The Drone Ensemble prepares for BALTIC workshop

The collaborative artist duo Pester & Rossi have invited the The Drone Ensemble to lead an experimental sound making workshop as part of their current exhibition, Infinity Pitch, at BALTIC.

Sat 7 Apr 14.00-17.00
Drone Ensemble
Infinity Ensemble experimental sound making workshop

Yesterday we had another workshop planning meeting where we prepared the props we will be using in the workshop, confirmed the logistics, booked the van and developed the score for the performance that will take place as part of the workshop.

It was a really productive session, and I'm hopeful that it will go down well with visitors.

For more information about the event visit
http://baltic.art/whats-on/infinity-pitch

Thanks to all involved in the Unpitch event at Culture Lab

The Drone Ensemble would like to thank Ben Freeth and Jez Riley French for inviting us to perform at the Unpitch event at Culture Lab, featuring headliners Hankil Ryu and Lo Wie from Korea.

We would also like to thank all the people who turned up to listen to us!




The Drone Ensemble set up this evening consisted of:

friction drums

pipe gurdys

hurdy gurdy

percussion

It was good to test out a simpler score and allow each of the instruments to have a period of time as the focus.

Fine tuning the Drone instruments

Over the past few weeks we have been redesigning and modifying some of our existing instruments. In some instances the improvements are being made to make the instruments easier to transport and store, and in other cases the changes are to have an effect on the sound produced by the instrument.

We have been redesigning the tube gurdys so that they do not all need to have their own individual stands which take up lots of space and are difficult to transport. Rather than the wheel being fixed in the stand, we are making some hand-held wheels that can be used on a number of instruments.

Joe has been developing the wheel so as to produce the most consistent and least 'tinny' sound. There have been a number of trials that have not worked which is frustrating, but these have helped us get closer to what we want, so they were not in any way a waste. The wheels we are making at the moment are made from wood which creates a solid and robust sound. The rim of the wheel is covered with a band of felt, and then the felt is covered with fishing wire that has been wrapped in an even layer with no bumps. A layer of special strong glue is applied and then rosin. The wheel is then ready for turning against the strings on an instrument or against a tube on the tube gurdy.

The process of wrapping the fishing line around the wheel was incredibly tricky as my eyes found it difficult to keep track of the edge of the fishing line and ensure that it was not overlapping with the previous thread.

As Charlotte and I tackled the wheel, Joe and Ben were working on the wah-wah contraption. The theory was that by using springs at the bottom of the instrument, when the flap was opened and closed during playing, a kind of wah-wah sound would be made. Unfortunately, in practice this was not the case! iu hjbuu

Drone ensemble

Last night at Drone Ensemble we set out the full range of scaffolding tubular instruments starting with  the instrument producing the lowest note and ending with the instrument that produces the highest note.

We had to fix a few handles and sort out some that were not playing very well e.g. applying rosin to alter the friction between wheel and pad.

We also used one of the friction drums, a Hurdy Gurdy and some pipes.



We kept it very simple, starting quietly with the scaffolding tubular instruments, introducing the occasional pipe, and then involving the Hurdy Gurdy and friction drum.



We all agreed that this basic arrangement sounded good, and that we could have a number of 20 minute sections that each used a limited range of equipment.



Joe then demonstrated the effects of vibrating speakers - definitely something to be explored further.