The voice is the most expressive musical instrument and it also is the most directly connected to the creative engine. Shouldn’t it be the premier instrument for improvisation? That would be scat. Indeed scat is the most expressive form of improvisation but it is not very popular. A trumpet solo carries us along but scat just sounds weird. Why is that?
The words “scat” and “virtuoso” leave Google cold.
Could it be that a big part of what we appreciate about improvisation is the awesome physical skill that comes from training on an external instrument? Scatting is too easy.
Could it be akin to the uncanny valley? Audiences feel uncomfortable watching animated characters that look too similar to real people. Is scatting too much like singing?
Why are vocalists not using electronics to digitally transform their voice into something that sounds more less like a voice. Then they could utilize the expressiveness and fluidity of the voice and fool the audience into thinking it was an instrument. Autotune?
Would it be more attractive if the scat made sense? Why are there no vocalists who take written lyrics and then improvise them into a melody?
Listen to Clark Terry.
If someone could make a trumpet sound like that they would be heralded as a genius.
Cheap Talk 
6 comments
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June 14, 2011 at 9:31 am
dalek
Hmm, interesting. That’s not to say that vocal improvisation is unheard of. In the Indian classical musical tradition all performances are improvised subject to a certain set of rules (raagas).
June 14, 2011 at 9:46 am
rif
Wow, this one brings up a lot for me.
Let me start by advancing the hypothesis that scatting is too hard rather than too easy. Louis Armstrong was a master of scat, and his scatting was incredibly popular; it was a major part of his act for decades. The average trumpet player or singer can’t scat well even after many hours or months of trying. For an example, try to spontaneously produce utterances that sound like sentences but are made of nonsense syllables. I find this very very tough, and so does everyone else I know. At least a few comedians have made wonderful routines out of being able to do this.
There might be something to your uncanny valley argument. On the other hand, it might not be the discomfort or distaste of the uncanny valley, but merely a preference. I can prefer singing to scatting because I can connect with it on more levels [understanding the story] without feeling revulsion for the scatting. Actually, as anecdotal support for this idea, I like listening to scat singing at least as much as I like listening to singing in Chinese or Russian or Turkish. And my scat teachers always advised that your own scatting should be a language, your own language, that that’s what made it sound good.
Musical thoughts. For a modern day vocalist using electronics to transform his voice, check out J. D. Walter. Lambert, Hendricks & Ross with their “vocalese” style were arguably doing scatting that made sense. Mike Doughty when he was leading Soul Coughing, which had a massive cult following in the 90’s but was not quite mainstream, had a vocal style that was quite influenced by scat and beat poetry — some nonsense syllables, but also plenty of words that were to be enjoyed more as sounds than as language — the album Ruby Vroom is a masterpiece.
Is there anything better than that Mumbles video? I’ve been watching that every few months for years when I need a pick-me-up. I always wonder whether a youngish Jim Henson saw this video and was inspired by it.
June 14, 2011 at 11:52 pm
Tom Millar
“Beatbox virtuoso” doesn’t bring up too many good hits either, and is the same kind of thing you’re talking about, imo.
I think part of the problem is that the population that might really enjoy scat or beatboxing or other non-lyric vocal musicianship never adopted the word virtuoso as a label for their favorites. There are certainly lots of youtube videos of incredible beatboxing feats by all sorts of performers in all kinds of genres, similar to lots of street and club dancing styles, but no “virtuosos” or “showcases.”
Another part of the problem is that there’s no school or rigor to scat or beatboxing – so no hierarchy to ascend to the top of, certainly not to stay on top of long enough to be labeled a genius of the field. Non-lyric vocal improv is a rare feature of music, not generally treated as a centerpiece. It’s novelty, maybe sadly so, maybe for a reason. Would people really rush to buy an album of scat pieces or a beatboxing opus?
as to “why are there no vocalists who take written lyrics and then improvise them into melody” – this is common practice, possibly epitomized by Elton John’s long partnership with Bernie Taupin (Bernie writes the words, Elton sings the hooks).
December 12, 2011 at 6:04 am
BertieorBirdie
You have the monoolpy on useful information-aren’t monopolies illegal? 😉
December 13, 2011 at 3:23 am
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