Rock On!
My big creative project for the out west trip is to write a set of 25 short flute and guitar etudes that are based on the color hues of the rocks in Canyonlands National Park. I am using a program derived from the Munsell system that categorizes rocks based on RGB colors.
I used a twelve tone system that correlates to the number combinations from the RGB colors that as a result give a set of intervallic relationships for each etude’s color. Textures, timbres, and techniques are also assigned for different colors. For example red = trills, so any rock color that has a red hue will show up as trills in that etude. Black = whistle tones on the flute, yellow = ponticello on the guitar, etc.
So far, I am excited about how easy and stimulating it was to write these. I guess I am more like Stravinsky than I thought…I am using extreme limitations as an avenue for feeling creative freedom.
The environment here in Canyonlands is really inspiring as well. Today we were in a canyon that met up with another rock wall that circled around on itself. When I sang different intervals loudly at the base on the canyon there was about a three second echo that traveled all the way around the circle through the canyon walls. I plan to use that effect in on the etudes.
First Few Steps Into Canyonlands
Andy drove 26 hours straight through the night to Canyonlands National Park for a six night backpacking trip!
I kept Andy up in the wee hours of the night with my obnoxious harmony singing with all of the junk on the radio. (so far I still haven’t touched the wheel) Andy also likes to perform mathematical equations having to do with mileage, time, gas amounts, and money all in his head, so needless to say he like to drive and he can keep himself alert and occupied for hours.
The park amazed us…a place where the dirt is alive (literally by the biological crust) and the rock formation are intricate. Once we were in the rocks it was like living inside a miniature, everything is closer than what it appears and changed as we got closer and further away.