Q&A with Fred Newman:
You went to Harvard Business School and worked at Newsweek . So what happened? How did you start this crazy career in sound making?
By "crazy career" are you referring to the fact that I honk for a living? I was working at Newsweek in New York, doing stand-up comedy on the side, and I found the sounds I made went over better than my jokes. It dawned on me that the sound making I'd learned from storytellers I grew up around in Georgia, was a kind of dying folk art, and that I could teach what I had heard to other people. So I wrote a book while at Newsweek , and Workman was bold enough to publish it.
Were you the kind of kid who got into trouble at
school--the class clown?
Okay, I was removed from a few classrooms--once by my bottom lip--but, really, I wasn't a troublemaker. My intent wasn't to disrupt or grab attention--I just felt I had an obligation to spice up a dull lesson or an agonizingly dry Sunday school class. Kids loved it and even most teachers got into it. I'd give teachers trumpet fanfares when they entered the room or drum rolls to add suspense to their homework assignments.
What is the #1 tip you can give us for learning how to duplicate sounds and voices?
Listen. It's really all about listening--first, getting the sounds inside you. We live in an increasingly noisy world and as a consequence we've had to pull back, even block out sounds with portable earphones. MOUTHSOUNDS is about first noticing the little sounds around us--a water drip, for instance. It's a wonderful, distinctive, delicate sound, and you can actually duplicate it. And once you do, you will hear it in a totally new way.
Can anyone really be taught to whistle--no special pharynx or nose shape that gives you an advantage?
Definitely--anyone can learn. Whistling comes easily to some people; others take a bit more practice. And there are many kinds of whistles to learn, from melodic to ear shattering--from Pucker Whistles and Hand Coos to the 2-Finger Taxi Whistle. I've even included paper nose whistles in the book that anyone who can just hear a tune can play.
For a beginner who wants to pick up a few tricks to impress someone this weekend, which sounds are easiest?
The "Hawaiian Nose Hum"--it's great in groups. The "Bicycle Honk" is always impressive, good for getting attention at a noisy dinner. The "Jazz Bass" is useful for walking smooth to your own theme song. And the "Dog Bark" gets a great reaction from household pets.
You have been a part of some fantastic children's television programming, and right now your work can be seen and heard on the PBS reading show Between the Lions . What is the difference between entertaining kids and entertaining adults?
I can perform for 5-year-olds and do virtually the same thing for 85-year-olds--they all get it. But kids, in many ways, are more difficult. They are ruthless with attention--you have to be real and in the moment. If you aren't, they tune out quickly--they get restless, walk away, change channels. Adults are more courteous--they'll smile politely and put up with a lot.
Currently, you create voices and sounds on public radio's A Prairie Home Companion . How did your collaboration with Garrison Keillor begin?
A Prairie Home Companion had just become a national show, and I went on as part of the book tour in 1980. I remember I came out and surprised Garrison with the voice of Baby Elizabeth, a 3-year-old blues singer. He immediately knew what to do: He sat her on his radio lap and talked to her for awhile, and she sang and played "The Baby Blues" to him on harmonica. He was amazing, and I remember thinking, I don't know who this guy is, but I'll follow him anywhere. Over the years, Garrison would call me to come on the show, and I'd drop everything to do it. When Tom Keith (the longtime soundman for PHC) decided three or four years ago not to travel, Garrison asked me to be a touring regular. It is easily the best sound gig in the world.
You've worked with Garry Trudeau, bringing life to his "Doonesbury" character, Duke. Is there anywhere we can catch that?
Yes--check out www.doonesbury.com . Duke is dancing, firing off audio potshots--you can even ask him questions on "Ask Duke." It's great fun playing a politically incorrect bad boy. By the way, that's actually me dancing as Duke, controlled by a real-time motion capture suit, much the same way Tom Hanks was animated as the conductor in The Polar Express .
When reading to children, which classic stories lend themselves
best to MouthSounds?
Just about any story: fairy tales, folklore, modern stories. Even adding little sounds here or there helps the child imagine, and, just as important, keeps it fun for Mom or Dad. Footsteps, doors creaking open, the hoot of an owl, even "silence" has a sound--little wind whistling in the trees or a lone cricket chirp will make a child's eyes widen. That's the way stories were always told.
Have you ever met a sound you couldn't duplicate?
Oh, sure. Breaking glass, for instance, is a thousand little sounds at once--tough to do convincingly, so you have to approximate it. I've worked on a piano for years and sometimes, if the mood is right and my sinuses are in perfect working order, I can make "Moonlight Sonata" sound like the real deal.
Are you ever going to get a real job?
Not if I can help it. Just after that first version of MOUTHSOUNDS came out, some twenty years ago, I snuck out of Newsweek and auditioned for the (then) new David Letterman morning show. The show, much to my surprise, asked me to come on, and I went back and resigned from my desk job. I don't think I've had a legitimate job that my mother would approve of since then.