KOCHI: Beat-boxing was a novel art for the 23-year-old Hari Haran when he first saw it on stage, performed by one of his school seniors at a Malayali Association cultural fest at Bengaluru six years ago. Hari, a Palakkad native settled in Bengaluru with his family, became a self-trained beatboxer after learning the artform through YouTube videos. Enjoying his stint, the youngster, in his abrupt Malayalam, boasts his achievements, including High Range Book of World Record in 2019 for being India’s first Kazoo beatboxer and the recent India Book of Record being a passionate Thai Flute beatboxer.
Elated with his triumphs, Hari also known as Harry D Cruz in the beatbox community, is on a mission to spread awareness about the art form among youngsters and influence them to take it up. “It was a coincidence for me to end up with beat-boxing. I got inspired by the art form when I came across the performance of one of my seniors in Kairali Nikethan Education Trust School, Bengaluru. I learned the art through Youtube tutorials Also performed on stage across Bengaluru and beyond. I have associated with the vocalist and guitarist Vasu Dixi and actress playback singer Andrea Jeremiah at different events with jamming sessions in beatbox, ” says Hari, who had also judged the Kerala Beatbox Championship 2019. Hari follows the genre, musicality beatbox and says it is not a child play.
“You need patience to learn the form as it is not just mimicking sounds. Several online tutorials are out there to guide you to control and modulate the sounds and balance the music produced through your mouth. Beatbox goes well with wind instruments, so my first try was with the American musical instrument, Kazoo, which adds a buzzing timbral quality to a player’s voice when the player vocalizes it. Then I checked the flutes like bansuri, metal and pan. Out of all these, Thai flutes caught my attention as it felt unique and interesting to play along with beatboxing.”
Ask him if his achievements satisfied him,and he answers, “Through these records, I wish to bring youth’s attention to the art form and motivate them to try it, thereby introducing various possibilities in beatboxing. Hari also pitches ways to use the beatbox in the music industry. “New avenues can be opened for the art if the music directors can include beatboxing in music production,” adds Hari who pursues MBA in Bengaluru.