[Editor’s Note: This was posted to the Facebook event 17 days before Solstice was observed]
Hi all,
Solstice is coming up soon! Because the format of the event will be so different this year, there are a lot of things you can do to prepare that will make your experience better. Here are the bare essentials;
Some of these logistics stem from the fact that we’ve built a web app¹ that improves the ritual experience, including singing along with other attendees. (More info at jefftk.com/p/bucket-brigade-singing, but no comprehensive tutorial yet.)
The number one thing about this app is that it only works in Chrome, and it is not being tested on mobile browsers. Apologies to users of other browsers; please have Chrome downloaded and in working order before you try to come to the event!
This will allow you to listen to the event, but if you want others to hear you sing, then you will also require wired headphones (not wireless, e.g. no bluetooth or AirPods). If you try to contribute your singing without any headphones, then you will cause audio feedback, which will worsen the experience of other attendees. (This will result in an admin moving you into ‘listen only’ mode).²
Wireless headphones have too high latency to feed your audio to another participant.
If you don’t want to use wired headphones, you can still listen to the performance, but no one will hear you singing.
Besides those audio logistics, consider using a webcam, perhaps a high quality one. This is not essential for participation, but part of what we’re excited about is seeing everyone’s faces!
If you can connect to the internet directly through ethernet rather than wifi, this will improve the quality of your video and audio (and is generally less prone to connection problems).
Also consider removing anything that might distract you during the event; mute your phone, turn off desktop notifications, close other programs or browser tabs, disable chrome extensions that show your unread email count, et cetera. Immersion will be hard to achieve, but there’s a lot we can do to prepare.
Another way to increase your immersion is to have some candles ready to light. Candles are very cheap to buy if you don’t already have some, and don’t forget a candle holder. Practice placing them nearby and lighting them to make sure they don’t drip somewhere unwanted or pose a fire hazard; and remind yourself where your fire extinguisher is!
Lastly, if you’d like to consider bubbling up with others (perhaps using the microCOVID system microcovid.org/) to celebrate this holiday together in person, now is the time to start planning that. (Note that if you will have a group of people listening to the event from a common sound source, then the group can’t contribute their singing, because they won’t have headphones. On the other hand, you can hear each other sing!)
Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns; we know that’s a lot to digest! We’ll also be sending out reminders of these logistics (and any other developments) as we get closer to December 19th.
[Editor’s Footnores:]
¹ The web app[s] are available at Bucket Brigade Singing and Ritual Engine. Ritual Engine used the solstice2020 script.
² In the actual event, users with speakers rather than headphones were left audible as this turned out not to cause major problems. Bluetooth users were still muted.
Since this entire solstice was online, Rachel Shu posted a video recording of the whole thing (except the first twenty minutes) as she experienced it.
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