Playing Live at The Day Of The Endless Drone!

myself posing as a Waterphone playerYesterday, at about 10:00 in the morning, I dropped into the “Day Of The Endless Drone” 24-hour improvisation session in the old FAS building/Tax Office (now largely taken over by the College of Art and Design) on Sullivan’s Quay. I liked what was going on. The notion fascinated me: the composition for the Cork City Gamelan I am currently working on (A Prophet Looking For A Wall To Write On) is a drones piece.

There were people invigilating. I asked whether it was o.k. to contribute a drone or two… went away and returned with my Waterphone early in the afternoon… droned along for about an hour and enjoyed myself immensely.

I walked out with a great sense of success and achievement. It was the fist time this century (a few years more, actually) that I had played music in public – only an informal improvisation, but I did it. After all those years, I am playing live music again. Virtuoso instrumental acrobatics are not possible for me since I got chronic MS, but there are other ways…

Tomorrow, I am getting a new laptop computer delivered. I am setting it up as a musical instrument for live performance. I shall be able to play my Cork City Gamelan live – that’s something I had not planned when I started the project.
On October 22nd, I am playing my first recital since I became too ill to play conventional instruments. It is only a 20-minute slot at Sonic Vigil VI at Triskel Arts Centre’s Christ Church, but for me, it’s going to be a Big Thing. See the picture above – I had it taken especially for the occasion (thanks, Eoghan). I am planning to play A Prophet Looking For A Wall To Write On on my Waterphone, along with a prerecorded Cork City Gamelan backing track, and some impromptu sonic experiments, both on the Waterphone and the computer.

This entry was posted in Music Making for People With Disabilities, Playing The Waterphone. Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to Playing Live at The Day Of The Endless Drone!

  1. 02K6770 says:

    Set list: Iron Fist, Stay Clean, Back in Line, Metropolis, Over the Stop, One Night Stand, Know how To die, Chase Is Better, Tragedy, Brazil

    (Moderator’s action: commercial link removed)

Comments are closed.