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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.
