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It takes only a couple of minutes to tune a guitar or a symphony orchestra, often from a tuning device whose default tone is A 440. But it will take eight hours for a gathering of musicians and artists at Toronto's Mercer Union on Sunday to tune their minds to the full potential of that tuning pitch.
The 8-Hour Drone Show will feature 28 musicians and artists sounding the note A in relay without interruption, from noon until 8 p.m. A new participant will join in every 15 minutes; each will play for 75 minutes; and only five will be active at any time.
The show is a joint project of the downtown gallery and the Blocks Recording Club, a collective of musicians that has released records by Bob Wiseman, Les Mouches and Barcelona Pavilion.
"I really like the idea of the eight-hour concert," said Steven Kado, a Blocks member and one of the programmers of the day-long event. "It's like the work day. I think eight hours of drone may be a perfect representation of most people's experience of work."
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That said, Kado has planned the sequence of performers to provide maximum clarity and variation. He said that people were encouraged to come up with novel or interesting ways of relating to the chosen pitch.
Misha Glouberman, who hosts the Trampoline Hall series of public culture confabs, will sing a one-pitch version of Stairway to Heaven. Other players are bringing reed organs, turkey basters and even a fetal heart monitor. Still another plans to perform a 75-minute drum-roll.
"Whether he succeeds or fails will contribute some drama," said Kado, who hopes to burn a chemical that will trigger an A from his light-sensitive oscilloscope.
The ultimate trial, of course, will be getting through the whole day. But it's okay to drop in and out, at $5 per hour or $8 for a day pass.
The 8 Hour Drone Show starts at noon on Sunday, at Mercer Union.
