Intermountain Underground (Original band version)
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Style: EDM (electronic dance music) groove Duration: 3:30 minutes Grade: 3 Designed for small high school band programs with limited instrumentation √ Play-along audio track |
PERUSAL SCORE
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PERFORMANCE AUDIO TRACK
Program Note
There you are sitting in band rehearsal and suddenly the ground starts shaking violently. With a thunderous explosion, a large underground transport vehicle the size of a cargo van with a huge drill on the front emerges through the floor. Everyone in the band watches in frozen astonishment as the vehicle hisses and opens up a side panel door. A hunched human-like creature with abnormally large eyes stands in front of a DJ table and begins to spin a track as a way of introducing himself and his underground civilization. At first the music of his race sounds unfamiliar since it has evolved separate from music of the surface humans for the last several hundred years. But slowly the off-kilter groove in 13/4 time gets your foot tapping, and the melodies from the superlocrian scale sound fresh and interesting, and before you know it, you are not only playing along, but stepping into the underground RV and heading down the tunnel to a subterranean dance club! You and all your band friends quickly meld your music into the pulsating rhythms to celebrate with your newfound underground friends!
There you are sitting in band rehearsal and suddenly the ground starts shaking violently. With a thunderous explosion, a large underground transport vehicle the size of a cargo van with a huge drill on the front emerges through the floor. Everyone in the band watches in frozen astonishment as the vehicle hisses and opens up a side panel door. A hunched human-like creature with abnormally large eyes stands in front of a DJ table and begins to spin a track as a way of introducing himself and his underground civilization. At first the music of his race sounds unfamiliar since it has evolved separate from music of the surface humans for the last several hundred years. But slowly the off-kilter groove in 13/4 time gets your foot tapping, and the melodies from the superlocrian scale sound fresh and interesting, and before you know it, you are not only playing along, but stepping into the underground RV and heading down the tunnel to a subterranean dance club! You and all your band friends quickly meld your music into the pulsating rhythms to celebrate with your newfound underground friends!
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Additional Note from the Composer This work was a true collaboration with the students of Intermountain Christian School (Salt Lake City, Utah). The seed for the idea of the piece came from this picture. It was sent from band director Nathan Hope, with the text, “I drove over to the school this afternoon... turns out something catastrophic happened and there’s no power or water. This is the main hallway in the school.” (It turns out workers had to cut into the floor and dig down to repair a broken pipe.) Looking at that hole, it is easy to imagine it leading into some vast underground cave system. The students and I thought about what it would be like to find out that an entire civilization had been living underneath the city for hundreds of years, completely cut off and separate from the “surface” society. What would their music sound like? How might it be different than our western classical music tradition? I am truly grateful to Nathan Hope and his students for their inspiring musical ideas as well as the creative story they helped me shape behind Intermountain Underground. |
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PURCHASE
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Purchase of score and parts will also include a link to download the performance audio track.
For all other payment arrangements, please email benjamintaylormusic@gmail.com
For all other payment arrangements, please email benjamintaylormusic@gmail.com
