On the 1st January 2021, as we entered a period of deep cold here in Drumballyroney, my family and I visited a local lake and were enchanted to discover that we could 'play' the newly frozen lake like a musical instrument by throwing/skimming broken pieces of ice over the surface of the lake! On New Year's Day the ice was just an inch thick and easily broken. The surface was watery and the thrown ice kept moving easily.
You can watch (and listen!) to a video of this happening below.
As a person who is constantly inspired by the landscape and nature, the musical nature of the lake felt especially magical to me and I was particularly intrigued by the pitch the lake seemed to emit. As the broken ice travelled towards the centre of the lake (now vibrating like a giant drum!), the pitch of the note appears to climb, ultimately 'resolving' around the note D.
For the duration of the first week of 2021 the frost deepened daily, and, inspired by a report that the ice was now 3 inches thick, we decided to pay another visit. Would the note played by this giant, natural membranophone have changed?
Approaching the lake it became obvious that things had changed a lot... There was no need to throw anything, because this musical lake was now making sounds all by itself! Have a listen for yourself.
After more than a week below zero, the lake was beginning to thaw, and as the ice began to thin and retreat, a new note was being produced - this time a G#! How interesting...
Sitting beside the groaning lake I felt as though I was seated once again beside a labouring woman, listening to her moans. As any midwife or doula will tell you, when those deep, uncontrollable noises begin, there is no going back. Whatever happens next, things are moving on, and a birth is around the corner!
Folks who have studied theoretical music will know that the distance from D to G# is three complete tones (six semitones). This is sometimes referred to as a 'Tritone'. For those of you with no musical understanding, bear with me here, because I think it's worth it...
Since at least the early C18th this interval has been referred to as: 'The Devil in Music' - due to it's dissonance and a perceived feeling of it being somehow dangerous; unpredictable, even uncontrollable! The notes of the tritone - when sounded together - can feel 'unresolved' and uncomfortable. They require a musical resolution, something that can happen in myriad ways; either by expansion, or by contraction of the interval.
There is another way of looking at the tritone too, which is (to my mind) complementary... That is to note that the distance between the notes D and G# (three whole tones) is also exactly half way up the octave distance between D and D.
It is the half-way point.
There is still a way to go, but the conclusion is inevitable. You are over the hump!
How wonderful to hear this tritone played out on this magical lake (which is the meeting place of four townlands) as we enter a new year! Imbolc is not far away, and inevitably Spring will come after that.
The tritone is, to my mind, a reminder from nature that the future can expand or it can contract... We are the music-makers, we are the dreamers of dreams, we are the singers and we can choose the song! For so many years anything dissonant, misunderstood or uncomfortable was given a 'diabolical' label. So with the tritone... Things must be bad, because they aren't comfortable! But just as labour is rarely a cakewalk, new beginnings are rarely easy or controllable.
So for me today - a musician, and a mother of three privileged to witness multiple births as a doula - this musical lake was a reminder for me to keep the faith... Things never stay as they are, they are bound (by natural law) to resolve.
I'd like to wish you all good health, fortitude, and a hopeful Imbolc!
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