Lesson 4 – Part 5

Adding Noise

In this lesson you will learn how to make a rear bi-dental (rear teeth) fricative and apply it to two different sounds.

The Bidental (Rear) Fricative!

Bidental means ‘two teeth’ and this sound is made by squeezing air between the upper and lower rear molar teeth.

It is the same as the English ‘sh’ sound and sounds a bit like white noise.

The iconophonic for the Bidental (rear) Fricative looks like this:

When most people make this sound, because rear teeth have air gaps between them, they actually clamp their teeth together to make the fricative ‘sh’ sound.

Here is a diagram showing where the sound is made in the mouth:

Watch this video to see a beatboxer making the Bidental (Rear) Fricative:

D-Kick and Open Hat

You can make the Bidental (rear) fricative at the same time as an Aspirated (Reverb) D-Kick. This makes it sound like an open hi-hat and a kick drum are being made at the same time.

It looks like this:

And sounds like this:

Watch this video to learn how to make the D-Kick and Open Hat:

The 808 Hollow Snare

The 808 Hollow Snare is made whilst holding your breath:

This sound is made up of several components and at first glance looks quite complicated. Don’t panic! You have already learned all the different iconophonics.

The first two iconophonics are you holding your breath. Then it’s a Forced and Tight English letter ‘d’ to make the 808 Snare Sound. And finally we add the Bidental (rear) Fricative or English ‘sh’ sound.

It sounds like this:

Watch a beatboxer making the sound. See if you can make it. Remember, you can build it up bit by bit using the iconophonics!

When you are ready, click on the QUIZ icon to take the Adding Noise quiz!