Project Proposal 3/3: GIANT STEPS and Tommy Flanagan

[Bryant Bolyen]

I've actually been mulling this one over all weekend because it's exciting and also a bit terrifying and possibly beyond the scope of our abilities as English/IT/Math students - but that kinda just makes me want to try it more.

Unless I'm mistaken, using music as a text in this class isn't often done.

This is John Coltrane's infamous Giant Steps:

(Markdown doesn't support embedding - click on the image for YouTube)

This song is legendary, and, under the hood, scary. Coltrane wrote a monster that's simultaneously in the keys of B, G and E flat (three tones separated major thirds that otherwise have nothing to do with each other); flies along at 300 bpm; and nearly killed Coltrane's friend - the godlike pianist Tommy Flanagan - during his solo their first time through in 1959:

This is the sound of a man in over his head.

There are numerous urban legends and old wives tales about what happened to Flanagan's solo in this take, but they all involve him being caught entirely off guard by the chord changes and tempo, either because he'd never seen the music before, or because he'd been practicing it as a ballad instead of something frenetic - which, if anything, kind of makes him even more legendary because he did a hell of a lot better than any other unprepared pianist would have, if only because he didn't spontaneously combust.

Flanagan redeemed himself (and then some) in a 1982 tribute to his now late friend, John Coltrane.

(Same deal, no embed - just an image link to YouTube)

While Flanagan takes Coltrane's place leading the band in the second recording, he still pulls out a solo he was prepared to improvise on top of these groundbreaking modulations.

Just listen to this by comparison.

So. How do we map these differences?

• Proposal
  Visualize the musical difference between Flanagan's solo in '59 with the solo and performance in '82. Track how the improvisations differ and what phrases are repeated, expanded upon, or exclusive in either recording. What larger changes does Flanagan make to Coltrane's original interpretation that alter the music as well, such as a slower tempo, etc.

• Text
  Giant Steps, John Coltrane, 1959; Giant Steps, Tommy Flanagan Trio, 1982. I'll try to get raw audio for both of these and have them available in mp3's, and then see what I can do about collecting some kind of transcription of either piano section.

• Many Many Additional Notes

oh boy.

I have three big goals/concerns:

• Organizing an efficient Schema that does not rely on any musical expertise to be used intelligently by a coder. (This is a creativity thing. I know it's doable.)

• Identifying, procuring, or creating some text adapted from these pieces of music that could be marked up in XML. (This is a technical thing. I have no idea where to start.)

• Marking up music in a way that's ultimately accurate and intelligible. (We'd be leaning heavily on senior instructors and Dr. B, I think.)

Another, minor concern is that, due to the topic being incredibly deep and itself academically rich by nature, my accreted music theory knowledge will probably be stretched to its limit. I have resources, friends, and contacts that I might be able to reach out to for additional support on this assignment, but if any UPG music faculty would be available for an interview or discussion, I'd very much appreciate the help as well.