The chord progression came from watching a video from some of my favorite YouTube music folks trying to make the Phrygian mode (one of the darkest of the 7 modes of major) sound happy. I putzed around with it for a while off-and-on, but the impetus to finish it came from the desire to "accompany" an action video made for laughs. This came to mind, so I finished this piece.

The main style is at 70 BPM, but I doubled the chord duration and the tempo and "forced" the additional tracks to just play faster.

I was on a mission to not spend so much time tinkering in a mix, so the entire session (rough production and mixing) took me about an hour in Reaper. That's NOT my usual modus, but I think it came out fine for what it is.

The results are a mix of craziness, danger, fun, fear and exhilaration. I'm pretty proud of it, but then again I am the weirdest person I know. I hope you'll enjoy it for the full one minute and thirty seconds.

Great Raft Race

****** Song Summary *************

Key Cminor (Harmonized to C Phrygian)
Temo 140bpm (From 70)

Style is _CHITTER.STY (Chittering Jaw Harp Swing)
RealTracks in style: 1411:Bass, Acoustic, CelticHornpipe Sw16 070
RealTracks in style: 3418:Jaw Harp, Rhythm FolkSw16Roots Sw16 070
RealTracks in style: 2206:Bouzouki, Rhythm CelticHornpipe Sw16 070
RealTracks in style: 1412:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm CelticHornpipe Sw16 070
RealTracks in song: ~~1048:Organ, B3, Rhythm Jazz Sw 140
RealTracks in song: 1374:Trombone, Older Sw 140
RealDrums [in style:BodhranCelticHornpipe^2-a,b:Brushes, Simple
and...
3495:Bass, Acoustic, OldTimeHappyDance Ev16 125
3368:Mandolin, Rhythm OldTimeHappyDance Ev16 125
3410:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm OldTimeHappyDance Ev16 125
3383:Fiddle, BackgroundSoloist OldTimeHappyDance Ev16 125
*******************

Dear 'Tangmo'...

My fingernails hurt from tapping them on my desktop at such a furious tempo !!!

Yeah, that Phrygian mode sounds as though it was constructed by demons to assist them in composing music for commercials advertising tours of the underworld to people who know they ain't goin' nowhere near Heaven when they give up the ghost! However, your novel, imaginative orchestration and the hyped-up tempo pulled it out of the doldrums (mostly) so that the piece ended up reaching for the sky in places, and enough to cause me to belt out a few "yee-e-e-hawwws!!!" while tapping my fingernails.

Actually, I believe you solved your interesting musical problem in a highly creative way!

Wow T that song just smokes allot. Love that jaw harp plucking away in the background. Ver creative song. Well done

Hey tangmo,

well, if you consider yourself a weirdo - after listening to that song I cannot really object ...

But you must know that I really have a procivity for a certain sort of weirdos and with Great Raft Race you really qualify for my personal premier league.

Since you mentioned all the applicable adjectives yourself, there's not much left I can say but: Just great on all levels!

And it was done in one hour? Man, I need one hour to find a comfortable sitting position BEFORE I even start my Reaper.

BTW: Thanks for enlarging my English lexicon: Would never have expected that the German word 'putzen' would have made its way into the English language.
'Wie putzig' (how peculiar)...

Take care,

Stefan

Man, quite a collection of instruments! That Jaw Harp is awesome! And then you have John Luke Ponte on fiddle.

Cool progression, great arrangement, and the mix sound good too.

Really well done, one of the coolest things I've heard on here actually.

Whoa! Slow down Trigger. From one weirdo to another, this is GREAT. A great race to be sure. Phrygian? Cool. I once wrote an instrumental called Phrygid Injun. Loved this crazy fun, Tangmo. Not only the song was at a dizzying pace, but the speed with which you created it is astounding. Your pride is justified, my friend.

Creative to the max.

Just a big ole wow!

My head is spinning as fast as the music just thinking about trying to mix those tracks.

One hour? Sheesh. I'd have to stare at them that long before I started

Ton of fun!!!

J&B

PS: thought I saw the 1920's version of Mickey peaking around the corner.

Justifiably proud, I'd say. A rollicking good time.
Regards,
Leon

Tangmo,

"...a mix of craziness, danger, fun, fear and exhilaration." An apt description. Rollicking!

Kept my ears listening hard and very much enjoying all 90 seconds!!

Excellent mix. Good music. Creative.

fj

Wow, that was an exceptional musical concoction! Bloody brilliant. I can't get enough of it. And I am unable to wrap my head around how you created it. Well done!