Throwback to the Lyrebird Atlantic Beatbox Battle

Lyrebird may be an online beatbox school, but that doesn’t prevent it from organizing physical events, off-screen.

One of the strong values carried by the team is the culture of sharing. And what better way to strengthen the community spirit than a battle?

The steps of a beatbox battle

In many cases, in order to participate in a battle, it is necessary to prepare a wildcard. 

If you don’t know what a wildcard is, we tell you all about it in our dedicated program. (Registration is closed but subscribe to our newsletter to stay tuned and be part of the next cohort!)

This time, however, there was nothing like that. Registration was free, so everyone had a chance to participate. Only the number of participants was limited. 

By the way, although it was not necessary to make a wildcard, knowing the process of creating one maximizes your chances of making a good qualification phase.

What’s a beatbox battle?

A battle is divided into two parts: The qualifications and then the battles.

During the qualifications, each participant has 2 minutes on stage to convince the jury to let them move on to the next stage: the battles. 

This is how the participants who succeed in doing well are qualified for the next step. 

During the battles, the beatboxers will compete against each other. One against one at a time, until there is only one survivor left, the winner of the event!

During the L.A.B.B #1, they were 30 to compete hoping to be part of the 16 qualified to win the title of champion of this first edition.

A battle under the sun

This is how, on March 27th, beatboxers gathered at the Little Atlantic Brewery in Nantes.

In the audience, we find as many neophytes as experts. This is the magic of the beatbox community. A big family, where all levels meet for a moment of sharing.

Moreover, this event allowed us to promote our beloved discipline. 

Indeed, the L.A.B is a place which regularly organizes events and all the people present are not necessarily aware of the programming. The beatbox piqued the curiosity of more than one spectator. 

The beatbox world is spreading steps by steps and Lyrebird contributes to democratizing this art.

The participants are there way before the beginning of the event. As the audience pours in, the pressure mounts. Some of them are performing on their very first stage and it’s an honour for us to give them a space to express their art. 

The beginning of hostilities

A draw was made beforehand to determine the order of appearance. The participants follow each other one after the other on stage. 30 participants for only 16 places in battle. 

The jury holds in its hands the heavy task of selecting the 16 qualified for the battles. This is why Lyrebird has chosen 5 quality beatboxers to be part of it.

Pro tips: asking the jury for feedback after your performance will allow you to find out your weaknesses but also, and it’s very important, your strengths. Moreover, if you are part of our students, we also observe you on our side to find possible axes of evolution.

Therefore, in Nantes, at the L.A.B. you could meet the following 5 judges: 

• Duj’, champion of the 2018 West Beatbox challenge and co-founder of Lyrebird
• Hutch, semi-finalist twice in solo and winner in team with Team Punk in 2015
• Alexinho, four times French champion in solo, tag-team and team and world champion in 2018 – solo category
• FootboxG, triple Belgian solo champion and GBB Tag Team Champion with Middle School
• Supernova, Belgian champion in 2016 and GBB Tag Team Champion with Middle School

Among the 30 participants, there were 5 proud representatives of the Lyrebird Beatbox School: Aël, Lynea, Merliflex, Nazca, & Psykoz!

The end of the qualifications leads to a short break. Each member of the jury has made a top 20 and there is only room for the 16 people who have stood out in the ranking.

The battles

Everyone is patient in their own way. Some are already rehearsing their next phases, confident of their performance. Others take advantage of the free time to refill their drinks at the bar (Don’t forget to drink water)

The TOP 16 is announced and we are very proud to discover that two of our students are part of it! The selected ones are ready to break mouths.

The competition keeps going. Once on stage, the two beatboxers do a “rock, paper, scissors”. The winner chooses who will perform the first round. 

Letting your opponent start can be a real asset since it gives you the opportunity to make a response. A good answer has the power to make us completely forget about a participant’s first round. 

However, some of the most audacious choose to go first. A great challenge.

How to stand out?

Some redouble their efforts and bet on originality to move to the next level. 

When two beatboxers with impeccable technique face each other, they have to find the differentiating angle that will allow them to go further.

The results are tight. Originality is not always enough. Many other criteria come into play such as musicality, stage performance, technique, etc.

In the history of beatbox, some people remember Efaybee and his cover of “Face à la mer”, others will remember Tunecinoo’s covers during the small final.

There is so much to say about each of these battles. They are all very rich. In fact, in your beatboxing practice, there are a number of battles that are essential to discover and decode to take your practice to the next level.

By analysing a battle, you will be able to determine what allowed one person to win rather than another. 

Anyway, the final of L.A.B.B #1 was worthy of the French championships. 

It opposed our current solo French vice-champion: Synopsys and Epock, French vice-champion by team, triple cheese CFHBB 2018, Top 4 of FrancoMicroPhonie.

The showcases

In addition to the battles, you may know that at each event, there are showcases. 

These are short shows that allow the participants and the public to take breaks during the battle in order to discover the practice of beatboxing under different formats. 

Each of the members of the jury had time on stage to make the public dance. Actually, the evening ended with a showcase of our Belgian talents: Middle School.

If you missed them at the Grand Beatbox Battle, this was your chance to see them. If you missed them this time, maybe you’ll have the opportunity to see them again at a future Lyrebird event, who knows?

Needless to say, the winners of the GBB 2021 Tag Team competition gave us a colourful concert. Between Supernova’s jokes and FootboxG’s enthusiasm, we could only be excited about their performance.

Evolving as a beatboxer

At the end of the evening, the circles are formed and jams follow one another. Some choose to chat quietly while others seize the opportunity to practice with the best. 

“Can you do the poh snare? Teach me!”

If you think you’re too shy to come, you can just walk into a circle and listen. You come to enjoy the atmosphere, to discover new sounds, to find a space of trust within a caring community. 

You don’t have to participate or talk if you don’t feel comfortable. Your mere presence is enough. It gives strength to everyone who comes on stage and helps build positive synergy. 

We’re here to pull each other up, build our confidence and we can’t say it enough: share. 

After an event, you will quietly assimilate the different sounds and rolls you heard. Moreover, it is not rare to hear beatboxers say that they have progressed more after an event than in a few weeks of practice.

This is one true power, the strength of the collective. 

The opportunity to get on stage

Many of the beatboxers who participated in this event started beatboxing by watching a video on the internet. 

“Wow that’s awesome what he’s doing, I want to do the same thing!”

This idea often leads to learn privately, at home. And then, with stars in your eyes, you’re ready to work hard and relentlessly to get there. 

Learning on your own is great. That being said, at some point, the desire to take the microphone and get on stage will probably rise to the surface.

The stage experience is totally different from an online event or a video posted on your networks. 

When you’re on stage, you find out what works with the audience and what doesn’t, you get to play against high level people but also get a lot of feedback.

Perfect your own style

It is also this type of event that allows you to develop your own style. Beatboxers from everywhere are present with their own sound banks, favourite rhythms etc. A style, a musicality, a technicality and much more, that’s what you can discover.

Pro tips: save your inspirations on your phone throughout the event by adding tags so you don’t lose your ideas. 

The community is built around each of us. That’s why the Lyrebird team gave you the opportunity to be photographed and to record tutorials on your favourite sound. 

And who knows, maybe the sound you taught someone helped them build a killer routine?

Return of the silence

You may have heard that beatboxers are loud. That’s a fact. The evening goes on even though the doors of the event are closing. 

And then, the end. The silence. The most courageous go to bed with the first rays of sun. Their facial muscles are ready to enjoy a well-deserved rest. 

Tomorrow is another day. The day where the learnings of the previous day can be exploited. 

At this party, new talents were formed and we were there to witness it.

Do you wish to (re)experience an event organized by Lyrebird? Join our community of passionate beatboxers so you don’t miss anything! 

If you have read the whole article, you should have understood that participating in such competitions can have as many personal and professional benefits. 

Furthermore, one of the strengths of these events is their inclusiveness. Anyone can beatbox and participate. You only need to have a mouth. 🙂

At Lyrebird, we believe in the strength of the collective. One of the main areas of progression is to learn from the best. The feedback and advice from experienced beatboxers you meet along the way will help you improve your practice by adapting it to your level.

We’ll be doing events again. In the meantime, to continue the quality exchanges, it’s happening in our community.