04/14/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 104)

12 Moons Solo Project Day 104

Date: 04/14/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

Location: Rec Room of my family home. Edmonds, WA

Notes:

A specific region of the horn I’m exploring lately is the lower right hand stack clutch key.  When the notes F, E, D and F# are played this secondary clutch key is depressed, but there is no traditional fingering that allows it to close on its own.  The discoveries I’ve made so far are limited in application, because the key has more of a complimentary effect when put against other pitches rather than any jarring change–at least through what I’ve uncovered so far.  My improvisation today makes use of this key to create fluttering tones that combine with embouchure techniques to explore mid and upper range tones.   

I recorded this improvisation at a medium volume, trying to incorporate the key tones from the body of the horn as much as the played pitches themselves.  There is a static upper register Concert Eb to D that is created by trilling the clutch key with my right hand, and using the following fingering: 

(Left Hand) Fork F, A, G keys (Right Hand) trill the lower stack clutch key.  I also continuously trill the G key in the right hand, though at a much slower tempo than the trill maintained in the right.

My aim during this piece was to create a static universe with the continuous gesture, and to explore the upper tones at will.  About 2/3 through the improvisation there is an abrupt drop in octave and pitches.  This was done with my embouchure and not through any change in the fingering system.  I drop down once again near the end of the piece, though this time I worked to incorporate tones from the mid register as well.

-Neil

04/13/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 103)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 103

Date: 04/13/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

Location: Home studio in Clinton, WA

Notes:

Variation in tempo became a quick theme in my practice session today.  My 12 Moons project so far has focused heavily on multiphonics and other clustered tones, and I intentionally pushed for variation today.  In the duo Bad Luck, drummer Chris Icasiano and myself work on malleable time, where tempos can fluctuate smoothly or abruptly, but we have learned to respond to one another so well that the transitions feel very natural when doing them together.  Individually, today I decided to work with the abrupt sense of malleable time.  Instead of finding rhythmic subdivisions, I broke my freely performed melodies down into a tempo spectrum from slow to fast.

While practicing I began by arbitrarily moving from one tempo to another without an pre scripted number of notes within a given tempo.  I then decided to zone in on specific numbers of pitches, and began to get a sense of my control over different tempos.  I seemed to most easily hear the differences between slow, med slow, med, med fast, and fast.  When I tried to break these cycles down once again, for example adding a new tempo between slow and med slow, it became much more difficult to hear them in the moment.  When putting one against another it’s easier for me to execute than if, for instance in the moment I tried to move from “fast” to “med slow” to “between med slow and slow."  This was really enlightening for me, because if I was only limited to hearing "slow, med slow, med, med fast and fast,” this is the equivalent to only being able to hear the dynamics “pp, mp, p, mf, f,” which would limit the total spectrum so much.  This is ablsulutely something for me to work on in the future.

None the less, after performing this improvisation I did not meet my goal of having only 5 tempos, because at times I did explore a few more in between.  I account for this in that during the improvisation I would at times cluster tempos together, where I might explore the slower version of the spectrum versus the faster.  This naturally made me inclined to dig into the tempo variations a little deeper to find new ones in between.  However, I noticed that when moving between, for example fast to med slow, I tended to then move somewhere more predictable, say med fast, versus somewhere between fast and med fast.  I broke the melodies in this improvisation down into groupings of 8, 6, and 4, giving approximately equal time to each.

-Neil

04/12/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 102)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 102

Date: 04/12/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

My practice session today centered around cyclic patters with a consistent rhythm and fingering system that broke off into different sound-scapes.  In this improvisation the rhythmic cycle is 1 2 3 4 5 (rest).  It could also be interpreted by a listener as 1 e & a 2 (rest), though in the moment I thought of it as the former.  My goal was to freely explore different rhythmic, harmonic and melodic cycles that would emerge by changing my embouchure and air flow rather than changing fingering systems.  I tried to maintain a steady tempo, but there is a gradual slowing from start to finish in the piece that was unintentional. 

The fingering cycle was as follows: 

1.  (Left Hand) B-A-G keys, Octave, Low B // (Right Hand) E-D keys, High F#

2.  (Left Hand) B-A-G keys, Octave, Low B // (Right Hand) E-D keys (take away the High F#)

3.  (Left Hand) B-G keys, Octave, Low B // (Right Hand) E-D keys

4.  (Left Hand) B-A-G keys, Octave, Low B // (Right Hand) E-D keys (add back the A key)

5.  (Left Hand) B-A-G keys, Octave, Low B // (Right Hand) E-D keys, High F#

I focused on creating a variety of color at different levels of volume and mouth pressure.  It’s also of note to say that I tried to free my mind of the rhythm cycle I was playing in.  Since it was static, I instead tried to focus on the polyrhythms  and melodic counterpoint within the sound-scapes.

-Neil

04/11/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 101)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 101

Date: 04/11/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

This improvisation is a celebration in sound.  I had the day off today, the first day completely free of any obligations I’ve had in a very long time.  I planed for this day well in advance, as many of my students are on spring break.  Along the way many temptations came up, including my record label Spring fundraiser and several students that asked to take lessons over their break.  The only person that seemed to give me any grief was myself.  

I woke early and decided that today was dedicated to my garden.  I spent 8 hours in the front yard digging up grass, pounding out the moist earth from dirt clods, reburying earth worms, building planter boxes, raking soil and hauling dirt.  The air was cool and mild.  I talked with my neighbors and was kept company by my dog.  It was a joyous day.

I recorded this improvisation in the mid point of the day when I couldn’t resist the temptation to practice any longer.  This piece, like so many others, translated very differently to recording than my own perception of it in the room.  I feel the recording lacks the breadth of sound and resonance of the chords as the cycles undulate.  However, for the purposes of this project I take it as it lays. The cycles created in this improvisation move around a central fingering: (Left Hand) B-A-G keys, Low B, Octave // (Right Hand) F key, Low C.  At the outset of the piece I improvise a cyclic pattern and sustain the root fingering, allowing to to wobble.  Going forward I began to explore various elements of the chords produced, including upper resigner sustained single tones and split tones. I intentionally tried to produce a variation between more of a free-blowing, wild sound, and a more controlled and subdued sound.  This naturally made me feel inclined to explore wide variations in dynamics.  

-Neil