Translator: Anna Durbanova Reviewer: Radost Tsvetkova
(Beatboxing)
(Beatboxing ends)
TED.
All right.
(Applause)
Well, the mike works.
We are good on the mike.
It is my icebreaker.
My name is Elijah Aaron Palnik,
I perform around the country:
around Columbus, around Ohio,
and I do kind of a one-man band.
We'll get to that in a second.
I work in the Department of Dance here,
I am obviously not a dancer,
although this physique is...
where it's at.
(Laughter)
You guys like that?
So, in the Department of Dance I accompany all of the dance classes with my music.
So, Modern, African, Jazz,
even like Ballet.
(Music)
Right?
So a little bit of everything.
And the way that I am able to do it is
by using some of the modern technology,
a fuse with a lot of the ancient rhythms that I've studied and I grew up on,
and so, what this machine at my feet does,
it allows me to record whatever I want, whenever I want,
and it keeps going.
Thus creating a band of Elijah's,
which can be pretty intense, right?
So I will just give you a little -
I'll show you how it works.
And the reason I have to explain it -
I was thinking about this backstage actually,
but a lot of the time I'll perform and people are like -
perfect example:
I performed at a luncheon a few years ago,
and - how do I put this? -
everyone was like fifty years older than me.
It was that kind of luncheon, which was pretty hip.
This woman comes up to me afterwords, she goes -
she gave me three pieces of advice that I hold very dear to my heart.
One was, "You should cut your beard."
(Laughter)
Okay, the next one - she goes,
"It would do you good to learn some Neil Diamond."
(Laughter)
I was like, "All right, this lady is sweet." Okay?
Sounds like my grandmother.
And then she goes, "How do you do the backing tracks?"
I was like, "Well, I am doing them as I am going,
I am just improvising and recording them."
She goes, "Okay, so where do you do your backing tracks?"
She would not listen to me.
So I have to explain it,
so I am going to improvise right here.
(Music)
I'm just going to make something up in front of you, guys,
and then I'll see where it goes, okay?
I'd like you to enter my world, I'm inviting you, okay?
(Hissing)
This is where the pyrotechnics -
I wanted it, but I did not get the "Okay".
(Music)
Did you hear it right out there?
(Music)
Here we go!
(Music)
We are just beginning.
(Laughter)
(Beatboxing)
(Beatboxing ends)
So then, this guy is probably like a few thousand different drums,
I just kind of turn the wheel, and it turns into a new drum.
We will see where this takes us, I have no idea what is about to happen.
(Music)
(Music ends)
TED.
Okay, so are you good?
(Applause)
Fun, right?
It is just one big bag of chill.
Okay, so -
With the remaining time I'd like to play one of my favourite songs
by one of my favourite artists.
His name is Paul Simon.
And, the reason I care so much and so deeply about this song is:
the intertwining and intermingling of ancient African rhythms and Modern Pop.
It's like, "I'll have four slices of that."
Like that is - it speaks to me, right?
It is my favourite kind of music.
And, it is just what I love to do, okay?
I'm going to play a song
I have always wanted to play by myself, and I couldn't,
until I got some of this modern - (Beatboxing) - technology.
Okay?
Here we go.
This is called: "Diamonds on the soles of her shoes"
(Music)
(Beatboxing)
(Music)
(Singing) Ta-na na-na, ta-na na-na na.
(Singing) People say she’s crazy,
she’s got diamonds on the soles of her shoes.
Yeah, that’s one way to lose these walking blues,
diamonds on the soles of her shoes.
She is physically forgotten,
she slipped into my pocket with my car keys.
She said, “You've taken me for granted, because I please you",
wearing these diamonds on the soles of her shoes.
(Music)
He makes the sign of a teaspoon,
she makes the sign of a wave.
Poor boy, get some clothes and put some aftershave
to compensate for his ordinary shoes.
She says, “Honey, take me dancing”,
but they ended up sleeping in a doorway,
bodegas and the lights on,
Upper Broadway,
wearing these diamonds,
and I could say, "Oh oh, oh,
because if everybody here knows what I was talking about,
because If everybody here would know exactly what I was talking about,
talking about diamonds on the soles of the shoes.
(Music)
(Singing) Ta-na na-na, ta-na na-na na.
(Beatboxing) Ta-na, na-na na.
(Music ends)
(Applause)