Mickey Hart and Zakir Hussain Share ‘Drones For Sonic Bathing’ Video Course

Courtesy Commune – Mickey The Mind-Bender
Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart announced a new series of “sonic baths” in collaboration with Zakir Hussain on Thursdayl

Throughout the pandemic, Mickey Hart’s fellow Grateful Dead co-founders have harnessed the internet to livestream to fans.

Now, Hart – arguably the group’s headiest member – is using the internet to connect with his audience, albeit in a slightly different way.

The Dead percussionist announced “Sound Consciousness: Drones For Sonic Bathing” on Thursday, a series of 10 “sonic bathing experiences” created with famed tabla player and longtime collaborator Zakir Hussain.

The series is available now on Commune, a “video course platform for personal and societal well-being,” and the first five installments are free.

The course, which also features animation from Hart himself, asks participants to carve out 15 minutes per day for 10 days “to leave their usual plane of existence and travel through the vastness of their mindspace.”

“This is a sonic wonderland that gets you into the moment, into the now,” Hart said in a press release. “It gets you to connect to the very center of you, the vibratory center of you.”

Along with Hussain’s tabla work, the shows will include “sounds from Hart’s extensive collection of global recordings” as well as music created on The Beam, the unusual instrument he has spent several decades refining.

“These visual representations from my sonic-driven world are snapshots into the music I am making,” Hart continued. “Painting feeds the music, and music feeds the painting. They are two halves of the same experience.”

Deadheads will have ample opportunity in the coming months to see Hart perform in a decidedly less mellow setting. Last week, Dead & Company, the touring powerhouse comprised of Hart, Dead co-founders Bob Weir and Bill Kreutzmann, John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti, announced a 2021 tour that will run from Aug. 16 to Oct. 31, hitting venues including Chicago’s Wrigley Field and Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl.

But, for now, head over to Commune for Hart’s mind-expanding sonic baths.