‘for what is illimitable, great secret sea, shoreless ocean of light, ocean, that awaits exploration.’
(hugo manning – the secret sea – villiers london, 1962)

the atlantic cable – a musical collaboration
graphic score & associated sound pieces based on the atlantic cable of 1858.
a collaboration between  ‘being’ (russell burden) & ‘the humble bee’ (craig tattersall) interpreting a graphic score in two directions using two different tonal registers.
completing the project is a third piece that combines the two directions into one mixed by ‘tape loop orchestra’ (andrew hargreaves)

publisher: wist records, ireland, 28 Nov 2016, edition of 110 –  wist rec 022
brendon moore review: fluid radio
key: a♭
tempo: 120bpm
length: 1914 miles = 19 mins 14 secs = 578 bars
sounding chart: 1857 h.m.s. cyclops. soundings made by lieut. dayman for the laying of the atlantic cable

cable details:

the first cable tests
1845 – ship to ship (portsmouth harbour)
1849 – ship to shore (folkestone)
1850 – between countries (dover to calais)
all in all over 50 tests were made before thje laying of the atlantic cable of 1858.

the first transatlantic message
the first contact from the west was on the 13th August and was returned from the east on the 16th August, it read: ‘europe and america are united by telegraphy. glory to god in the highest, on earth peace, goodwill towards men’

the cables lifespan
edward orange wildman whitehouse, the head electrician of the atlantic telegraph company decided that a high current was required to transmit signals through the newly laid cable, his decision was eventually to lead to the catastrophic failure of the cable. after the queen’s speech and the president’s speech were delivered the cable delivered spasmodic communications, the last full message was delivered on September 1st 1858 beyond which only fragmented contact was established until on October 28th 1858 when the cable was to be deemed to be a lost cause.

title: west to east
artist: being (russell burden)

west to east score direction
(transcript: morse encoding of the president’s speech)

west to east score register
g 4 • f 4 • e♭4 • d♭4 • c 4 • b♭3 • a♭3 • g 3 • f 3 • e♭3

west to east score intervals
designated (in bars) and nearest respective notes per depth sounding from trinity bay, newfoundland to valencia, ireland.
0 • 55 • 66 – 74 • 81 • 89 • 98 • 190 • 122 • 139 • 151 • 165 • 180 • 196 • 208 • 224 • 239 • 256 • 270 • 284 • 259 • 305 • 320 • 340 • 362 • 384 • 398 • 413 • 428 • 442 • 457 • 476 • 488 • 502 • 511 • 514 • 578

west to east morse encoding
e♭5 – 622.25hz – 5wpm
b♭4 – 466.16hz – 6wpm
g 4 – 392hz – 7wpm
e♭4 – 311.13hz – 8wpm
c 4 – 261.63hz – 9wpm

sound sources
audio morse generator
field recordings
bowed bass
synth
melodica
kalimba
piano

title: east to west
artist: the humble bee (craig tattersall)

east to west score direction
(transcript: morse encoding of the queen’s speech)

east to west score register
g # • b♭ • c • c # • e♭ • f • g • g # • b♭• c

east to west score intervals
designated (in bars) and nearest respective notes per depth sounding from valencia, Ireland to trinity bay, newfoundland:
0 • 65 • 78 • 85 • 102 • 113 • 131 • 138 • 152 • 162 • 173 • 190 • 203 • 228 • 245 • 266 • 278 • 282 • 296 • 308 • 327 • 336 • 357 • 370 • 390 • 405 • 422 • 432 • 447 • 462 • 482 • 492 • 495 • 510 • 512 • 523 • 578

east to west morse encoding
c – 130.81hz – 5.1 wpm
c# – 138.59 and 277.18hz – 5.1 wpm
e♭ – 155.56hz – 5.1 wpm
f – 174.61hz – 5.1 wpm
g – 196.00hz – 5.1 wpm
g# – 103.83 and 207.65hz – 5.1 wpm
b♭ – 116.54 and 233.08hz – 5.1 wpm

sound sources
audio morse generator
field recordings
harmonium
dark energy
synth
tape loops

title: eastwestwesteast – (a mix of ‘west to east’ & ‘east to west’ with additional processing)
artist: andrew hargreaves (tape loop orchestra)