The finest indie-rockers in town will take the stage to karaoke their hearts out as Seattle's best KJ plays the backing track. There will also be a some open spots on the schedule for lucky audience members to participate throughout the night. Join us for an evening of New Wave love and sing-alongs!
It's probably a good thing that I don't have immediate access to several thousand dollars because I could see myself impulsively buying my own Drum Buddy - even if I'm not a musician (and therefore wouldn't have much practical use for it).
...is a light-activated oscillating drum machine which operates on the principles of an optical theremin. An electronic instrument developed in the Spellcaster Lodge QElectronics laboratory, only 44 units hand-assembled by Quintron exist. Its four voices – Space, Snare, Bass and Kick, are triggered by activating a photoelectric cell either intermittently or with an on/off DIP switch in combination with exposure to light.
The Drum Buddy is outfitted with a light fixture on a periscopic pipe fixed to its base. The fixture's bulb can be controlled by means of a dimmer switch. The bulb hangs above a rotating platen upon which a number 10 can (the large size common to coffee, canned vegetables and some sauces) prepared with holes and non-reflective paint is placed. As the can rotates, its holes pass the Drum Buddy's photoelectric cells, firing drum-like tones and theremin or Moog synthesizer-like chirps or buzzes.
Accomplished purveyors of the Drum Buddy can operate the instrument freestyle by "scratching" the can back and forth against the resistance of the platen's motor or by performing short solos on the bass channel's 12-point chromatic scale.
Earlier this year, Mr. Quintron auctioned off 10 Drum Buddies on Ebay, with a starting bid of $5,000. Some of the proud owners include Laurie Anderson and Nels Cline (of Wilco).
I own and operate the seventh Drum Buddy hand-built by Mr. Quintron in his New Orleans Ninth Ward workshop and wrote the wikipedia entry you quoted in your blog. For the first run, part of the price of the unit included a training session with the inventor. Apparently, few buyers took Mr. Q and Miss P up on the offer, so I had a heaping helping of hospitality from the two and slept in the street-level Spellcaster Lounge below their home on St. Claude Ave.
At the time, I'd been closing my stand-up comedy with a noisy demonstration of The Drum Buddy, then asked the audience for requests. I always got a big reaction from wierd renditions of "Happy Birthday" or "Sweet Child O' Mine," you name it. I now play the instrument in a seven-piece funk ensemble, The Golden Greats in Portland, OR. We formed as entertainment for the first organized World Naked Bike Ride and have since played ORLO's Junk to Funk recycled fashion show and benefits for Free Geek (computer recycling community) and Zoobomb (bike-positive night terrors).
Danny - that's really incredible. Thanks so much for your comment! I've been intrigued by The Drum Buddy since I saw Quintron and Miss Pussycat almost 2 weeks ago. I think I'm going to try to make my next trip to PDX coincide with a Golden Greats show, if I can.
1 Danny Norton said on October 27, 2008
I own and operate the seventh Drum Buddy hand-built by Mr. Quintron in his New Orleans Ninth Ward workshop and wrote the wikipedia entry you quoted in your blog. For the first run, part of the price of the unit included a training session with the inventor. Apparently, few buyers took Mr. Q and Miss P up on the offer, so I had a heaping helping of hospitality from the two and slept in the street-level Spellcaster Lounge below their home on St. Claude Ave.
At the time, I'd been closing my stand-up comedy with a noisy demonstration of The Drum Buddy, then asked the audience for requests. I always got a big reaction from wierd renditions of "Happy Birthday" or "Sweet Child O' Mine," you name it. I now play the instrument in a seven-piece funk ensemble, The Golden Greats in Portland, OR. We formed as entertainment for the first organized World Naked Bike Ride and have since played ORLO's Junk to Funk recycled fashion show and benefits for Free Geek (computer recycling community) and Zoobomb (bike-positive night terrors).
2 ChrisB said on October 28, 2008
Danny - that's really incredible. Thanks so much for your comment! I've been intrigued by The Drum Buddy since I saw Quintron and Miss Pussycat almost 2 weeks ago. I think I'm going to try to make my next trip to PDX coincide with a Golden Greats show, if I can.
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