02/20/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 51)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 51

Date: 02/20/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

Location: Home studio in Clinton, WA (Whidbey Island)

I spent the morning working on sustained pitches in the altissimo range of the upper register.  This is a difficult task on the saxophone and a small part of my daily practice routine.  A current goal of mine is to create a stable quarter tone fingering system from the lower register into this altissimo range.  In trying to find new fingerings for these quarter step pitches, I often stumble into new fingerings for traditional pitches, and my piece today uses two recent discoveries.

With the following fingering: (Left Hand) B and G keys, Octave // (Right Hand) F Key, Low C I am able to play a an alternate High F# (Concert E).  By then adding the Palm Eb key and adjusting my embouchure and air flow I can move this pitch to an altissimo C (Concert Bb).  This is an incredibly difficult motion to make, and is generally not well suited as a fingering combination to play melodically.  However, the two tones are very full and bright, and provide a very different timbral result.  

I performed this improvisation with a kind of bottled lightning approach–very short and to the point.  The piece uses only these two pitches along with an occasional interruption of a multiphonic.  This mulitphonic has an altissimo C in the upper part of its chord, and seemed a natural fit for this improvisation.  This chord is achieved by using the above Hight F# fingering: (Left Hand) B and G keys, Octave // (Right Hand) F Key, Low C and then adding the side F key.  This multiphonic seemed to only speak with a very loose embouchure and a direct air flow.  The two altissimo pitches in this piece however require a very firm embouchure and a direct air flow.

-Neil

02/19/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 50)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 50

Date: 02/19/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

Location: Cheif Sealth High School Performance Hall

Notes:

This morning I read an article in National Geographic about a variant gene called DRD4-7R, which scientists believe may lend the traits of restlessness and curiosity to nearly 20% of all humans.  The article goes on to tie the human need for exploration with the equally important human trait of tool use.  When I went into the performance hall at Chief Sealth today, a snare drum was sitting on the stage and I decided to make use of this unique tool.

During this improvisation I took a great deal of care to eliminate any breathiness in my sound.  I selected a reed that allowed me to get as pure a tone as possible.  I positioned the mic to capture my horn and the snare at an equal distance.  The overtones and sheer bulkiness of the tenor sound easily make the snare hiss, but I tried to work with textures that dug a little deeper than this.  I was intrigued by the subtle buzzing sounds that resonated in the drum, as well as the slight differences in the sound waves when I would open or depress new keys.   

I centered this piece around a Concert C, which I found to resonate in the snare in a very unique way compared to the other pitches on my horn.  This note seemed to be more muted and stuffy than any other pitch I played into it.  I also introduced a Concert Db in the upper register about a quarter the way into the improvisation.  I later went on to add a multiphonic that also spoke a Concert Db at its highest point, and I began to explore further pitches in a more melodic fashion.  

-Neil

02/18/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 49)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 49

Date: 02/18/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone 

Location: Home studio in Clinton, WA (Whidbey Island)

Notes:

Last night at the Racer Sessions (racersessions.com), a Seattle-based avant garde series, I had an excellent discussion with my friend Lauren Imbrock.  Lauren asked me what idea I’m currently working on in my improvisations, and my immediate response was the idea of slowly revealed truth.  In my own playing I’ve noticed this concept coming up over and over again.  For example, I often find a multiphonic and pre-plan some kind of sound manipulation with it.  I might have a good idea of what the final result of the fingering will produce, but I will only play a part of the chord and choose the best time to begin introducing the remainder of the chord.  I decided to run with this concept in my improvisation today. 

When I open the High F# key and move between what would normally be my Middle C and Middle B fingerings, a muted Concert D and a muted Concert D (slightly flatter and even more muted) will be produced.  On Middle B fingering with the High F#, a multiphonic is possible but only wants to produce with a good amount of embouchure pressure.  When going between the two notes and beginning to allow the multiphonic to speak, the muted Concert D and second muted Concert D still continue to play beneath it.  

As the piece progresses, I begin introducing a second multiphonic, produced by adding to Low F# key to the fingering action already taking place.  However, with this new fingering the two Concert D’s sound virtually the same.  Again, my idea here was to begin a new phase in the composition without the listener having known about it.  Other tones, such as the Concert D high octave begin to come into the sound field as well.  I also tried to control the balance in volume between the two multiphonic fingerings and the two Concert D’s being played beneath them.  Finally, breathing was on the forefront of my mind during this piece.  Generally I only played a phrase as long as a single breath would allow, but I would occasionally take a breath when I felt like the phrase ought to be able to continue.

-Neil

02/17/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 48)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 48

Date: 02/17/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

Location: Office storage room on 45th avenue.  Seattle, WA 

Notes:

From the loudest possible guttural sounds to the quietest closing of a key cup, I find solace in exploring the extremes of my instrument and the control of my body while playing.  My practice session today felt very scattered and unsettled, namely one of those inevitable days where I found it difficult to walk away feeling positive about my efforts.  This project does not allow me to put the horn away without having explored a concrete idea, and thankfully the music offered itself to me towards the end of my session.  

This improvisation explores consonant chords and a simple, somber melody.  This particular improvisation could only be created at a whisper soft volume, with a great deal of air and a loose but focused embouchure.  The breathiness of my horn and the crackles from my saliva are as much a part of the music as are the notes themselves.  The simple melodies explored in this piece use the concert pitches Eb-Db-Eb-E (middle register) as well as B-Bb-B-C#-B (upper register).  With the chords that accompany these melodies there is also melodic counterpoint that introduces consonant pitches into the harmony.  I tried to maintain an even-keeled balance in volume with the initial melodic content, and to allow new tones to enter as they or I saw fit to do so.

-Neil