Lee Gibling

There was a time at the 2009 Human Beatbox Convention at the Southbank Centre in London where all the beatboxers present were asked to get on stage for a monster 10 minute jam. Now there were 4 microphones on stage and about 50 beatboxers, so without going into details you can imagine what the mics were like after 10 minutes. It wasn’t a problem at the time because all the beatboxers were keen to be involved, but thinking back it probably wasn’t very pleasant.

Therefore I felt it important to highlight some issues and let you know about some ways to help with microphone hygiene and general beatboxing health:

1. Use Your Own Microphone:

Its your microphone. Don’t let anyone else use it. Its not a problem if you are performing and when you go on-stage you need to swap the mics over. The sound engineer shouldn’t have a problem with it, but do make sure that you sound check with your mic. Sound quality can vary a lot between mics. Using your own microphone means that it can only be your spit and saliva going onto the mic grill. After time the microphone grill is going to get some wear and tear so you might want to consider buying a new mic grill or cleaning your existing one. There is a great article on the Shure website on how to clean your mic grill which can be found HERE.

2. Oral Hygiene:

Now you should know this from about the age of 2! Brush your teeth regularly. I know its obvious, but teeth brushing and mouthwash is seriously going to help prevent your mic from smelling and your going to spit less of those little germs onto your mic. Also, if you’re like me and occasionally beatbox too much, then you get mouth ulcers… which hurt and are bloody annoying. So using a mouthwash like Corsodyl will help prevent and heal mouth ulcers. There is also gels such as Bonjela or Iglu which are great if you use them just before performing.

3. Lip Balm:

I use it all the time! Its the worst thing in the world if you are trying to beatbox with cracked lips and as a performer is nearly impossible to beatbox. You know the feeling when having cracked lips you can barely talk or eat! MICISM actually do a beatbox branded lip balm, but any kind of lip balm will work perfectly.

4. Preventing Dry Mouth:

Its a problem I used to have to contend with and every performer knows that its a problem if it occurs. For a beatboxer it is a killer! It effects some people more than others and has been linked with nerves and stage fright. For some people you’ll need to deal with this first and half the time this comes with experience. So for the long term solution be confident about your abilities. Most of the time there was no reason to be nervous in the first place. How often have you said to yourself afterwords “what was I nervous about?”.

For short term solution you’ll need to make sure that you are drinking. I don’t recommend just water. Most beatboxers that I have spoken to drink juice, milk, or other ‘thicker’ fluids. Save the water for on stage. I would steer well clear of alcohol too. You can also buy things like dry mouth spray.

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I’m sure there are many other things you can do , but these a just a selection on the practices I use. If you have any other recommendations or additions then please comment.