So I turned 44. Now, this doesn't look like a big problem, except that for a musician like me, it's, well... the scary year of 4/4, which of course is the end of the universe as we know it, and not much to live for anymore. And maybe as atonement for my rhythmic extravaganzas of the past, a strange thought popped up in my mind: let's write a composition strictly in 4/4, but let's give it a twist: let's write one bar per day. No more, no less. A total of 365 4/4 bars, a year long purgatory to exorcise all my past odd-time signature indulgences.

And after sharing a laugh with some friends about this silly idea, something odd happened: I started. A quiet calm voice whispered in my fantasy: "do it". And not so much as a silly/funny thing, more like an experiment, or an adventure, or a question. What happens if...? My thinking mind of course had a few instant judgements: "that's a ridiculous idea", "it's impossible/absurd/frustrating to compose that way", "365 days is a very long time", and so on. But I'm getting better at rolling my eyes at it when it goes that way, and so it was decided: let's do this, let's write a composition, one 4/4 bar a day, for a year.

And what about sharing it as it develops? That sounded interesting too. My intention is to post every Sunday, seven new bars at a time. I'll upload an mp3 of the whole composition up to that point (the sound will come directly from my notation software, please take it as an approximation), and the score for those who are curious. I think this will be fun, and interesting, and weird. Right up my alley. :)

But today is a bit special, a single bar, the first bar, the one that has no context but boundless possibilities. Like learning the first word of a new language. Like meeting a complete stranger for the first time. Like stepping out of the airport in a new city. What ripples will this generate? I'm in for the ride, and you're welcome to join me. This is Cataclysm.

Cataclysm, day 186.77 KB

:)

Score: Cataclysm, day 1

PS: Spoiler alert: this will not really really be 4/4... but you know that time signature is not real anyway, right?