Future Man facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Future Man
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Future Man with the Flecktones at the Woodland Park Zoo in 2007.
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Roy Wilfred Wooten |
| Also known as | Futche |
| Born | October 13, 1957 Hampton, Virginia, United States |
| Genres | Jazz, jazz fusion |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, inventor |
| Instruments | Drumitar, Zendrum, SynthAxe, drums, vocals |
| Labels | |
| Associated acts | Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Victor Wooten, Jonathan Scales, Jeff Coffin |
Roy Wilfred Wooten (born October 13, 1957), known by his stage name Future Man, is an American musician, inventor, and composer. Fans sometimes call him Futche.
He is famous for being a member of the band Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. This group plays a mix of jazz and bluegrass. Other members include Béla Fleck (banjo), Howard Levy (harmonica), and Roy's brother, Victor Wooten (bass). Future Man's main instrument is the SynthAxeDrumitar. This is a special guitar synthesizer he changed to play drum and percussion sounds. He also plays regular drums and other percussion instruments.
Early Life and Family
Roy Wooten was born in Hampton, Virginia. His family moved around a lot because his father was in the military. He is the second of five sons born to Dorothy and Elijah "Pete" Wooten.
Roy finished high school in Newport News, Virginia in 1975. He took some music classes at Norfolk State University. After that, he started his professional music career. In the mid-1980s, he and his brothers moved to Nashville.
All of Roy's brothers are also musicians. His oldest brother, Regi, is a guitarist and teacher. Roy and his four brothers, Regi, Rudy (who played saxophone), Joseph (keyboards), and Victor (bass guitar), used to perform together. They were known as The Wooten Brothers in Virginia during the 1970s.
Music and Awards
Future Man has won six Grammy Awards with Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. When he plays with the Flecktones, he uses his own invention, the Drumitar. He also sometimes sings.
Inventing New Sounds
Future Man is known for inventing unique musical instruments. His most famous is the Drumitar. This electronic instrument lets him play drum and percussion sounds. It looks a bit like a guitar but is used to create rhythms.
More recently, he created another electronic instrument called the RoyEl. It looks like a piano. However, it can play notes that are not found in regular Western music scales. This instrument's design is based on ideas from the periodic table of elements and the golden ratio.
Solo Adventures
Like other members of the Flecktones, Future Man works on his own music projects. When he performs alone, he often dresses as a pirate. He also uses the name "RoyEl," which is the same name as his invented keyboard.
Future Man's solo albums are very creative and mix different types of music. For example, on his album Evolution de la Musique, he blends classical music with jazz elements. He often adds improvisation and spoken word to his songs.
He says that ideas from numerology (the study of numbers) and Vedic mathematics influence his music.
Future Man's solo works include:
- The Seamless Script
- Pi Lullaby
- Evolution de la Musique
- The Black Mozart Ensemble
See also
- Afrofuturism
