow me to do a whole lot of different things

with my voice.

For example, the one on the left here

allows me to add

a little bit of reverb to my sound,

which gives me that --

(Trumpet) --

flavor.

(Laughter)

And the other ones here,

I can use them in unison

to mimic the effect of a drum machine

or something like that.

I can sample in my own sounds and I can play it back

just by hitting the pads here.

(Noises)

TEDx.

(Music)

(Applause)

I got way too much time on my hands.

And last but not least,

the one on my right here allows me to

loop loop loop loop loop loop loop loop

my voice.

So with all that in mind, ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to take you on a journey

to a completely separate part of Earth

as I transform the Sydney Opera House

into a smoky downtown jazz bar.

All right boys, take it away.

(Music)

Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you

to a very special friend of mine,

one of the greatest double bassists I know.

Mr. Smokey Jefferson, let's take it for a walk. Come on, baby.

(Music)

All right, ladies and gentlemen,

I'd like to introduce you to the star of the show,

one of the greatest jazz legends of our time.

Music lovers and jazz lovers alike,

please give a warm hand of applause

for the one and only Mr. Peeping Tom. Take it away.

(Music)

(Applause)

Thank you. Thank you very much.

(Applause)