12 Moons solo saxophone project (Day 6)
Date: 01/06/2013
Instrument: Tenor Saxophone
Location: The Aurora bridge at 50th and Aurora
Notes:
I spent the day teaching throughout Seattle and found myself at the corner of 50th and Aurora after a rehearsal this afternoon. I decided to capture this urban environment by recording a piece in two channels, with the first channel capturing the saxophone and the second capturing the afternoon commuter traffic.
In tandem with a piece I recored on January 4th, I decided to utilize high action and space. On January 4th the space between my playing was punctuated with relative silence in my practice studio. Today this space was filled with the hum and roar of cars, trucks and busses in an urban environment. In this piece I again utilize only a single combination of fingerings, but create squeals and squawks with adjustments in pressure in my embouchure.
Battles - Atlas (by WarpRecords)
01/05/2013 (12 Moons Project Day 5)
12 Moons solo saxophone project
Date: 01/05/2013
Location: Home Studio (Clinton, WA)
Instrument: Tenor saxophone
Notes:
I woke up in a sober, thoughtful state of mind this morning. I practiced for at least a few hours before this piece came to me. I deeply love the quiet harmonic worlds that can be created on the saxophone, and this piece focused on trying to capture a particular mood my horn felt like exploring. I focused on two chords, the first of which can be played and held steady with a single fingering–this is the opening “minor” chord. However, the second “major” chord I play cannot be executed by only a single fingering; it must be played by partially and quickly opening and closing a separate key. Even though the two chords are complimentary in a harmonic sense, their execution requires two very different approaches.
Amazingly, playing these two chords creates two separate beat divisions. The first “minor chord” is in a “duple” or 2 beat feel, where the second “major” chord is in a “triple” or three beat feel. I tried to elaborate on this during the improvisation by opening and closing the same keys for both chords. At other times I used flutter-tonging to explore the possibilities of these two subdivisions.
With all this said above, he horn spoke to me and guided me towards what to play and how to capture my sate of mind this morning.
-Neil Welch
01/04/2013 (12 Moons solo saxophone Day 4)
12 Moons solo saxophone project
Date: 01/04/2013
Location: Home studio (Clinton, WA)
Instrument: tenor saxophone
Notes:
I began the day by working on a new composition for a small, six piece ensemble to be performed at an upcoming Racer Session (visit www.racersessions.com) later in January. In that composition I wrote a simple, 3 note theme which I will then re-interpret for each member of the ensemble. In this way I will have 6 pieces composed specifically for these ensemble members, but I still retain compositional cohesion overall by using using the 3 pitches as the fulcrum of all the melodic material.
My solo piece today was inspired by the above work. This morning I was fascinated by a particular multiphonic, which you will hear throughout this piece. In tandem with the “3 note” concept above, I used 3 different starting points on the instrument to create descending and fluttering chromatic gestures. I tried to stagger my level of activity in these descending gestures with the use of silence and this single multiphonic chord.
01/03/2013 (12 Moons Project Day 3) )
12 Moons solo saxophone project: 1/3/2013
Location: BOOM! Studios in Seattle, WA
Instrument: tenor saxophone
Notes:
Today was spent back in the studio for the first time in the New Year. I recorded âA Response to the Wednesday morning shoot at Café Racer, Seattle, WA 2012.â This piece is scored for solo tenor saxophone. With the weight of this music and subject matter on my mind, I began my first recording of the day with a 12 Moons improvisation.
This piece uses very tonal sounding multiphonics (split pitches) with a fixed position drone. The drone is a quarter step down from a concert Eb and is punctuated with mutiphonics and a melodic figure that I repeat at will. I slowly add new pitches to the melodic figure to create a machine-like, repetitive motion