Silent Discos became popularized in urban settings for parties within shared spaces (like apartments) settings without disturbing neighbors or ecological wildlife. They provide an opportunity for an isolated group to experience performance simultaneity without as much audio bleed as a traditional amplified loudspeaker system would provide, at a fraction of the power.
Typically, anywhere between one to three DJs provide simultaneous streams of different genres of music over a radio frequency transmitter, and participants select which stream they prefer on their headphones which contain a receiver with RF selector. Their headphones contain LED lights (red, green, blue) to indicate which stream they are listening to, communicating their stream preference to others.
This unique situation creates an equally interesting event for observers as it does for the participants, as the juxtaposition of a crowd clearly participating in ceremonial concert behaviors without the source material creates a disorientation for the observers, blurring the lines between audience and performative material.
We will feature three student DJs from UCR’s student organizations and will invite up to 40 participants to experience the silent disco in the UCR ARTS Black Box.