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.

Up the scale on the otonality, down on the utonality

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A variation on the Bassoon solo.

Making the 13 more clear with some dry spring percussion

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There is nothing like a little percussion to get the beat straight. It's in 13, with three subdivisions of 3 and two of 2. These five subdivisions are randomly mixed up, sometimes it's 3 3 3 2 2, sometimes 3 2 3 3 2, and so on.

Shorter Springs

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The shorter springs sound more like steel drums. They appear about 1/4 of the way in echoing the longer springs.

Some Negative Space

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Each instrument can chose what to play, or if to remain silent. When they all chose to be quiet at the same time, we get negative space.

Getting closer

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Still working on an escalation of complexity problem. Soon the bassoon will be set free to explore more territory.

Towards a larger range of complexities

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Starting simpler and adding more things.

A few older tunes

I've decided to put a few more tunes up somewhere other than my SoundClick page. For those who'd prefer not to have to register, and to make them available on my Facebook page. (Sorry you have to join to see it. Not much there,believe me. Details on all the songs, including source code here under "Liner Notes".

Balloon Drum Music

Chain of Flowers

Mirror Walk

Subduction Zone

The Stick Shift Chevy Shake

Tsantsa Circle Dance

Whisper Song in 53 EDO

Slide Bassoon

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I solved the problem of the slide flute, with balloon membranes. I was challenged with changing the resonant frequency of a tube, and discovered that it was dependent on the flexibility of the walls of the enclosure. Instead of a complex mechanism of sliding tube lengths, all that was necessary was a balloon at both ends. Now, the Bassoon is more complex. I must resort to computer modifications:

lf 357 0 256 -7 1 64 1 128 1.7548172 64 1.7548172 ; 7:4 g56 up 43

Slides up by a 7:4, from C to Bb. Then from Bb to C

lf 324 0 256 -7 1 64 1 128 1.1397199 64 1.1397199 ; 8:7 g23 up 10


.bassoon10 &bas.&key.e16d72h76u3&gls7:4. u0d32h34t+43&gls8:7.


Sliding mid-range bent wires

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The bent wires now have choices. So many choices:

.mid-spring1 &mi3.d32r0 r16d0h72&key.&chortang*.d72
.mid-spring2 &mi3.d28r0 r16d2h52&key.&chortang*.d48 r16d0h26&key.&chortang*.d24 o-1d0h104&key.&chortang-a*.d0
.mid-spring3 &mi3.d28r0 r16d2h36&key.&chortang*.d72
.mid-springz1 &mi3.d104r0
.mid-springz2 &mi3.d104r0

&mid-spring1. will produce a 32 beat silence, then a 72 beat chord, which may or may not slide.
&mid-spring2. will produce a 28 beat silence, then an arpeggiated chord, and another, followed by a major chord that is held for 104 beats (a measure of 13 quarter notes).
The &mid-springz*. will be silent all 104 beats. What would you choose? I have a crude randomizer that picks them for me. Different most every time.

Alex Ross picks on Zune

Frank Hecker's blog Swindleeeee!!!!! has a post up tracking the number of Alex Ross's favorite CD's he could find on eMusic. Alex is the music critic of the New Yorker Magazine, an author and a blogger I follow.

I looked for the same CD's on Microsoft Zune.net service, MarketPlace. This is a subscription service for which I pay $45 a quarter to fill my zune with tunes on the go. I can download all I want, if I wanted anything they offered. So far, the non-pop selection is woefully inadequate. Of the 18 disks in Alex Ross's collection, I found 7 on the Zune service. That's pretty poor. Frank found 13 on eMusic.

Here's what I found:

Steve Reich, Music for 18 Musicians, Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble - Nope. Only the Nonesuch 9/13/05 version. No information available on who performed this or any other CD on the Zune service. Just Album title and small picture, Artist Name, and Track name. Poor.

Strauss, Salome, Teresa Stratas, Karl Böhm, Vienna Philharmonic (DG DVD) Nope. Just a few excerpts by other performers.

Handel Arias, Danielle de Niese and William Christie with Les Arts Florissants (Decca). Nope. Just one by Angelika Kirchschlager.

John Luther Adams, Red Arc/Blue Veil (Cold Blue). Yes.

Mozart, Don Giovanni, René Jacobs conducting (Harmonia Mundi). Nope. Just the Wilhelm Furtwängler version.

Previously:

Beethoven, Symphonies Nos. 3 and 8, Paavo Järvi conducting the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (BMG). Nope.

John Cage, Complete Short Works for Prepared Piano, Philipp Vandré (Mode). Yes.

Common Sense Composers’ Collective, tic, with the New Millenium Ensemble (Troy). Nope.

Beethoven, Piano Sonatas vol. 3, Paul Lewis (Harmonia Mundi). Yes.

Bach, Goldberg Variations, Simone Dinnerstein (Telarc). Available, but not to subscription users. You have to buy it for 79 cents a song.

Brahms, String Sextets, Nash Ensemble (Onyx). Nope.

Osvaldo Golijov, Oceana, with Dawn Upshaw, Luciana Souza, the Kronos Quartet, and Robert Spano conducting the Atlanta Symphony (DG). Yes, but not all tracks, only 9 of 12. Lame.

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson: Live from Wigmore Hall, 1998; with Roger Vignoles, piano (Wigmore Hall Live). Nope.

Roussel, Symphony No. 3 and Bacchus et Ariane; Stéphane Denève conducting the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (Naxos). Yes.

As Steals the Morn...: Handel Arias and Scenes; Mark Padmore, tenor, with Andrew Manze conducting the English Concert (Harmonia Mundi). Yes.

Gershwin, Piano Concerto in F, Rhapsody in Blue, Cuban Overture; Jon Nakamatsu, piano, with Jeff Tyzik conducting the Rochester Philhamonic (Harmonia Mundi). Yes.

Alexandra Gardner, Luminoso (Innova). Yes.

What will he play next?

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The Bassoon can play any of these chords:

.chortanga1 t+0 t+17 t+14
.chortanga2 t+17 t+14 t+22
.chortanga3 t+31 t+22 t+17
.chortangb1 t+9 t+16 t+18
.chortangb2 t+25 t+18 t+19
.chortangb3 t+43 t+19 t+16
.chortanga4 t+0&gls9:8. t+17&gls11:10. t+14&gls7:6.
.chortanga5 t+17&gls11:10. t+14&gls7:6. t+22&gls9:8.
.chortanga6 t+31&gls7:6. t+22&gls9:8. t+17&gls11:10.
.chortangb4 t+9&gls10:9. t+16&gls12:11. t+18&gls8:7.
.chortangb5 t+25&gls12:11 t+18&gls8:7. t+19&gls10:9.
.chortangb6 t+43&gls8:7. t+19&gls10:9. t+16&gls12:11.
.chortanga7 t+0&gls7:8. t+17&gls9:10. t+14&gls11:12.
.chortanga8 t+17&gls9:10. t+14&gls11:12. t+22&gls7:8.
.chortanga9 t+31&gls11:12. t+22&gls7:8. t+17&gls9:10.
.chortangb7 t+9&gls8:9. t+16&gls10:11. t+18&gls6:7.
.chortangb8 t+25&gls10:11 t+18&gls6:7. t+19&gls8:9.
.chortangb9 t+43&gls6:7. t+19&gls8:9. t+16&gls10:11.

Where each t represents a note in the 53 tone equal scale. As it happens, t0 is C, t+17 is a just 5:4, and t+14 is a 3:2. t+9 is a 9:8, t+16 is an 11:8, and t+18 is 7:4. So we have the 4:5:6 chord and the 9:11:14 chord as choices, with inversions, and glides from one to the other. The Bassoon can play one or more of the notes simultaneously, so it might be a chord, or just a note.
If it chooses this one, it's just the last of three notes:

.bassoon1 &bas.&key.d16r0 o5d0e16&chortang*.d88&bas-ran*.h194

If it chooses this one, it's a chord:

.bassoon2 &bas.&key.d16r0 o5d0e16&bas-ran*.&chortang*.d88h194


Bassoon in the mix

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One, two, or three bassoons, who knows what can happen if you have a tasteful group of friendly musicians in a room.

Starting simple, growing complexity

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At first, we only allow the bass wires to play a very simple figure, then we give them more choices as the introduction proceeds. It's all up to them what they do.

Dinotang - it's Orange!

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More variety in the back beat chords.

Dinosaur Tango

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Back in the day, Tom Nunn and I had a piece that we named, after the fact, "Dinosaur Tango". It was a duo of Tom on one of his crustaceans plucking wires, and me on balloon flutes: first bass, then alto, then soprano as the pace quickened.

I've tried a dozen times over the years to duplicate the mood. Imagine a caveman sneaking into the den of a pair of dinosaurs. He discovers them dancing. Of course he joins in. Wouldn't you?