July 8, 2007: 77 BOA DRUM recap
Yamantaka Eye was number 0. He leads the drumming. He also modulates synthesizers and bangs on decapitated guitar necks with various banging implements. Three other drummers from Yamantaka's band, Boredoms, were numbers 1, 2, and 3. They promulgate new drum patterns, and periodically provide counter-melodies to the main pattern. Numbers 4 through 77 spiral out from the inner core. They are the outer circle, the big beat, the "ammonite's swirl," and the main draw for this massive event.
The 77 drummers are "77 BOA DRUM," a 77 minute performance for July 7, 2007 (@7PM).
Nearby boats played the part of innocent bystanders, passively observing rhythmic synchrony flowing across the river, ping-ponging off of the nearby Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. New drum patterns emerged from the pulsing epicenter, passing slowly around the spiral until they hit number 77. The passage from one pattern to the next is a subtle process, resembling the ebb and flow of classical movements. Just as one pattern dominates, the next one creeps up slowly, eventually taking over.
Periodically, this cycle is interrupted by Yamantaka's hits to his mutant guitars, as the drummers respond with hits to their cymbals, hi-hats, snares or bass drums.
The effect was "continuous compounding amazement."
Posted by jeff at July 8, 2007 1:38 PM
Comments
Dear god. If we let this get out of hand, we could end up with a hippie drum circle so large it will consume the entire country, destroying life as we know it. This could be the end of the world...of warcraft.
Posted by: Naimul | July 8, 2007 1:52 PM
damn, i wish i could have seen that, thanks for posting it. theres some short clips on youtube. but they should make a DVD of that event
Posted by: tim | July 8, 2007 2:01 PM
Tim, it was sponsored by Vice Magazine (not sure if that is present in Omaha), which runs VBS.tv. I am guessing it will pop up on nice video somewhere, and when it does, I'll re-post it here.
Posted by: Jeff | July 8, 2007 2:36 PM
Hopefully no one finds the brown noise...I love that Naimul went to SP right away when he saw that.
I'll have your dare whenever I feel like writing my next blog, which could be somewhat sooner then later.
Posted by: rob | July 9, 2007 4:51 AM
Damn job making me miss the BOA drum circle from hell. I was really looking forward to that... but y'know, just gives me more incentive to send out these resumes and snag a 9-5. Reason for employment? "I don't want to miss future massive drum circles."
Posted by: dave | July 9, 2007 10:43 AM
fantastic report. 7-7-07 was indeed a great day. this is something chris kaiser would blog about, which is a very cool thing.
do you like the white stripes new album? i think it's pretty boss homie
Posted by: joel | July 9, 2007 12:00 PM