GOOD OL' GRATEFUL DEADCAST
BONUS: A Visit to Planet Drum with Mickey Hart
Original Airdate: November 14, 2020
Overview
This special bonus episode features an in-depth, free-flowing conversation with legendary Grateful Dead drummer and sonic explorer Mickey Hart. Hosts Rich Mahan and Jesse Jarnow welcome Hart to discuss his wide-ranging musical projects during the pandemic, including collaborations with Deepak Chopra and Zakir Hussain, the origins and evolution of his signature instrument the Beam, the experimental Nevada “Barn” studio, recording innovations, wild tales from the Grateful Dead’s heyday, and the deeper spiritual and creative drives behind his life’s work. The episode delights in stories full of music, mayhem, ritual, invention, community—and, yes, frying bacon onstage.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. A Season of Sonic Exploration
[03:34 – 05:43]
- Hart describes the pandemic era as a prolific period for composition and experimentation, especially in long-form drones and spatial processing.
- He collaborates online with Zakir Hussain for the next Planet Drum incarnation and with Deepak Chopra on drone-based material.
- The “Sonic Tonic Club,” his ongoing online experimental project, is into its 180+th session.
- Quote:
“It's been a season of drones for me...Working on the next Planet Drum incarnation with Zakir Hussain online...an adventure.”
— Mickey Hart [03:34]
2. The Beam: Sonic Invention and Brainwaves
[05:43 – 10:10]
-
The Beam is Hart’s custom instrument—“a girder strung with piano wires,” inspired by the Pythagorean monochord.
- Hart uses it for extremely low-frequency drones, claiming its resonance moves brainwaves and brings participants into a deep, immediate present.
- Quote:
“It just totally takes you into the moment quicker than music actually really does...I got 3,000 subwoofers out there. I can get really loud, you know—probably the loudest human in the world.”
— Mickey Hart [06:07–08:08]
-
He now owns multiple Beams, each uniquely tuned, and can sync them to create massive, resonant drone ensembles.
- The Beams “sing by themselves” when set at the sweet spot.
- Quote:
“If you get it at the sweet spot...the beams sing by themselves, their own song every day. Different.”
— Mickey Hart [09:56]
3. Origins: From Cosmic Beam to Apocalypse Now
[10:12 – 12:23]
- Inspiration for the Beam came from seeing Francisco Lupica’s “cosmic beam” in Golden Gate Park and from knowledge of ancient monochords.
- Hart sought to build a “747 version”—culminating in work on the Apocalypse Now soundtrack.\
4. The Barn: Sanctuary of Experimentation
[13:15 – 17:52]
-
Hart’s “Barn” studio in Nevada was a post-hippie haven for experimentation, jamming, long marathons (including a four-day, four-night percussion jam), and creative community-building in the 1970s.
- Frequent visitors: John Cipollina, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Grateful Dead members, Hells Angels, Pranksters, and more.
-
Spiritual/ritual aspect to the space: linked to Shoshone land, mystical experiences (including visions of the healer Rolling Thunder).
- Quote:
“It was a spiritually based place...people kind of left their spirit there in some ways. That’s what that place was for. Ritual is really important.”
— Mickey Hart [19:04]
- Quote:
5. Legendary Shenanigans: Ritual, Danger & Fun
[15:25 – 18:11; 27:28 – 32:39]
- Drum marathons; wild target practice with cymbals and firearms (sometimes while high on acid); sonic experimentation with reverb, echo, and delay using homemade devices.
- Cooking and eating bacon onstage during Grateful Dead “Drums” segments; frying sounds amplified through the PA; Pigpen would eat the bacon with drumsticks.
- Quote:
“We fried bacon during the solo...Pig Pen used to eat it. He used to come over with drumsticks. They’re like chopsticks.”
— Mickey Hart [27:28–28:19]
- Quote:
- The “Cannon Era”—Hart set off two starter cannons synced to the music, culminating in a near-disastrous incident when a crew member caught fire backstage.
- Quote:
"He was on fire, smelling, burning...he was there burning right there with my feet...putting the 12 gauge into the starter cannons. And I said, that’s the end of cannons."
— Mickey Hart [31:03]
- Quote:
6. Technical Innovations
[21:27 – 22:50]
- Grateful Dead’s engineer Dan Healy built elaborate custom reverb/delay rigs, including a locomotive-driven microphone system for controlling echo times, and unique echo chambers with rare materials.
- Quote:
“Healy came up with an idea of putting exponential tubes...there was a locomotive on the track...so we could control the length of sound by using the locomotive...”
— Mickey Hart [21:32]
- Quote:
7. Producing Hunter's Albums & Unique Recording Techniques
[22:50 – 25:40]
- The Barn hosted production of Robert Hunter's Tales of the Great Rum Runners (1974) and Tiger Rose (1975), with deep Grateful Dead family involvement.
- Innovative approaches included playing drums covered with bedsheets for “dry” sounds easier to process.
- Quote:
“I covered all my drums with a sheet...if you can get tone dry and tone, then you can take that and put it in another processing easily.”
— Mickey Hart [24:54–25:40]
8. Organizing Chaos: The "Anaconda" Info Snake
[26:14 – 27:18]
- For his book Drumming at the Edge of Magic, Hart methodically organized percussion history notes on 3x5 cards, pinned in a giant timeline around the Barn—dubbed “the Anaconda.”
9. The Dead’s “Drums” Section: Spontaneity and Playfulness
[27:18 – 35:52]
- The nightly Grateful Dead drums/percussion segment was never rehearsed, always in-the-moment, sometimes involving kitchen staff, bacon, and wild improvisation.
10. Mickey’s Approach to Creativity & Lifelong Exploration
[34:17 – 35:52]
- Hart’s philosophy: enter the studio daily with the expectation of discovery and transformation—music as therapy, foraging, and self-improvement.
- Quote:
“Every day is a revelation, really. I try to make that a reality...trying to make a better world, you know, by making yourself a little better person. That’s kind of what music does.”
— Mickey Hart [34:17] - Quote:
“Stay healthy, and you can do music forever.”
— Mickey Hart [35:10]
- Quote:
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On the Beam:
“With the drone, it's instantaneous...the depths at which it's going is fantastic...it immerses you...If you let yourself go into it, you just kind of melt into it.”
— Mickey Hart [06:26–07:55] -
On Ritual and Community:
“Ritual is really important, especially when you...have restarting a community...we were starting a community, and so you had to have it within your own community in order to give it.”
— Mickey Hart [19:04] -
On the End of Cannons:
“He was on fire...still, you know, smoldering and flesh burning. I mean, you gotta really go, you know, to beat that. I mean, like invisible fruit.”
— Mickey Hart [32:05] -
On Lifelong Learning:
“It's a game in a way. You learn constantly, all the time, about acoustics. It's never ending.”
— Mickey Hart [25:54]
Timestamps for Key Segments
- [03:34] – Mickey describes recent projects & Sonic Tonic Club
- [05:43] – Playing the Beam: sound, science, and philosophy
- [10:12] – Beam’s historical and musical roots
- [13:15] – The Barn: a nexus of experimentation
- [15:25] – Drum marathon and the sacred energies of the Barn
- [19:04] – Spiritual encounters and the significance of ritual
- [21:27] – Custom reverb innovations by Dan Healy
- [22:50] – Recording at the Barn: Hunter’s albums & unique techniques
- [24:54] – Dry drum sounds with sheets for recording
- [26:14] – Packing percussion history into “the Anaconda”
- [27:28] – Improvised “Drums” sets: frying bacon, explosive cannons
- [34:17] – Hart’s approach to creativity and music as therapy
Tone & Spirit
The conversation is freewheeling, playful, and profound—ranging from technical deep-dives and wild road tales to reflective moments on the role of ritual, community, and the search for new sonic dimension. Mickey Hart’s enthusiasm, humor, and unending curiosity are front and center. This is a treasure for both Dead Heads and musical explorers of any stripe.
For Further Exploration
- Listen to:
- Nightfall of Diamonds (Live Beam performance, 1989)
- Robert Hunter’s Tales of the Great Rum Runners and Tiger Rose
- Mickey Hart’s solo Rolling Thunder album
- Watch for future “Deadcast” interviews with Mickey Hart.