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Bonnaroo 2009: Wrap-Up

Olaf — Tue, 04 May 2010 03:28:02 +0000

: Image by Olaf via Flickr

It has been a year since I went to Bonnaroo and I’ve just realized that I never wrote anything about the experience. At least nothing of any real length. Since it has been so long, I’m just going to hit on two things that really stand out in my memory.

For those of you that don’t know, I was asked to attend Bonnaroo to help out at a drum building workshop, Build-a-Drum by Stan Secrest. I attended one of his workshops in the previous fall and we stayed in touch afterward. It didn’t take long for him to come knocking on my door to lend a hand at the up and coming multi-day music festival.

The job began the moment I arrived and found our plot of land on which I would be spending the greatest portion of my time on. I immediately was put to work on painting a sign for the site. I also took stock of our situation, got some groundwork for what was to come, and freshened up my knowledge of the knots and sequence to build the drums. There were the pleasantries as well – getting to know the rest of the staff. That first day was the easiest I would know. We setup the site, readied the displays, organized materials, and then got back to our campsite and were fed by one of the helpers.

That night, it was a remarkable site to behold; the patrons arrived by the thousand. Car after car well into the night, continuing through the next day. Tent city had exploded over night – as far as the eye could see, there were tents. We had our marching orders and filed into the site seemingly a mile away from the vendor camping area (a very nice benefit, actually). The first day, everyone got involved in sales. We had to get people started in building their drums to give them the most time during the week to complete them. We also started taking on some drums to prepare as examples for others to see. It didn’t take long for people to start rolling in. It was as though some were there with the specific intention to find this booth! And why not, Stan has been doing Bonnaroo for nearly a decade. Once we had a good number of people working on drums, it was clear to see how much work was about to come down on us. Preparing a shell is largely on the customer, but preparing and tightening a head took all of our efforts to teach and assist with the process.

What started on that first day did not end until I packed up early and left the crew for my return trip home on Sunday. I hated to leave them as they were, but I really had to go and get back to my family! We spent up to 18 hours a day cranking out shells to everyone that came in. I forget the numbers, but I want to say that Stan sold 1,000 drums that week. There was an epic amount of work to be performed for all those customers. Most of them spent 6-8 hours with us throughout the event, so there were even friendships made in that time. I’ll break down the procedure, though it cannot do it justice:

Wrap the rings in cloth
Knot the rings for the pulls
stretch the skin
lace the pulls
tighten the pulls
tighten the pulls
tighten the pulls

Between tying the knots and tightening the pulls, the hands get quite a workout. I remember that it took a week for my hands to begin to feel like normal again.

The labor was intense, but it felt so good to just put everything you had into this process. To help so many people and really feel their appreciation of your effort. You bust your ass all day in the heat, then drag yourself out of the festival to crash back at the campsite by 3:00am every morning. The best was that part of our crew was dedicated to meals, and there were showers available in the vendor camping area. When I got back to the campground at the end of every day, I’d go take a good shower in the wee-hours to prepare for the next day. That was a treat!

Well into these hard-working days, I got my first real break. Stan had told us all that we’d get a chance to go see some of the festival while we were here, and my turn had come around. I was off to see Amadou and Mariam perform at a nearby stage. I had enjoyed their music having learned about it about a year prior, and this seemed like the only opportunity I would have to see the musical duo out of Mali, Africa. What I saw took my breath away. I found a modest crowd milling around the stage as the band started up. I knew what to expect from the music, so headed right for the front knowing I would have no wish to leave early. As I stood there and head-bopped, I began to notice a shift in the audience. I don’t think they knew anything about this band, but as they listened, and realized too that this was a blind duo, their attitude changed and there was a spreading joy throughout. People started receding to the edges of the venue where they shouted at passerby’s to come in and listen. This meager crowd was calling for everyone within earshot to come and hear Amadou and Mariam perform. The venue filled, and the energy was butane in the air to be ignited by a truly rockin’ performance! There were African dancers on the stage, a phenomenal djembe player, the expected assortment of rock musicians, and Amadou on the electric – singing along with Mariam on vocals. The performance was so intense, it brought tears to my eyes in the moment.

I have some certainty that my overwhelming emotional response was, in part, due to the stress of the trip. However, the performance was one of my personal favorites despite this. I’d see them again in a heartbeat.

So there are my two key memories of this experience in Bonnaroo. I’d love to do it again should the opportunity arise. Though next time, I’ll want my wife to join me and be a part of it. Perhaps on a second tour we could have more time for the concerts – the Bonnaroo experience – while still getting enjoyment out of the raw effort delivered in building drums for the hundreds!

Rewarding Effort

Olaf — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 09:17:17 +0000

Today was one of the toughest yet at Bonnaroo in the Build-a-Drum tent. I didn’t get as early a start as yesterday so I was stirred awake by the massive heat building up in my tent at around 8:30. Not much time spent at camp and we were all off to the tent to start working. The day was hot with no wind to speak of. The music was tremendously loud, and I couldn’t believe the number of people pouring into our spot continuously. Indeed, we more or less started pushing people away around 3am.

Though today was difficult in terms of work load, it was also the most rewarding. I met some of the nicest people and talked a long while with them as we built their drums. Others that we had developed relationships with returned to continue working or just chat. One man that had given me a hard time the day before returned to apologize for his behavior. He had been way too messed up to manage the instructions before.

Some times life gives you lemons…build a drum!

Lessons from Bonnaroo

Olaf — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 07:15:31 +0000

It’s my first Bonnaroo and indeed, my first multi-day music festival. As such, I can impart some wisdom to others in the same boat.

Plan for showers. With 19+ hours of body sweat, festival funk, sunscreen, and bug spray, you better plan for some way to scrape the epidermal toxic layer from your osmotic organ daily. if not, burn your clothes and the seats you ride home in.

Munchies. Have snacks at your disposal, if not full meal planning on your non-festival dime. I have spent $3.50 for each cup of coffee I’ve consumed. It’s good coffee, but maybe not twice as good as at the local Starbucks.

Wait until 2am to use the portable toilets. If you can’t avoid waste byproducts all together, you’re at least not going to want to eliminate them in a plastic poop furnace when it’s 7000 degrees inside.

It’s Official, Bonnaroo is a Go

Olaf — Wed, 13 May 2009 04:10:49 +0000

I hadn’t talked much about this to anyone yet because I wanted to get verification that I was actually going. I didn’t really believe it myself – still don’t in a way, but only because I don’t have tickets in my hands. My first trip ever to Bonnaroo will be to work with Stan Secrest in his efforts to run an event-long drum building workshop for the masses. Hundreds of people will be building drums with Stan and thousands will be passing by us daily. I will be on task to assist with finishing the drums (string tightening, for instance) and drum circle facilitation. We may or may not take the stage and conduct an official drum circle at the ‘roo, but I’ll definitely be putting together some jams at Stan’s tent nightly. From what I understand from Stan and some of the people that have worked for him in the year’s past, it’s going to be an insane amount of work. I fully expect to ruin my hands for any sort of intricate handling of things to come.

A co-worker put together a great list of must-sees while I’m there. I doubt I’ll be able to do the list justice, but it’s really great to have a guide of what may be some of the finer acts to see at a live venue like this. If nothing else, I look forward to hearing the sets throughout the day while I work. There will be some bands I can see into the night, though based on the bit about hard work (and heat), I may just be crashing.

It’s going to be very difficult on my wife while I’m out. She’ll have to manage the two kids, and I know that’s no easy task! She is, however, supportive of me going and really thinks that it’s an opportunity I can’t pass up. It should do a lot to help me in my task of building a more substantial drum circle group in my own community, and push my skills as a facilitator. Who knows, I may run across people from my area that can help me out back home!

Visiting the Andalusian Music Festival

Olaf — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:32:50 +0000

Festival is, perhaps, a bit of an overstatement. However, there was a collection of artists who participated in the event held recently at the Rialto in Atlanta. My wife and I joined some acquaintances there to explore the culturally rich music of the Arabo-Andalusian. Representing the classical music were musicians from three cities; the Tunisian singer Lotfi Bouchnak, Wasla from Egypt, and the Orchestra of Tangier.

I knew very little of the meaning of this music. Fortunately, translations were provided in the program.

Any deer in the presence of lions
Will leap in flirtation
It was in the garden of eternity
For my suffering it remains in the open
Any shape that it has is slender
When it bends it leans
It drank the wine and the titmouse’s
Drool was flowing
His face was the full moon as it rises
In the darkness of the long night
Since he moistened the tall girls
With water coming from the fissure
Giving leaves in the darkness of decaying age
And sudden death from the black misery

Now I just need a translation into English.

The first to perform, the Sama’a, was Marouane Hajji with a short singing piece (less than 10 minutes). He was a 20-something Arab and a wonderful singer – apparently regarded as one of the best. Following Hajji’s bit, the Orchestra of Tangier performed an excerpt from the Nawbaat Hijaz al-Kabir.

There used to be twenty-four Nawbaat, each of which corresponded to an hour of the day (there may have been twenty-six Nawbaat). Only eleven Nawbaat have survived to date. Each Nawbaat consists of five movements (Mizans). Each movement is based on a certain rhythm.

It is interesting to note that a Nawbaat, made up of its Mizans, actually takes an hour to perform. I imagine that the entire collection has been performed in total at least once in history, but I cannot imagine staying awake through them. I barely made it through one. It’s also worth noting that, while brilliant musicians, the Orchestra of Tangier does not appear to be a “performance” group. They sat in chairs and played their music with little interest. Some actually looked bored. Perhaps it’s the style, but it does little to rouse the audience. Unfortunately, we had to leave on the fifth Mizan – Mizan al-Quddam – which picked up the pace and had the (Arab) audience clapping along. Some appeared to know the piece, while I was just trying to read along. It’s unfortunate that we left because following the intermission, the Lotfi Bouchnak Ensemble performed and was apparently more lively. They had people singing along, clapping, and included a much heavier repertoire of percussion. It was 9:30 when we finally left, so we couldn’t have stayed longer. We had children to collect from the mother-in-law!

Why my hip-hop posse would include Johnny 5

Olaf — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:14:06 +0000

Johnny 5
The founder of the Flobots, Johnny 5 builds a repertoire of songs that have a voice communicated through masked patriotism for a nation we do not know. I don’t do lyrics, so I’d need someone to help put together some potent rap-styled slander.

Zack de la Rocha
A current collaborating member, Zack de la Rocha, of One Day as a Lion. Zack has a well-known history of anger-infused music enraged by kick-your-pathetic-ass rock. Zack can excite things while still maintaining the credibility of legitimate hatred.

Justin Timberlake
To balance out the party, Justin Timberlake can hang with us. This dude lives a life of fame and doesn’t take himself too seriously. Timberlake is good for comix relief while still cranking out albums that, while not necessarily my demographic, continue to amass the fans.

Lost and Found: 1 Grecian ‘Stache

Olaf — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:07:19 +0000

All of you will surely recognize the man on the left. His biblical image comes at you in all of its hair and puffy-shirtness like a thunder clap. Yanni stands as the hairiest, women-loving man I know [of]…though Hugh Jackman must be at the top of this game too! And on his right is the much subdued version of the eighties visage, also Yanni. When did this happen? No ‘stache to whisper its childhood stories to concert viewers. No curly locks of Grecian do to reveal the arcane secrets of musical composition. It’s a transitive state of Yanni’s image much in the same way we all saw Metallica shed their fettered styles of 80′s heavy metal.

So Yanni will be coming to Duluth in April at the Gwinnett thingy (Arena, perhaps?). I know most of my known world will simply abuse me verbally for going to a Yanni concert (which will actually be my third or fourth), but I couldn’t give a crap. If you’ve never seen one of these concerts, you really don’t know what you’re missing. It’s a phenomenal appreciation of the musical arts, internationally complete. I suppose many of you only like your music for its pop artist front [wo]man, but I really enjoy the instrumental musicality of it all. I would compare what Yanni conducts on his stages to that of the Cirque du Soleil band (on a small scale) and Dream Theater / Liquid Tension Experiment. You could draw comparisons with Phish and Wide Spread Panic. All of these bands have two things in common: they’re killer jam bands and composed of some very talented musicians.

A Drum Circle Arrangement of “Galang”

Olaf — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:00:54 +0000

I’m imagining some possible scenarios where I could lead a drum circle into a sort of performance. Most facilitated drum circles enter into spontaneous or random rhythms and are then led to compose the music. I would really like to lead people (sometimes naively) into known songs. There’s an extra sense of excitement when you realize you’re playing an actual song. Even if you don’t know the song, being led through a composed set of rhythms is very rewarding! I spent about 10 minutes this morning and worked out the basic rhythms within M.I.A.’s “Galang.” It’s a fun piece of music if you haven’t heard it (YouTube link provided below). My intention in recreating it for a drum circle is not to play the song succinctly, but rather to have all the parts present and accounted for. When and for how long each part plays is up to the facilitator. If the groove is held well, someone could play the voice part through a solo drum!

Drum Circle Arrangement, Galang: [See post to access streaming content!]

M.I.A., Galang (emebedding not allowed)

What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?

Olaf — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:20:06 +0000

Frequency is probably a term more commonly associated with 80′s synth-pop artists and electrical sound engineers. However, it’s not to be underestimated or underutilized as a viable word in other situations.

I worked with one of the more difficult teaching challenges in my experience yesterday at my drum circle. A gentleman joined us with a peculiar short-coming – he had no current musical interest and an unclear memory of the interests from 30+ years ago when he called it (music) quits. I see many people that claim to have “no rhythm.” At face value, it’s true. However, everyone has rhythm whether they recognize it or not. Your heart beat has kept a rhythm for your entire life; surely one can learn to keep one externally for a few minutes. As it turns out, there are some people that this may seem even less possible for. This guy that I worked with seemed to have a real mental block to rhythm, or to something even more fundamental – frequency. In his words, he had trouble with numbers in that they held no relevance. I believe the problem was actually that he assigned no frequency to numbers. In order for counting to assist you in musical timing, one must use a consistent spacing between the numbers. Without it, counting does us no good. I attempted to teach this concept in many styles; visual, tactile, and aural. Each of them seemed to provide a glimpse of what he was missing, but none of them resonated completely. Having thought about it more sense the drum circle, I have some additional ideas of how to get this message across.

For one, utilizing the old method of counting seconds may be helpful (e.g. one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, etc.). Forcing yourself to say one thousand between every second counted manages to keep many of us attuned to a consistent frequency. There is also the issue of matching patterns, which I think people can more easily grasp than timing. My five-year-old is learning about patterns in kindergarten as an introduction to math. Following this course, I may be able to explain frequency in terms that a potential drummer can understand. In the end, I want this guy to grasp the concept of the wave. Hear the noise of each crest. Feel the silence at each trough. Of course, the goal is anticipation. Without that – and this is something that he struggles with – one can never ride the wave!

Zune 3.0 Coming

Olaf — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:45:26 +0000

Mmmm…Zune 3.0. I’ve just read Jason Dunn’s (of ThoughtMedia.com) report on a recent Microsoft meeting discussing the Zune 3.0 release. I am completely sold on the Zune platform and am greatly encouraged by the up-and-coming release. Perhaps the greatest boon of them all is that the Zune team will be including us Zune 30 owners in their next, big update. That means we can use the new software and get updated firmware for new functionality. Dunn writes, “this 3.0 release is underwhelming compared to the 2.0 release. Sexy new hardware excites people more than software and services do,” but I must disagree. While the visual changes are not as drastic as those we saw moving from the original product to 2.0, Zune 3.0 breathes new life into the mobile media device market. On the hardware side, Zune 3.0 does not include any new hardware with the exception of the much-anticipated Zune 120. However, it does include a firmware update which includes wireless Marketplace access, channels (a la Pandora), and buy from FM (where supported, you’ll be able to buy a song off the radio – presumably through the Marketplace). The wireless Internet access is a big win in and of itself. People complained about the lack of this ability since the Zune’s inception and now it’s here. Quit your bitchin’ and start praising the Zune team for delivering! Do I need to remind you that Zune 30 owners get this functionality too?!? We’re also going to see specific audio book support – another hot topic from days past. That means Audible.com support is here (and Overdrive – who is that?). From the examples Dunn delivered, I saw a really cool feature here that allows enabled audio books to display pictures from the book as it is read. I can see a real use here for books I get for Balthazar on the Zune.

The software sees improvements as well. There are some updated looks, an updated social system, and an improved search system among others. Channels in the Zune (software and hardware) look really great. I am a big fan of the Pandora project, so a Zune-similar feature is eagerly sought. The channels are updated automatically and based upon your ratings of music. It’s based on genres, which if yours are anything like mine, will need some cleaning to get narrowed down to a meaningful set. A new social feature allows you to find people in the Marketplace that listen to music like you. As Dunn comments, you can do this yourself now, but it takes quite a bit of time and clicking.

The one point that Dunn brings up as a downer to this feature-rich upgrade is that most of these concepts are designed around the use of a Zune Pass. For $15 per month, the Zune Pass allows you to download all the music you want for up to three people. They still haven’t worked out the issue of assigning different user profiles to this pass. Our pass is in my wife’s name, so I logon with her account to get subscription music. This will effect the way channels work (that is, averaging the music preferences between all users of the Zune Pass instead of offering an individual’s experience), but I know they’ll work this out in time. For now, I’ve learned to deal with the way the pass works and I can accept it. I doubt very seriously the Zune Pass will extend to such services as Audible (it doesn’t currently extend to the MarketPlace video services), so I’d have to look at another subscription price there. I’ve used Audible’s services before, and I did enjoy them very much. I’m a big fan of audio books, so I will likely pony-up at least a basic subscription.

The one thing I don’t know yet is when I can expect this update. Despite Dunn’s lack-luster summary of the 3.0 update, I am very much looking forward to it!