Colorado’s new 748 area code is here. Here’s a new song about it

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2min 55sec
A man in a teal shirt sits at a computer and sound board with a phone up to his ear
Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
Audio engineer Pedro Lumbraño sits at the Colorado Matters control board for a portrait. That land line? Nobody uses that. He posed with it. “Hey, pick up the phone,” the photographer said.

They need more telephone numbers in Fort Collins, Grand Junction, and Vail. So the Colorado Public Utilities Commission approved a new area code. The area code 748 will overlap the existing 970 region.

Full-scale rollout won’t happen until late next year, but a new musical track — inspired by dial tones — is debuting today, and it just so happens to be Colorado Day, when Colorado became a state in 1876.

Pedro Lumbraño is a sound engineer at Colorado Public Radio and a talented composer. His previous work includes the theme to CPR’s newest podcast, “Colorado Today.”

We asked him to turn 748 into song. Here it is. And if you want to download it, you can do it here.

Untitled 748 by Pedro Lumbraño

“It was interesting to sit down with the concept of an area code and try to make associations,” he mused on the unconventional request.

“I started with choosing those numbers and found out quickly that pitches on the phone are out of tune. So I had to go into my music software and put them inside the Western scale,” Lumbraño added.

He mixed in human voices for warmth and depth.

And without further ado, we invite you to click and enjoy the minute-long “Untitled 748.” Heck, make it your ringtone!