Silent disco
Encyclopedia
Silent disco has become a common name for a disco
where people dance to music listened to on wireless headphones. Rather than using a speaker system, music is broadcast via an FM-transmitter with the signal being picked up by wireless headphone receivers worn by the participants. Those without the headphones hear no music, giving the effect of a room full of people dancing to nothing. Often two DJs compete for listeners. Silent discos are popular at music festivals as they allow dancing to continue past noise curfews. Similar events are "mobile clubbing" gatherings, where a group of people dance to the music on their personal music players.
In May 2000 ‘BBC Live Music’ held a "silent gig" at Chapter Arts Centre
in Cardiff, where the audience listened to a band, Rocketgoldstar, and various DJs through headphones.
Due to noise restrictions, Glastonbury Festival
held a large-scale wireless headset event in 2005, hosted by a Dutch company called 433fm, which had developed a plan for various music events across Europe using wireless headphones in 2002. Terming it 'Silent Disco', the name has gained acceptation, with the Oxford Dictionary Online adding it in February 2011. As interest has increased, there has been a rise in the number of companies organizing parties and providing events with wireless headphones; from festivals and club nights to weddings and corporate parties, silent discos have become increasingly popular, with some companies even proposing home kits.
, such as an MP3 player, listened to on headphones. These flash mob
gatherings may involve hundreds of people, transforming public spaces into temporary clubbing areas, in which dancers listen to their personal playlists. To an observer it would appear that the participants are dancing for no apparent reason. Mobile clubbing events are organized using mass-emails, word-of-mouth or social networking websites such as Facebook
, or a combination of these methods.
The first event, organised by London-based artists Ben Cummins (also founder of Pillow Fight Club) and Emma Davis, was at London's Liverpool Street Station
in September 2003. Over the next five months there were a further five events at other London train stations including Waterloo
, Charing Cross
and London Bridge
. By the end of 2008 there had been more than twenty of these events at similar venues throughout London, mostly train station concourses or other public spaces that lend themselves to expressive dancing and rapid dispersal.
An event in 2007 at Victoria Station, London
involved 4,000 participants. The event was broken up by police two hours later.
rather than an amplifier
, meaning that the only sound which can be heard from the band without headphones is light tapping from electric drums and the singer's vocals.
The first silent gig was performed in the Chapter Arts Centre
, Cardiff
in April 2000 by Rocketgoldstar.
In August 2008, a silent Battle of the Bands
was held at The Barfly
music venue in Cardiff . The event featured bands going directly head-to-head, with a stage at each end of the venue, allowing gig-goers to choose which group they wished to listen to. The event was featured on BBC Introducing
, a radio show hosted by Bethan Elfyn
, as well as having coverage on S4C
.
and guided exhibit - was pioneered by Feral Productions in 2009. Their first performance, The Gingerbread House, took the audience from The Courtyard, Hereford
on a journey through a multi-storey car park
in the centre of Hereford. In 2010, their second show, Locked (Rapunzel’s Lament), took place in a children’s playground, also in Hereford. Silent theatre has now taken off as a successful performance mode, with companies in Liverpool, Birmingham and Glasgow using the technology to varying ends.
, England
based artist, used wireless headphones as part of a participatory music drawing event, where those taking part wore the headphones and could choose between two different channels of music to draw to.
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
where people dance to music listened to on wireless headphones. Rather than using a speaker system, music is broadcast via an FM-transmitter with the signal being picked up by wireless headphone receivers worn by the participants. Those without the headphones hear no music, giving the effect of a room full of people dancing to nothing. Often two DJs compete for listeners. Silent discos are popular at music festivals as they allow dancing to continue past noise curfews. Similar events are "mobile clubbing" gatherings, where a group of people dance to the music on their personal music players.
History
Although the idea of dancing "en masse" with headphones has only come to fruition in recent years the idea of doing so has been around for a number of years. Probably one of the first visual occasions where people were wearing headsets during a party was in 1969 in a Finnish science fiction film called Ruusujen Aika, "A Time of Roses". The concept was also used by eco-activists in the early 90’s who utilized headphones at outdoor parties to minimize noise pollution and disturbance to the local wildlife.In May 2000 ‘BBC Live Music’ held a "silent gig" at Chapter Arts Centre
Chapter Arts Centre
Chapter Arts Centre is an arts centre in Canton, Cardiff, Wales. It hosts films, plays, performance art and live music, and includes a free art gallery, café and bars. There are also over 60 work spaces, used for an eclectic range of purposes including Chapter's own training courses.Income for...
in Cardiff, where the audience listened to a band, Rocketgoldstar, and various DJs through headphones.
Due to noise restrictions, Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
held a large-scale wireless headset event in 2005, hosted by a Dutch company called 433fm, which had developed a plan for various music events across Europe using wireless headphones in 2002. Terming it 'Silent Disco', the name has gained acceptation, with the Oxford Dictionary Online adding it in February 2011. As interest has increased, there has been a rise in the number of companies organizing parties and providing events with wireless headphones; from festivals and club nights to weddings and corporate parties, silent discos have become increasingly popular, with some companies even proposing home kits.
Mobile clubbing
Another type of silent party, known as mobile clubbing, involves the gathering of a group of people in an unconventional location to dance to music which they provide themselves via a portable music devicePortable audio player
A portable audio player is a personal mobile device that allows the user to listen to recorded audio while mobile. Sometimes a distinction is made between a portable player, battery-powered and with one or more small loudspeakers, and a personal player, listened to with earphones.-History:Portable...
, such as an MP3 player, listened to on headphones. These flash mob
Flash mob
A flash mob is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and sometimes seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, artistic expression...
gatherings may involve hundreds of people, transforming public spaces into temporary clubbing areas, in which dancers listen to their personal playlists. To an observer it would appear that the participants are dancing for no apparent reason. Mobile clubbing events are organized using mass-emails, word-of-mouth or social networking websites such as Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, or a combination of these methods.
The first event, organised by London-based artists Ben Cummins (also founder of Pillow Fight Club) and Emma Davis, was at London's Liverpool Street Station
Liverpool Street station
Liverpool Street railway station, also known as London Liverpool Street or simply Liverpool Street, is both a central London railway terminus and a connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, England...
in September 2003. Over the next five months there were a further five events at other London train stations including Waterloo
Waterloo station
Waterloo station, also known as London Waterloo, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. The station is owned and operated by Network Rail and is close to the South Bank of the River Thames, and in Travelcard Zone 1....
, Charing Cross
Charing Cross station
Charing Cross station may refer to:In London, England:*Charing Cross railway station*Charing Cross tube station **Embankment tube station was previously named Charing CrossIn Glasgow, Scotland:...
and London Bridge
London Bridge station
London Bridge railway station is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex in the London Borough of Southwark, occupying a large area on two levels immediately south-east of London Bridge and 1.6 miles east of Charing Cross. It is one of the oldest railway stations in the...
. By the end of 2008 there had been more than twenty of these events at similar venues throughout London, mostly train station concourses or other public spaces that lend themselves to expressive dancing and rapid dispersal.
An event in 2007 at Victoria Station, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
involved 4,000 participants. The event was broken up by police two hours later.
Silent gig
A variant of the silent disco involves live bands competing for the audience. The bands are supplied with electric instruments that are plugged into a transmitterTransmitter
In electronics and telecommunications a transmitter or radio transmitter is an electronic device which, with the aid of an antenna, produces radio waves. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the antenna. When excited by this alternating...
rather than an amplifier
Amplifier
Generally, an amplifier or simply amp, is a device for increasing the power of a signal.In popular use, the term usually describes an electronic amplifier, in which the input "signal" is usually a voltage or a current. In audio applications, amplifiers drive the loudspeakers used in PA systems to...
, meaning that the only sound which can be heard from the band without headphones is light tapping from electric drums and the singer's vocals.
The first silent gig was performed in the Chapter Arts Centre
Chapter Arts Centre
Chapter Arts Centre is an arts centre in Canton, Cardiff, Wales. It hosts films, plays, performance art and live music, and includes a free art gallery, café and bars. There are also over 60 work spaces, used for an eclectic range of purposes including Chapter's own training courses.Income for...
, Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
in April 2000 by Rocketgoldstar.
In August 2008, a silent Battle of the Bands
Battle of the Bands
Battle of Bands is a contest in which two or more bands compete for the title of "best band". The winner is determined by a panel of judges, the general response of the audience, or a combination. The winning band usually receives a prize in addition to bragging rights. Traditionally, battles of...
was held at The Barfly
Barfly (club)
Barfly is a chain of live music venues nightclubs in the UK operating as part of the MAMA Group. It has venues in Brighton, London & York. They regularly feature live music. Their club nights tend to feature rock, alternative and independent music...
music venue in Cardiff . The event featured bands going directly head-to-head, with a stage at each end of the venue, allowing gig-goers to choose which group they wished to listen to. The event was featured on BBC Introducing
BBC Introducing
BBC Introducing is the brand for new music programmes across the BBC radio stations, showcasing unsigned, self signed and other emerging musical talent primarily from the UK. Launched in 2007 the Introducing brand brings programming from across the BBC under a unified brand with each show retaining...
, a radio show hosted by Bethan Elfyn
Bethan Elfyn
Bethan Elfyn is a Welsh radio and television presenter.Bethan was born in Bangor, Gwynedd, was brought up in Newtown, Powys, and now lives in Cardiff. She is a fluent Welsh speaker and has appeared as a panellist on Welsh language channel S4C's music talent show Waw Ffactor...
, as well as having coverage on S4C
S4C
S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...
.
Silent theatre
Theatre and performance companies are now beginning to exploit silent disco technology too. This ground-breaking approach – a mixture of narrative-led performance, sound artSound art
Sound art is a diverse group of art practices that considers wide notions of sound, listening and hearing as its predominant focus. There are often distinct relationships forged between the visual and aural domains of art and perception by sound artists....
and guided exhibit - was pioneered by Feral Productions in 2009. Their first performance, The Gingerbread House, took the audience from The Courtyard, Hereford
Courtyard, Hereford
The Courtyard Centre for the Arts is a theatre and arts venue in Hereford, England, located on Edgar Street just outside the city centre. The building was constructed between 1997 and 1998 on the site of another theatre; The New Hereford Theatre, a converted swimming baths which had become outdated...
on a journey through a multi-storey car park
Multi-storey car park
A multi-storey car-park is a building designed specifically to be for car parking and where there are a number of floors or levels on which parking takes place...
in the centre of Hereford. In 2010, their second show, Locked (Rapunzel’s Lament), took place in a children’s playground, also in Hereford. Silent theatre has now taken off as a successful performance mode, with companies in Liverpool, Birmingham and Glasgow using the technology to varying ends.
Other uses
Recently Naomi Kendrick, a ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
based artist, used wireless headphones as part of a participatory music drawing event, where those taking part wore the headphones and could choose between two different channels of music to draw to.