Makin’ Music by Rick Devereux

I’ve never understood the question, “Do you like music?”

Is it even humanly possible to not like music?

You don’t have to like the music that’s played on the radio, or music that has words. But can anyone really not like any type of music whatsoever?

You can enjoy purely instrumental music or purely vocal music, or music that sounds like nature, but everyone likes music in some form.

1. While some purists may derail beat boxing as a silly time-waster, 17-year-old Jules Dales can make music with her mouth. The talented Canadian can sing a Michael Jackson song, complete with drum beat, by herself. I have a feeling legendary beat box artists Doug E. Fresh and Biz Markey are smiling at the skillz being passed to a new generation. Watch Dales perform in these videos.

2. Some might argue that at least beat box artists are making music, but DJs are just instruments to play records (or~shudder~CDs). Turn-tablists like D.J.P. might have a beef with that sentiment. D.J.P. grew up in Missouri, but he was a club DJ in Portland after winning the 1999 DMC US Finals in San Francisco. D.J.P. truly is a musician, though, and not just some mindless monkey spinning records. He is a master at layering two, three or even four or five vastly different songs on top of each other. It has been called ‘mashing,’ but it’s really more like layering than strictly mashing songs together. Listen to multiple mixes at his own YouTube channel here.

3. Speaking of ‘mashing’ songs, Mental_Floss has a quiz putting your ears to the test trying to pick out the two songs being played. Mental_Floss is an amazing magazine and website with lots and lots of interesting articles, quizzes and games.

4. Sometimes the names of bands are more interesting than the songs they sing – that can’t be a good thing. But where those names came from is sometimes even more interesting than the names themselves. Here is a list of how some bands got their names (I never knew what Oingo Boingo meant).

5. Knowing the origin of a band’s name may be kinda neat, but learning the origin of a musical movement is even better. Countless biopics have been made attempting to show the lives of rock stars (“Walk the Line,” “Ray,” “The Doors,” “The Dewey Cox story,” etc.), but one of the best but rarely mentioned is “What We Do Is Secret.” In it, the history of The Germs is told, and with it, the story of West Coast punk music. Not only is it a great look at the underground music scene of the late 1970s/ early 1980s, it also shows the birth of the coolest name in all of music (Hint: he was also a guitarist for Nirvana and Foo Fighters.