Over the past couple of years Saratoga First Night has grown to be a huge, city-wide New Years celebration with a wide
range of events taking place all over Saratoga Springs. This year they are adding more to the schedule, including an ingenious installation that requires YOUR help!
In Bb 2.0, (that’s ‘In B Flat 2.0’ for those of you who aren’t familiar with reading music) is a collaborative music and spoken word project conceived by Darren Solomon and developed with contributions from users.
If you’re still not sure what that is, check it out! I was skeptical at first, but it’s awesome. (Warning: if you are going to watch all videos at once, as I did, you may want to close some windows before hand. I had a few window and tabs open and managed to freeze my computer for a bit.. oops!)
Saratoga artists here’s where your talent comes in. Saratoga First Night is going to recreate their own version of this project to be played on First Night. Using the videos you submit, First Night attendees will have the chance “play” the videos, creating a live, continuous piece of original music.
To be a part of the interactive sonic experience, here’s all you have to do:
- Sing or play an instrument, in Bb major. Simple, floating textures work best, with no tempo or groove. Leave lots of silence between phrases.
- Record in a quiet environment, with as little background noise as possible.
- Wait about 5-10 seconds to start playing.
- Total length should be between 1-2 minutes.
- Thick chords or low instruments don’t work very well.
- Record at a low volume to match the other videos.
- You can listen to this mix on headphones while you record.
- After you upload to YouTube, play your video along with the other videos on this page to make sure the volume matches.
If you are interested in participating create a video adhering to the above guidelines and send the YouTube link to Saratoga Arts.
With so many great artists and musicians in the area, I can’t wait to hear / see the finished product. I think Saratoga’s version may give the original project a run for its money! What do you think?
