Prana

Prana (प्राण, IAST: prāṇa) is a Sanskrit word that refers to a vital, life-sustaining force of living beings and vital energy in natural processes of the universe.

This melody was composed while i was sitting at the piano next to the TV.  It was September 11, 2001 early afternoon and i was watching coverage of the attacks on the world trade center that had taken place that morning.

I’m sure most of us remember the details of that day in detail.  I had just arrived at USM that morning and since i was early, i decided to go to the computer lab to check my email before class.  While i was doing so, some of my fellow music students turned on the television in the lab and we were all made aware of what was happening.  It was traumatic.  Some cried.  I was in quiet disbelief and shock.  Classes were cancelled and an emergency performance of Mozart’s requiem was scheduled for the afternoon.  I went home and spent the rest of the day with the TV on(rare at that point in my life), making phone calls, attending to household chores and writing this tune.

In hindsight, what i felt was not anger, patriotism ,or any of the many things that were talked about on the news shortly after that event.  It was more like a disturbance in the force, so to speak.

You see, I believe that there is a collective conciousness out there instead of the patriarchal God figure that i was raised to believe in.  I see it as an energy force that binds us all together.  It’s the reason that we feel for each other and the reason that the crossword seems easier when you give it another try the day after it’s published in the paper. That day i felt a million cries of pain of varying degrees ripple through that collective.

This tune is my tribute to the rest of humanity and my way of saying ‘i feel your pain and empathize with it.  You are not alone.’

Here is an Electric version in a different key:  prana

Here is the version played by the Uarts Jazz Ensemble:  Prana (take 2)

Theoretically, this song is an example of what i’ve come to call “Modal Cubism” or “Cubic Modality”…still working on that one.

Basically, this is my own personal way of playing improvised music.  In a nutshell, it means combining a modal approach to the melodic and harmonic material while using the number 12 for your rhythmic content.

A cube has 12 sides and if you divide 12 you get 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12.  For me, it’s a way of allowing any music that is in duple or triple time to exist in either time signature.

This song is intended for the groove to go back and forth between 2 and 3, although it is written in 3.  The melody is pretty much D aeolian, although others can be superimposed to imply other tonalities as may be indicated by the harmony.

This tune sounds really nice played in the higher register of the bass.

Here is the music: