Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Palm Tree Symphony

I recall a story I heard once on NPR -- perhaps one of my fabulous artist readers will remember it too, and fill in the details. A Los Angeles artist (or maybe a musician, or maybe a photographer) took pictures of the palm trees lining major streets in the city. He would place each image over a scale and then use the melody mapped out by those palms to compose pieces of music, each one named after the street where the images were snapped.

I'd love to hear what this song sounds like. (It would be named "Huntington Drive.")

17 comments:

Judy Williams said...

What a novel and outstanding idea. I can kind of site read and find a melody in them but just getting lost in the treetops is enough for now. What a beautiful day!!!

Sorry I've been absent - trying to catch up and clean up after Christmas.

xoxoxo

Sharon said...

There is something about those really tall palms against a bright blue sky, isn't there? Very nice.

Anonymous said...

The 1963 movie "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" used the configuration of palm trees as seen from a particular location to advance the plot. The music of the trees...

Yakpate said...

A want a sofa-sized reproduction of this photo to install in my home. I will look at it whenever I seek inspiration, or want to remind myself that, yes indeed, I DO live in California! The soaring optimism of this image resonates with my soul... and Randy Newman would like it too!

From the South Bay to the Valley
From the West Side to the East Side
Everybody's very happy
'Cause the sun is shining all the time
Looks like another perfect day

I love L.A. (We love it)
I love L.A. (We love it)

Dixie Jane said...

Laurie, where I grew up in deep South Texas there are palm trees exactly like these, especially in one particular area. Most people don't equate palm trees with Texas at all. But where I grew up we had them, plus citrus groves and the original pink grapefruit came from there. A grower noticed a limb of a grapefruit tree with fruit of a pinkish tint, he grafted it and the whole pink/ruby red grapefruit industry was born.

I know that has nothing to do with the subject today but I have also noticed this with birds perched on a wire. It would be interesting to hear the tune made by both.

Mister Earl said...

Looks like Stairway to Heaven to me. Either that or All You Need is Love.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Wayne said...

If I were more paranoid I'd think I was being taunted.

I can't read music so it could be Chopsticks or California Dreamin' and I wouldn't know.

Petrea Burchard said...

It's a great idea! Some bass chords, topped by mid-range power, followed by tinkly high notes. I think. It might be a lead-in to something dramatic.

Eki said...

Yess! Those palms look like music notes. I wonder how they translate into music (I'm not a good reader of musical notes, unfortunately.)

Beautiful, Laurie.

dbdubya said...

I don't read music either, but I think the song is "Oh Happy Day."

San Diego Farmgirl said...

Ooh, I want a print of this over my sofa, too!

dbdubya said...

Hey Washaw, Mad, Mad, Mad World was one of my favorite movies as a kid. I remember Jimmy Durante saying, as he lay dying in the desert, "It's buried under the big dubya, the big dubya." I believe it was Spencer Tracy's last film.

Laurie Allee said...

Hi everyone!

I must add that It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World is one of my favorite movies, too. If you haven't seen it -- rent it immediately. The technicolor world of that movie will make you remember being a kid again, and the story is madcap and fun and escapist.

Thanks for humming along with my musical trees today! Until tomorrow...

Becky said...

I have NEVER heard of that before, but I think it is one of the most awesome things I've ever heard. What a fantastic artistic idea! I'd love to hear some of that music. It would be fun to take a drive through parts of California and listen to the street's song as you drove along. Wonderful!

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