For now I'm just pleased as punch to have gotten myself a little toy keyboard ... what I wouldn't give to have that old piano back that I had so very long ago!
Even so, just getting the melody planted into my head, at least the order of the notes, is a step in the right direction.
It's been a long time since I've done anything musical (it's not my forte) except sing along when there's a song playing that I know and like, so it's a change of pace for me. Will I even remember full, half, quarter, eighth notes? Hopefully it will all come back to me as I go along.
At any rate, lest I lose my train of thought, and the sequence of the notes, here are the introductory 'notes' of PHI, with 1 being middle C just because it's easiest for me ... they're also arranged, for the moment, into sets of four, for the same reason.
1618
0339 8874
9894
8482 0458
6834
3656 3811
*laughing*
I found a site and copied the sequence as far as said site took it - 37 pages solid of random numbers, barely a drop in the bucket of the infinity of PHI.
I'll be doing good just to get these first 36 memorized, along with the notes I've assigned to them.
Then will come the fun part - arranging them in a melody with variations in tempo and note lengths and all that stuff I don't have the right language for but will recognize the combination/s when I hear it/them.
Trust me on that.
Rather, trust our Characters because this after all THEIR SONG. They might be MY song, but even that isn't a given as the Mother has first claim always. Either way, the Song of PHI is the Song of our Characters, and of our world when it comes right down to it.
My sister reminded me that according to archaeological and historic records the musical instruments of 'back in the day' would not have had our eight note musical scale ... but for our purposes that doesn't matter. For one thing it's fiction and our Characters are clever souls. Plus the only instrument we ever have involved in the Song is the Queen Harp whose strings can produce any sound she wants. And vocals have always had a huge range. So there you have it. The Song of Phi is timeless.
We're going to do our best to weave it into something that's hauntingly beautiful, and dangerous.
The only thing that's not negotiable is the order of the notes - because that's like the most immutable Law of our world.
For the rest, we shall see what we shall see.
For the SONG itself, the arrangement has to lend itself to being a repeated melody suitable for being sung in rounds by eight different Voices.
Mamm's Voice begins with her Song of Choice. She is a soprano.
Next comes Danann with the Spiral. He is a bass.
Sidhelagh Sings of Peace. Her Voice is second soprano.
Alianora and Drustann Sing of Faith - first soprano and tenor.
Sass Sings of Healing - she is a contralto. When Thann comes into the Story Line, he's a bass.
Caileen and Talorc Sing of Hope - alto and whatever's between tenor and bass.
Aine and Kalann sing of Love - they are second soprano and tenor.
Ullin of Iona Sings of Unity with the Queen Harp - his Voice is bass; hers is whatever she wants it to be.
So we've got all these Voices coming into the round as the SONG progresses.
That there are no words helps. All we have to do is make sure the notes don't clash.
AND we can range the Voices per part by octave. Mamm will go an octave above middle C while Danann will be an octave below. Hypothetically. Once I get my hands on a full piano keyboard I can at least do some fiddling and see if it's going to even be possible. Because the notes repeat randomly, it might be *difficult* to find a place for the Voices to come into the melody without causing discord.
Ah well.
The quest is on for a Theme Song for SONG.
