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Episodes
- In a Landscape by John Cage
(0mb)
Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:50:13 -0500 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
I have adjusted the tuning a bit. The Bb is now a 4:3 above the F, which makes sense. The B at the end has been updated to an 11:8 over the F, giving the last note a bit more bite. Both changes were only a single step in the 53 TET tuning, but they make a big difference.Here is a graph of the function table I use to make the finger piano have a more robust sustain. It attenuates the attack, and increases the strength of the later parts of the sound.
More work to do on this.
- In a Landscape by John Cage (0mb)
Sat, 07 Jun 2008 08:40:30 -0500 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
I love this piece by John Cage. Especially the versions on piano by Stephen Drury and a version for American Gamelan by Gamelan Pacifica.
I've been thinking of what it would sound like on finger piano. Today I put the first ten measures down and it sounds ok. But it needs some work. Done with Csound and some finger piano samples from an instrument I made in 1978. I definitely need to work on the tuning. I picked a C overtone series, but the piece seems to be in D minor? - Into the Desert 3rd take (6mb)
Sat, 01 Mar 2008 22:31:44 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
I've been taking 4 passes through each of the pieces, and then listening to them to see which one has the best presentation of the key ideas. I've grown fond of take 3 in tonights walk through the Mercer Island forest. Damp, swampy, cold. Not at all like the desert. But this take captures the key focus. The sun is the short bent springs. The percussion is the relentless footsteps. The long springs are the threats that will not go away. - Into the Desert (6mb)
Sat, 01 Mar 2008 19:41:26 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
The next piece is to be used as the backdrop for crossing the Great Salt Lake Desert. From the Wiki, we can read:
* August 30, 1846: The Donner Party reaches Redlum Spring, the last source of water before the dry drive begins, then sets out to cross the Great Salt Lake Desert.
* September 1, 1846 (?): On the third day in the desert, the water runs out. That night, the Reeds' thirsty oxen run off, never to be found; the Reeds take a few things and set out on foot.
* September 3, 1846 (?): The emigrants finish the five-day journey across the eighty-mile desert, which Hastings had said was half as wide. They have lost 36 head of cattle, half of them Reed's, and four wagons have to be abandoned. They spend the next week at the foot of Pilot Peak recuperating from their ordeal, hunting for cattle, and caching their possessions.
It was very dry out there, I'm sure. This piece is scored for bent piano wires of various dimensions and appearance, amplified by magnetic transducers and sampled; my contact microphone wooden dry percussion board; a few orchestral cymbals; and samples from Jay C. Batzner's Mancala Samples. They're the ones that sound like a rattlesnake of sorts. The tuning is based on the utonality, but the samples are so enharmonic as to render the tuning moot. - Echo Canyon (5mb)
Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:30:40 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
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 (1mb)
Sun, 17 Feb 2008 18:35:58 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
Alto Flute, Vibraphone, Tuba, Finger Piano in a minor key, going in opposite directions. - At the Mouth of Echo Canyon (1mb)
Fri, 15 Feb 2008 19:11:22 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
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 (3mb)
Thu, 14 Feb 2008 11:27:54 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
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 (1mb)
Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:13:28 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
This one has better balance and bass.
- Hasting's Cutoff (1mb)
Tue, 12 Feb 2008 16:17:00 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
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 (4mb)
Mon, 11 Feb 2008 17:39:35 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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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 (9mb)
Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:18:53 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
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 (1mb)
Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:17:01 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
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
Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:19:23 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)Subscribe here:
This is a work in progress...
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 (1mb)
Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:30:49 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
Perhaps an opening here. Or maybe just a start.
- The Journey (1mb)
Sun, 03 Feb 2008 12:36:02 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
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 (1mb)
Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:01:46 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
A variation on the Bassoon solo. - Making the 13 more clear with some dry spring percussion
Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:55:41 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
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 (2mb)
Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:24:49 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
The shorter springs sound more like steel drums. They appear about 1/4 of the way in echoing the longer springs. - Some Negative Space (2mb)
Wed, 09 Jan 2008 19:06:15 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
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 (2mb)
Mon, 07 Jan 2008 19:15:07 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
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 (1mb)
Thu, 13 Dec 2007 17:38:11 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
Starting simpler and adding more things.
- A few older tunes (6mb)
Tue, 11 Dec 2007 12:53:29 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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 (0mb)
Wed, 05 Dec 2007 23:58:31 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
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 (0mb)
Fri, 30 Nov 2007 17:59:52 -0600 Author: noreply@blogger.com (Prent Rodgers)
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This is a work in progress...
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.
