BEAT BOX

noun Also written beat-box or beatbox (Music) (Youth Culture) In colloquial use among musicians, a drum machine (an electronic device for producing a variety of drum-beats and percussion sounds as backing for music or rapping: see rap); hence a style of music with a throbbing electronic drum-beat which often also accompanies interludes of rapping. Also, another name for a ghetto blaster. Etymology: Formed by compounding: a box which produces the beat. History and Usage: The beat box, which is essentially a percussion synthesizer, became a popular alternative to the conventional drum kit during the early eighties, when synthesized sounds in general opened up new possibilities for many bands. It was really the increased popularity of rap and its spread outside the Black music scene that led to the development of a distinct style of music called beat box by the mid eighties. A beat box is an expensive piece of equipment, so it is perhaps not surprising that some youngsters tried to imitate the sound without actually using a beat box; this led to the development of a new action noun beatboxing, the activity of making percussion noises like those of a beat box using only one's mouth and body. How do you compare an album like that to...the sparse beat-box music and intensely engaging call-and-response served up by today's leading rap group, Run-D.M.C.? New York Times 9 Jan. 1985, section C, p. 14 Booming out of beat boxes on the street and bounced to in aerobics classes, the 'Big' beat sounds like the next equal-play anthem for American women. Washington Post 19 Mar. 1985, section C, p. 1 They usurp rap and beatbox, scratching their own frequently wild guitar marks on top. Q Mar. 1989, p. 72