The Human Drum Kit
Turn your mouth into a percussion powerhouse. Learn the essential sounds and rhythms to start beatboxing your favorite tracks in minutes.
Like Duolingo, but for The Human Drum Kit. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
A short one: 9 levels across 2 sections, about 18 minutes end to end, roughly 4 days at five minutes a day. It moves through The Core Kit and Adding Texture and Style. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in The Human Drum Kit
- The Hi-Hat is a short flick of the tongue
- Air must be trapped behind the lips to build pressure
- The tongue strikes the back of the upper teeth
- The sound comes from the sudden release of pressure, not the lungs
- Minimal air is required for a sharp, clicking sound
- Using your voice (vocal cords) turns the drum into a spoken letter
- How to generate the explosive power of a Kick Drum
- The physical mechanism of the Hi-Hat
- The Snare requires a 'crack' created by air passing through the lips
- The Kick is lip-dominant
- The Hi-Hat is tongue-dominant
- Percussive sounds require 'de-voicing' or keeping vocal cords still
- Distinguishing the physical actions of the Big Three sounds
- Adding 'voice' makes the sounds resemble human speech rather than instruments
- The 'machine' quality comes from pure air and lip/tongue friction
- The role of the vocal cords in basic percussion
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives The Human Drum Kit the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
What is the first step to creating a powerful Kick Drum sound?
Get it right to open this lesson and 8 more in the app.
Where The Human Drum Kit takes you
- 1
The Core Kit
- The Big Three Sounds
- Building Your First Groove
- 2
Adding Texture and Style
- Advanced Mouth Mechanics
2 sections · 3 units · 9 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Tomo is in ChatGPT
Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.
Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
- Quick questions with instant feedback, hearts and stars, ready to play in about a minute.
- Where it goes
- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
The Human Drum Kit is taught in the Bestie style: your friend who just gets it. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start The Human Drum Kit today.
Download Tomo, search The Human Drum Kit, and play your first lesson in under a minute.