River of Drone II: Seven Hours of Sound at the SoundBarn

Photo: MisterV

I’m looking forward to floating in the River of Drone II: Seven Hours of Sound.

Sunday May 16th
12 noon to 7pm
at the SoundBarn in Valatie, NY.

The Albany Times Union wrote a preview here. Find more information on the Albany Sonic Arts Collective site or below.

Albany Sonic Arts Collective (ASAC) and The soundBarn are proud to present River of Drone II: Seven Hours of Sound. A very special, long-form event, River of Drone II is a free, seven-hour, improvised sound performance from 12 noon – 7 pm on Sunday May 16 at The soundBarn, Valatie, NY.

River of Drone II: Seven Hours of Sound is a collective sonic improvisation that will unfold and develop unlike any ordinary concert. From quiet, peaceful soundscapes to full-on noise, the ever-shifting rhythm, pace and mood will evolve as the ebb and flow of performers, energy and instrumentation progresses through the seven hour performance.

Set in a former orchard cooler with views of the Catskill Mountains, The soundBarn is a uniquely suited location for visitors to lounge, listen and linger for an hour, a few minutes or the entire performance. The audience is encouraged to make themselves comfortable and to bring pillows, chairs, food and drink. Unlike a traditional concert setting, performers will be located throughout the venue and listeners are encouraged to move around, watch the accompanying video projections, wander in and out and discover new relationships to sound through immersion, reflection, deep listening, meditation, and concentration.

We hope you will join us to listen, meditate, self-hypnotize, bliss out– or to simply enjoy a swim in the RIVER OF DRONE!

River of Drone II is a collaborative presentation of Albany Sonic Arts Collective and The soundBarn and will be presented at The soundBarn.

Featured musicians include: Jason Cosco, Matt Ernst, Tara Fracalossi, Eric Hardiman (Rambutan, Century Plants, Burnt Hills,) Ray Hare (Century Plants, Fossils From the Sun, Burnt Hills,) Holland Hopson, Thomas Lail (soundBarn,) Patrick Weklar (soundBarn) Matt Weston (Barn Owls), Mike Bullock, Linda Aubry Bullock, Mark Lunt, Chris Bassett, Jeremy Kelly, and many more special guests.
Videos by: Tara Fracalossi, Kyra Garrigue and more.

The soundBarn is a project of artist/musician Thomas Lail and artist Tara Fracalossi and is located on what was once Heald Orchards in Valatie, New York. The soundBarn is sited in a modern addition to the orchard’s 100 year old Dutch style barn. The cavernous, heavily insulated space served as the orchard’s cooler where apples and pears were over-wintered and chilled by the massive, still visible refrigeration system.

Remember the first River of Drone? Listen to some of the first River of Drone.

ASAC and Friends at TROY NIGHT OUT! 21st Century Celebration of Light and Art

Troy Night Out

Albany Sonic Arts Collective and friends will be performing as part of “TROY NIGHT OUT! 21st Century Celebration of Light and Art” in the Black Box Theatre at The Arts Center of the Capital Region on Friday September 25 from 5 to 9pm.

Performers include

  • Jason Cosco, live video projections
  • G. Lucas Crane (Nonhorse and Woods), tape manipulation and electronics
  • Pete Edwards (Casper Electronics),  circuit bent and homemade electronic wizardy
  • Eric Hardiman (Rambutan, Century Plants), guitar improv and feedback loops
  • Ray Hare (Fossils From the Sun, Century Plants), guitar improv, vocals and feedback loops
  • Holland Hopson, modified electric banjo and electronics  from
  • Matt Weston,  improvised percussion and electronics

Also going on at the Arts Center will be a live video remix of local illustrators by lmnopf, live DJ’s, circuit-bending demos by Casperland, a video game showcase from 1st Playable in the Digital Artist Space, works from NYFA MARK program artists and a colossal light and sound installation in Monument Square.

ASAC Presents Tape Chants

The Albany Sonic Arts Collective presents Gregg Kowalsky and Ben Bracken from Oakland, California. Gregg will be presenting his Tape Chants project which involves sounds from cassette players distributed throughout the performance space. Tape Chants has just been released on Kranky Records.

Also performing are Fossils From the Sun (Ray Hare solo project) and Rambutan (Eric Hardiman solo project).

Friday, June 19 @ 8pm
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St. Albany

Dipping a Toe in the River

Ray Hare (photo by Chris Bassett)

Ray Hare swims in the River (photo by Chris Bassett)

Here are some excerpts from ASACs recent River of Drone marathon. I grabbed snippets at random from the recordings I made and appended them into a single, condensed track. These excerpts were from noon to 3pm and 8pm to 11pm in case you’re keeping score.

[audio:river_of_drone_excerpts.mp3]

River of Drone excerpts

Also, Mark Lunt has posted some captivating photos from the event here.

ASAC Presents A River of Drone

The Albany Sonic Arts Collective celebrates their one-year anniversary with a 12-hour continuous live drone performance on Saturday Nov. 22 12pm-12am!
A RIVER OF DRONE
Saturday 11/22
12 Noon til Midnight
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany NY

Free

Performers will include: Eric Hardiman, Ray Hare, Holland Hopson, Jason Cosco, Mike Bullock, and Linda Aubry Bullock. Video projections/installations will also be presented.

Albany Sonic Arts: 4 Solo Sets for April

I never posted a proper announcement for last weekend’s Albany Sonic Arts Collective show at the Upstate Artists Guild Gallery featuring Ray Hare, myself, Eric Hardiman and Travis Johns. Here are recordings of the pieces I played.

[audio:http://hollandhopson.com/music/asac/02_hopson_turnover.mp3]

Turnover – I improvised the melody and lyrics for this one inspired by Ray Hare’s hair raising performance.

[audio:http://hollandhopson.com/music/asac/03_hopson_my_own_true_love.mp3]

My Own True Love – an arrangement of a traditional tune

[audio:http://hollandhopson.com/music/asac/04_hopson_telephone_temple.mp3]

Telephone Temple – an arrangement of a piece I wrote to be performed with LEMUR‘s musical robots.

Visit the UAG site to view photos from the event.