12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 288
Date: 10/15/2013
Instrument: Tenor saxophone
Location: The orchestra room at Chief Sealth International High School. Seattle, WA
Notes:
In today’s improvisation I reached for a sound area to suit my mental and physical state throughout the day. What started as a slight cold a few days ago has now evolved to include more physical discomfort, with a very sore throat, plugged up ears and nose, and the standard aches and pains that come with a bad cold. Despite this I feel grateful this is only the first time during the 12 Moons project that I’ve been sick in any way.
Because it’s often available in the afternoon, I greeidly waited to record in the main performance hall. Unfortunately classes were taking place in the rooms adjacent to the hall that made focusing and capturing a good piece difficult for me. I decided to record in the more controlled, sterile environment of the orchestra room. During this improvisation I used continuous vibrato with a series of mulitphonics. I chose multiphonics with complimentary chordal motions to create a darker mood. These chords also allowed pitches to speak with isolation, and throughout the improvisation I pulled a variety of these tones out. I heard the Concert E as the primary drone pitch in the piece however, and it became a touchstone to develop, devolve from and return too. I used 4 fingerings during this piece, each played with continuous vibrato at a fairly steady pace of oscillation.
Multiphonic 1 (open the improvisation)
(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Octave // (Right Hand) 2-3
Multiphonic 2 (first appears at :29)
(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Octave // (Right Hand) 2-3, Side F#
Multiphonic 3 (first appears at 1:10)
Multiphonic 4 (first appears at 2:22)
(Left Hand) 1-2-3, // (Right Hand) 2-3. This fingering was the same as Multiphonic 1, but without the octave key.
*At the end of the improvisation, kids at the high school can be heard in the hallway outside the room as they walked by.*
-Neil
The image “The Storm” accompanying today’s post by Richard Janthur (1913).