Last edited Sat Jun 1, 2013, 11:25 AM - Edit history (1)
At the heart of all these examples is a technique called "multiphonics", where the instrumentalist sings (or hums) notes at the same time he or she is producing other notes on the instrument. It has been a popular jazz thing for guitarists (remember George Benson's Breezin'). On guitar, it is simply a matter of thinking of one set of notes that you hum while you are playing a compatible line of the guitar. There is no real technical trick to it. You just have to train the mind to think on two planes at once.
It is a little harder to do on flute, but because the flute doesn't require a "buzzing embouchure" multiphonics it is only a little more difficult than with guitar.
More recently (the past 20 -30 years or so) some brass instrument players have mastered this multiphonics thing. That is considerably more difficult than with the flute because that buzzing embouchure interacts rather severely with the buzz. There are only certain intervals that really work well (for example, singing and octave plus a third above the played note. If you get both notes in tune, then another note (the fifth of the chord) can be heard, giving it a full three note chord. In general singing above the played pitch is easier, so this technique is easier on tuba and the lower trombone register, and really difficult to control on trumpet.
So the multiphonics thing has been around. The beat box effects build on top of that by using the voice and shape of the mouth cavity to make more percussive effects. Generally these percussive sounds are placed between played notes, which makes for a really complex performance. All of these people would have practiced long, long hours to get this good at it.
I should mention that many of these effects date back centuries to the aboriginal Australians and their didgeridoos.
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yazz flute minds think alike. 
