02/03/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 34)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 34

Date: 02/03/2013
Instrument: Tenor saxophone
Location: Home studio in Clinton, WA (Whidbey Island

Notes:

This was a pre-dawn improvisation today, and I woke up feeling an impulse to work with a familiar technique. Part of my daily practice routine involves singling pitches and matching this pitch on the saxophone. I work on singing from the bottom-most note on the horn (low Bb) to a high F with accurate pitch. I find that this helps to strengthen my mind towards a goal of hearing each note on my horn as though it were coming from my own voice. The next step in this process was for me to begin singing pitches while I played. My improvisation today uses this technique.

My goal in this improvisation was not to sing with crystal clear intonation, but instead to kind of create an atmosphere of pliable unison pitches. The idea here being that at times I lock into the intonation, but have the flexibility to bend the pitch towards the next note my mind feels like exploring. I begin this improvisation with unison pitches and then briefly enter into a small period of harmony. After having sung and played a pitch, I hold onto this fingering while singing a new note. I would then move to the pitch that I had sung. This is an amazing process, as the mind is forced to think of a number of pitches at the same time: the pitch you are singing, the fingering needed to produce the same pitch, then the harmony between the pitch you are sining and pitch you are playing, and finally to match the fingering of the pitch you are now singing. This is a kind of mental labrynth that seems to take me deeper every time I explore it.

-Neil

02/02/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 33)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 33

Date: 02/02/2013
Instrument: Tenor saxophone
Location: Home studio in Clinton, WA (Whidbey Island)

Notes:

As a student of music, I often set out on a blind path to find new sounds and colors on my horns. I often make an irregular fingering and then manipulate my embouchure, or experiment with opening and closing every key on the horn. In this way, I slowly build a new kind of saxophone vocabulary for myself on a daily basis. My improvisation today uses one of these recent discoveries.

I used the following fingering: (Right Hand) Palm F (played with the pinky) octave key and Middle C // (Left Hand) trilling the low F key. I put my right hand into a very irregular position to perform the trill, with my hand straight out and my fingers bent down at about a 45 degree angel. In this position I can execute an extremely fast trill in a very controlled way. 

As with my improvisation yesterday, I explored this new fingering by focusing on the natural imbalance between the created pitches. In the upper register the ringing of the tone holes and the fast pulses of pitches around the high C are very clear. When I take the octave key away the middle C becomes the absolute focus of sound, and the tone hole ringing and sound pulses becomes extremely quiet but still there none the less. During this improvisation I begin with no tongue articulation, and as I gradually incorporate this the articulation becomes a greater focus of sound as well.

-Neil

02/01/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 32)

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12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 32

Date: 02/01/2013
Instrument; Tenor saxophone
Location: Home studio in Clinton, WA (Whidbey Island)

Notes:

Multiphonics and tone clusters are possible over nearly the full span of the saxophone’s range. This excludes the bottom-most pitches, which generally must be played as overtones in order to create multiple pitches. Some of the pitches within these overtones and multiphonics speak very clearly, while others have a more muted sound. Some have tones that speak at uneven volumes. One particular pitch will be noticeably louder or quitter than the others. Today I worked with a multiphonic that works with this imbalance.

This multiphonic has a clear 6th interval in it, as well as a whole step below this sixth. This consonant chord was very beautiful to my ears, and by carefully opening and closing particular keys I created flutters, patterns, swipes and glides throughout different pitches in and around the chord. There was also a quarter step high “concert E” that acted as a drone. Although this pitch is not as present as many of the tones above it, its seclusion in the lower range and its wonderful muted quality actually makes it very audible. 

While playing improvisations of this sort, I’m often thinking about how the chord affects how I pace a piece of music. This chord and even all the elaborations I made to it felt to me very still despite all the activity. If felt like watching a bird traverse a fixed sky. A great deal of motion over an open plane of sight to frame it.

-Neil

Feb 15th. Twelve Tiny Explosions release

The new solo saxophone album by Neil Welch.  Hand made packaging.  Local release on Table and Chairs  Music.  Available here on February 15th

Friday, February 15th @ the Good Shepherd Center
Chris Icasiano solo drums to open
$5-15 sliding scale cover.  $15 includes show + cd