Echo Canyon

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Today's work is in support of the scene when the Donner's are told that they basically have to hack their own path through the Wasatch Mountains. The Hastings Cutoff is bogus, and they are told to send someone ahead for further instructions.

The music is more like space lounge music, with little resemblance to the scene of the movie. Oh well. It's based on the utonality to the 15 limit, modulating to new keys by steps of the otonality. In the chart at the right (click it to enlarge), the utonality goes up and to the left, the otonality up and to the right.

We start in the bottom row C Ab F D+ B- Gb E- D-, then move up to E, then G, then Bb.

The piece is scored for Alto Flute, Vibraphone, Finger Piano, Tuba, French Horns, Trombones, dry spring percussion, and some other percussion samples. Enjoy the utonalicious triademonium.

Inside Echo Canyon

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Alto Flute, Vibraphone, Tuba, Finger Piano in a minor key, going in opposite directions.

At the Mouth of Echo Canyon

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August 6, 1846: The Donner Party stops at the mouth of Echo Canyon; Hastings has left a note for them, warning them that the road ahead is impassable and instructing them to send someone ahead to get instructions. James Reed and two others set out following the wagons tracks of Hastings' group.

Hasting's Cutoff - take three

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I've added a flute and oboe part, and also balloon drums. This is when they make the fateful decision to follow the Hastings Cutoff. The piece falls by a 53rd root of 2 (77:76) every few measures. By the time it finishes, we've gone down by 7:8. Slipping away...

Hasting's Cutoff - take two

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This one has better balance and bass.

Hasting's Cutoff

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Finger Piano and harp so far. I'd like to add some alto flute and some other instruments, but haven't had much success so far.

July 31, 1846: James Reed writes "Hastings Cutoff is said to be a saving of 350 or 400 miles and a better route. The rest of the Californians went the long route, feeling afraid of Hastings's cutoff. But Mr. Bridger informs me that it is a fine, level road with plenty of water and grass. It is estimated that 700 miles will take us to Captain Sutter's fort, which we hope to make in seven weeks from this day." At the fort the emigrants take on some new members. Now numbering 74 people, the Donner Party leaves Fort Bridger and starts out on Hastings Cutoff.

Wagon Train Hoedown

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I finished the first draft of the second piece.

May 19, 1846: At Indian Creek, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Independence, the Donners and Reeds join a larger wagon train, which is led by Colonel William Henry Russell.

The piece is scored for violins, violas, cellos, double bass, and flutes. The intonation is the overtones to the 11 limit, in C, Ab, F, D+, which are the utonality keys to the 7 limit.

On to the Hastings Cutoff next.

Westering Journey - another cut

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April 14, 1846: Journey begins at Springfield, Illinois. The travelers are George Donner, his brother Jacob, and James Frazier Reed, with their families. Each man has three covered wagons and has hired men (teamsters) to drive the oxen that pull them; Reed also has two servants. The destination of the first leg is Independence, Missouri, where the Oregon and California trails begin; the distance from Springfield to Independence is about 250 miles (400 kilometers). The trip is timed to begin when the spring rains have subsided and grass for the draft animals is available, and to end before snow makes the Sierra Nevada impassable.

Wagon Train

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May 19, 1846: At Indian Creek, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Independence, the Donners and Reeds join a larger wagon train, which is led by Colonel William Henry Russell. And they are on their way.

Westering Journey - First Draft

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I've found a beginning, a middle, and an ending for the first piece of the sound track for an unmade movie on the Donner Party. The first chords are made by sliding each note of a major chord by just enough to take a 4:5:6 to a 9:11:14. The 4 (1:1) goes to a 9:8 major second, the 5:4 (major third) goes to the 11:8 tritone, and the 3:2 (major fifth) goes to a 7:4 flat seventh. And some go the other direction, with some inversions thrown in for variety. The chords are played slowly and with complex envelopes that serve to move the sound around in stereo space.

It's all generated by the following code:
@
.slid-maj-u-a513 o-1t+31&gls7:6. t+22&gls9:8. t+17&gls11:10.
.slid-maj-u-b472 o-1t+25&gls12:11. t+18&gls8:7. t+19&gls10:9.
.slid-maj-d-a135 t+0&gls7:8. t+17&gls9:10. t+14&gls11:12.
.slid-maj-d-b724 o-1t+43&gls6:7. t+19&gls8:9. t+16&gls10:11.
@ very slow part
.flut-maj-384-c1 &flut.o+1d0h420e20&key.v-3&slid-maj-d-b7*.d384
.frnh-maj-384-c1 &frnh.o+1d0h420e21&key.v-3&slid-maj-u-b4*.d384
.trom-maj-384-c1 &trom.o+1d0h420e22&key.v-3&slid-maj-d-b7*.d384
.basn-maj-384-c1 &basn.&key.h420e23t-10&gls8:7.
.flut-maj-384-c2 &flut.o+1d0h400e21&key.v-3&slid-maj-u-b4*.d384
.frnh-maj-384-c2 &frnh.o+1d0h400e22&key.v-3&slid-maj-d-b7*.d384
.trom-maj-384-c2 &trom.o+1d0h400e20&key.v-3&slid-maj-u-b4*.d384
.basn-maj-384-c2 &basn.&key.h420e24t+9&gls8:9.
.flut-maj-192-c3 &flut.o+1d0h210e21&key.v-3&maj3-u-a*.d192
.frnh-maj-192-c3 &frnh.o+1d0h210e22&key.v-3&maj3-u-a*.d192
.trom-maj-192-c3 &trom.o+1d0h210e20&key.v-3&maj3-u-a*.d192
.basn-maj-192-c3 &basn.&key.h220e24
.flut-maj-384-c4 &flut.o+1d0h400e20&key.v-3&slid-maj-d-a1*.d384
.frnh-maj-384-c4 &frnh.o+1d0h400e21&key.v-3&slid-maj-u-a3*.d384
.trom-maj-384-c4 &trom.o+1d0h400e22&key.v-3&slid-maj-d-a5*.d384
.basn-maj-384-c4 &basn.&key.h400e23&gls7:8.
@ start playing
@ very slow part
@ start 135 go to 247
&flut-maj-384-c4.
&frnh-maj-384-c4.
&trom-maj-384-c4.
&basn-maj-384-c4.
@
@ stay 135
&flut-maj-192-c3.
&frnh-maj-192-c3.
&trom-maj-192-c3.
&basn-maj-192-c3.
@
@ start 247 go 135 from the top
&flut-maj-384-c2.
&frnh-maj-384-c2.
&trom-maj-384-c2.
&basn-maj-384-c2.
@
@ start 247 go 135 from the bottom
&flut-maj-384-c1.
&frnh-maj-384-c1.
&trom-maj-384-c1.
&basn-maj-384-c1.

Today's post is as far as I can take this piece and still meet my internal target of 10 pieces or 35 minutes of music recorded during the month of February. I have a nice long train ride tonight, so maybe I can make progress on the next piece, which is based on the May 19, 1846 incident: At Indian Creek, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Independence, MO, the party joined up with a larger wagon train to make the trek west.

Westering Journey opening

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Perhaps an opening here. Or maybe just a start.

The Journey

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I ordinarily take about 3-6 months, sometimes more, to create a 5 minute piece of music. I can only devote around ten to twenty minutes each day to composing. And each note takes a bit of time to get right using my hand coding of Csound input. Slow but steady, you might say.

So it is with some trepidation that I've undertaken to participate in the RPM Challenge 2008: Record an album of ten songs or 35 minutes of music during the month of February 2008. That's about 60 times faster than my ordinary work habits. But what the hell, I'll give it a go.

To try to focus my mind around the challenge, I'm writing a sound track to an imaginary movie about the Donner Party. You know, the forlorn group that set out in April 1846 for California, only to be waylaid by a late October snowstorm while trying to cross the Sierras. Many starved to death over the next few months as their meager rations ran out. Half did not make it to Sacramento. Those that did told horrid tales of cannibalism. I've been thinking about an opera based on the story for many years, but that's too much for this effort.

Here's today's start of the first scene, when the participants set out from Springfield, IL, headed for Independence, MO. There is optimism in the air. As the wiki says: The trip is timed to begin when the spring rains have subsided and grass for the draft animals is available, and to end before snow makes the Sierra Nevada impassable.