and now something a little different: Dronechoir
"How come this thing doesn't have a a time signature?" aka a kinda, sorta technical explanation of my next performance
Hey! My next Dronechoir performance is happening soon on Saturday, June 28th at Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217!
Use promo code “BandG5” (no quotes) for a $5 discount on the ticket price.
Welcome to my newsletter if this is your first time receiving it. So far I have mostly written about my recent experiences training to become a volunteer firefighter in upstate New York. This is not a regularly scheduled newsletter but my rhythm so far has been to send new installments once every 4-8 weeks.
If you want to catch up from the beginning here is the story so far:
pt 1: from Freak to Firefighter
pt 2: Paperwork! Gear! Hound Dog Heros
pt 3: Fast Forward FireFighter!
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What is a Dronechoir?
I’m not going to explain what constitutes the drone musical genre and instead let this nice man explain1 what a drone is. You can intimate from this video where drone music originated from but I’m not qualified to give a history lesson about it.
Regardless, art is a form of conversation and interpretation, right? In 2015, when I was invited to “do something” at Basilica’s 24hr Dronefest, I was not a dronethusiast. (i.e. I had never listened to drone music on purpose.) So I interpreted the opportunity as a way to solve a pair of problems the invitation introduced:
How do I not do it alone and not incorporate electronics, as many other performers seemed to be doing?
Noting that the lineup felt somewhat off-balance in the gender department I wondered: could I load the stage with women?
Hence, Dronechoir was awkwardly birthed. You can watch this lovely film below for highlights from that first edition.
For my performance I gave each of the vocalists individualized notes as I went from person to person around the circle, changing their notes each time I came back to them. It was essentially a live looping human-machine, and I learned that the improvisational process felt messy and unkempt. Since then, I’ve been developing a long, evolving composition, adding a new section every two performances or so, and it’s become a sort of collection of moments.
Each section has a title, like “Sirens” - “Lighthouse” - “Maidens in the Garden” - “Walking together in grief” and so on. Each section has a particular flavor that I lengthen or shorten, or omit entirely, depending on the timeframe requirements of the performance. That’s why every performance has been different, even though it incorporates similar parts. I often change the chords or frequency of patterns. It’s also grown to include five parts, so the number of participants has been able to expand, and I’ve honed the parts to be within particular vocal ranges. Sometimes it even feels like there is a soloist component to the composition, but everyone is being told what to sing.
I like for the participants to be uninformed of who else is singing their part until they’re in the thick of it, because I like how the uneasiness of ignorance creates a petri dish for bonding. That’s the same reason I typically ask the vocalists to NOT listen to the piece. I think that being able to see the singers search for their note is a part of the performance, and also negs the idea of perfection. I like that we all have to start our tracks as a group. This gives space for the human touch of timing, and immediately strikes down the feeling of “failure” as we navigate technology, which is inevitably quite difficult to work with.
What’s different about this weekend’s Dronechoir?
The new version we’ll be performing at ROULETTE this Saturday, includes a new section I’m calling “dust particles” which references my sense of collective helplessness against what I view as authoritarian, oligarchical rule.
So it’s given me the title for the next performance…
Dronechoir MOTE, 20
MOTE, as in
a tiny particle of dust
and
So Mote it Be
Dust builds up, and we wipe it away. Somehow it seems like that's what those with power are trying to do to those without. Brush dandruff off the shoulders of a suit-jacket. And we dance and swirl ‘til we settle. But even the tiniest particles can lead to a global halt; take communicable diseases, for example. It's a matter of organization and communication. For better or worse, word of mouth might be the most effective way to get things done, and without giving too much away, that’s sort of the subtext within this next performance.
It takes me a while to come up with a title for these. The first 8 were titled “TRACE”, as I navigated what physically tracing a path in this type of performance could look like.
Then came “BUDDHA” which included a chant with optional solos. “MIRACLE” was the first time working with another creative: spoken word poet Mahogany L Brown. “SYLLABA” focused more on the words and intent, with a different spoken word poet, Shannekia MacIntosh. “DIMINU” was done with super small group. Et. cetera.
You can find the titles of each performance here,2 as well as see the performers and gain a little contextual perspective.
Do you have any questions about Dronechoir or my process of creating each piece? I realize this has been a chaotic explanation. I’m rushing to get it out before preparing for the show this weekend!
Last but not least thank you to everyone who has participated in a Dronechoir over the years. The ensemble at Roulette this weekend will include: Amanda Wallace — Aqxyl Storms — Arone Dyer — Beth Meyers — Bethany Dinsick — Chessa Rich — Coco Villa — Emma Wiseman — Ginger Dolden — Grace Woodard — Josh Davidoff — Lambkin — Lily Goldberg — Lola Johnson — Mary Hood — Melanie — Molly Schwall — Skylar Gudasz — Susan Mason — Tamara McLeod — Tom Weiser
p.s. — If you live far away and can’t make it to Roulette you’ll be able to watch a live stream of the performance on YouTube. Really though you should come if you can! I hope to create a “finished” audio/video document of Dronechoir using the documentation for this show—but this is an embodied performance meant to be experienced in real life.
In case you are into footnotes here is that video I mentioned above with Kuljit Bhamra explaining drones.
Everyone likes pictures so I’m adding a video and some group portraits from previous instances of Dronechoir in this footnote. There is more information over on my website.
❤️🔥