One Track Mind :  “Scordatura” by the Rachel’s

Wesley Regis Conroy

Unlatching the crooked door, the snicker of a brawn steed welcomes me into the stable.  As her inviting, musket brown mane wavers in the playful wind, like an unconventional sonance, she seems, at first glance, insurmountable.  Though, bowing majestically, the advent of fear diminishes.  I slip my left foot gently into the saddle's stirrup, clutch the leather pommel with both hands, lunge myself up, throwing the other leg over her splendid girth and drop to the seat.  I am no equestrian.  I am certainly not dressed for the part. No matter, though. I place all trust in her mighty form, which proves that I am in for the ride of my life.  She trots from the confines of the petrified barn onto the hillside. All of a sudden, hell-for-leather, into the low hung clouds she begins to gallop, like piano mallets hammering away an alluring arpeggio.  The countryside quickly becomes a haze of pastoral tones.  Soon enough, the whole of my existence disintegrates.       
 
This twilight reverie was inspired by the song, "Scordatura," by Rachel's, a contemporary orchestral ensemble comprised of three core composers from Louisville, Kentucky. As I dug through my archive - weak and unsubstantial - of musical artists, I exhumed this particular group for their musical prowess.  Many of their recordings have been composed in tribute to famed artists and writers such as Egon Schiele and Pablo Neruda; they are also well sought after for soundtracks in productions by filmmakers, dance studios, and other stage companies. In fact, this particular song was exclusively composed for a series of short films, by filmmaker, Greg King.
What intrigued me most was the meaning of the word, scordatura. The Italian translation is, ''mistuning.'' Experimented with, roughly around the 17th century, by violinist and composer, Marco Uccellini, a repertoire of movements were written.  Obviously still in extensive use to this day, the technique has helped shape the infinite sequences of musical dexterity. Essentially, it allows musicians of stringed instruments to perform note arrangements that seem beyond all that is possible.

Having learned this, and listening attentively, I placed myself in some mystical plane, where the confines were seamless, ageless, pure, and innocent.  It was a place that I may have never been to before, only encompassing it upon gaining a deeper introspection of my own meager, theoretical understanding of music. Though "Scordatura" by Rachel's, is a brief rhythmic and melodious arpeggiation of notes that escape their respective instruments with rapture, I found myself repeating the song, again and again, enough times to facilitate an entire album.
When you strip the description of this song, or any song for that matter, all you get - according to your own perception - is pleasing or dissonant music, and simpler still, sound - air particle movement.  By combining raw, fundamental frequencies, the results are miraculous, no matter how they are conjured. As the disturbance of the atmosphere compresses and refracts into the canal of the ear and vibrates that tiny, mechanical, tympanic membrane, every volatile emotion becomes stimulated in a way that would otherwise seem impossible.

 

Wesley Regis Conroy is a 23-year-old emerging writer, born in Pittsburgh, PA. He lives in a triangular apartment in Bloomfield, where he enjoys taking walks and collecting buttons. Currently, Wesley is working on a novella and a series of short stories.

Illustration courtesy Dan Wyke © 2009, 2010