05/05/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 125

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 125

Date: 05/05/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone 

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

Notes:

I recorded just after dawn this morning, on a clear, bright morning.  I decided to work with complimentary multiphonics mixed with tempered pitches to create a chord progression and melody.  I recorded several interpretations of this improvisation before finding the correct interpretation that met my mood on this bright new day.  The improvisation centers on 3 primary sounds (in the tenor key) : a low F#, F#/C# multiphonic, and a D/E multiphonic.  I used the bottom most F# tone as a springboard for action, and the two multiphonics above it as the harmonic accompaniment.  

There was an intuitive central pulse to the piece, which was the rhythm 1–e(&)–a, however I viewed the first beat as being extremely malleable in time and phrasing and would bend it throughout the improvisation.  I would articulate this low F# at will, often following the model of slow to fast articulation.  The minor 3–2–1 melodic phrase with the pitches A–G#–F# was added more as an ornamentation to the overall gesture.

The fingerings in the tenor key were:

(Left Hand) B-A-G keys, Low B // (Right Hand) E-D keys

Notes: F#

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

Notes: F#,  C# (Quarter step sharp) 

(Left Hand) Fork F, A-G keys, Octave, Low B // (Right Hand) E-D keys

Notes: D (Quarter step sharp) E

The pitches A-G#-F# were fingered with traditional fingerings.

-Neil

05/04/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 124)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 124

Date: 05/04/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

My improvisation today is a singular phrase with three primary components, and one secondary component, for a total of four gestures.  After struggling with my reeds this morning I came upon one that had a resonance to it that helped me to gain a full, direct tone.  This piece was the coming together of both my artistic interest and the mechanics of my tool.  The improvisation was performed at a steady tempo throughout, with only modest dynamic shaping that ebed into the low end of volume rather than the high.

The improvisation uses three fingerings, each capable of producing a “false” unison tone but also capable of sounding a secondary tone below.  I chose to limit the secondary tone to the highest of the three fingerings, the concert B.  On all the pitches I used the false tone to help punctuate each strong beat by swallowing the sound on the off beat.  I tried to perform the improvisation without any real fanfare, but instead a very direct performance approach that relied on the beauty of the melody itself versus the shaping of it.  The fingerings, in the tenor key were are follows:

Middle octave Bb: finger the common low Bb pitch but play the first overtone (an octave above), then open and close the middle C key in the left hand.

Middle octave B: finger the common low B pitch but play the first overtone (an octave above), then open and close the middle C key in the left hand.

Middle Octave C#: finger the common low C# pitch but play the first overtone (an octave above), then open and close the B key in the left hand.  

On this pitch I occasionally create a fourth sound, which is the C# on the strong beats and a split-tone B/C# on the off beats.  This was done with the same middle octave C# fingering above, with with an adjustment of the embouchure.

-Neil

The painting “Onement I” by artist Barnett Newman (1948)

05/03/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 123)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 123

Date: 05/03/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

Today’s improvisation focused on the theme of persistence.  Most days I work through a regular practice routine that involves traditional techniques–scales, arpeggios, chromatic movements, melodic exercises, overtones, etc. before delving into extended technique.  Today however I found myself with less time to practice and little desire to move through my routine.  Instead, I decided to freely play a variety of gestures in repetition until coming upon a cycle that my mind felt an impulse to grab onto.  The result was a four-part gesture performed at medium-slow tempo, and extremely fast tempo.

I came upon this gesture while improvising motives at a quick tempo, and once I stumbled upon it I decided to explore at various points between extremely fast and extremely slow.  I was the most interested in the results found at the fastest possible tempo and at the medium-slow tempo.  From this point I decided to run the tape and explore at these two tempos.  I had not pre-planned to play the medium-slow motive for such a long duration.

The fingerings and select pitches from each of the four gestures are as follows:

Fingering 1.  (Left Hand) B-A-G keys, Palm D, Low Bb // (Right Hand) F-E-D keys, Low C 

In ascending order and in the tenor key this created the pitches: C# D, F (quarter step sharp) A#

Fingering 2.  (Left Hand) B-A-G keys, Palm D, Low Bb // (Right Hand) F-E keys 

In ascending order this created the pitches: E (quarter step sharp) C#, A#

Fingering 3.  (Left Hand) B-A-G keys, Palm D, Low Bb

In ascending order this created the pitches: C#, D#, A#

Fingering 4.   (Left Hand) B-A keys, Palm D, Low Bb

In ascending order this created the pitches: D (quarter step flat)

-Neil

The painting “Who Doesn’t Put on a Face” by Georges Roualt (1922)

05/02/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 122)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 122

Date: 05/02/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

Location: Practice Room B at South Whidbey High School.  Langley, WA (Whidbey Island)

Notes:

This improvisation was a response to my environment this afternoon.  I found myself at South Whidbey High School with about 15 minutes between students, in an otherwise back to back day of teaching.  I walked out of the practice room into the hallway.  In the choir room to my left a few students were practicing congas, in a separate practice room a kid was escaping an assembly by hiding in the corner with his headphones on, and in the band room a group of students was listening to a lecture and Bach organ piece hugely amplified–enough to fill a space twice its size.  I considered my surroundings, the controlled nature of a classroom, the raw intensity of a kid hiding from obligation, and two people exploring new art together.  My response was an attempt to bridge the gap between everything around me.  

I performed this piece at high volume, focusing on a two-part form, the first being a descending gesture that ended on a low tone, and the second a swiping exploration of a single pitch.  In the descending figure, I used various fingerings to create an indeterminate high pitch and descended to a low Bb fingering, all the while screaming into the horn.  For the second element of the form, I played the same low Bb fingering but spoke the first overtone, which is the Bb an octave higher.  I used single, double and flutter tonging to explore a swiping motion of sound.

Also of note today, from the moment I left the house I was convinced I had the flu.  I fought it all morning and when I recorded this improvisation I decided to use it as voodoo to ward off the sickness.  I walked out of the room without a trace of it.

-Neil

The image accompanying todays post is a hurricane as seen from the International Space Station.

05/01/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 121)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 121

Date: 05/01/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

Hummingbirds have been flying around my yard all day in a concentration I’ve never seen before.  They have a very distinctive chirp that sounds like a high pitched electic dental drill being turned on and off.  When they come within a few feet their rapid wing flapping is a sound unlike any other.  But in a large concentration of five to six, which was the case in my yard today, the combination of wing fluttering and chirps created an amazing pallatte of sound.  This interplay inspired my improvisation today.  

During this piece I used a single fingering gesture that created a lower series of repeated tones and a high ceiling of sound exploration.  The lower “wing” sounds were created throughout the piece, including a middle octave E, which was static and had a muted and buzzing quality to it.  The other recurring lower tones (lower being relative here) were the alternating high octave pitches F and D.  Above this I explored tone colors, their interplay with one another and the recurring sounds beneath them.  In these “chirping” sounds I would at times repeat specific discoveries or explore indeterminately.  In the last third of the improvisation, I shifted the center of focus to the held extreme upper register pitches, though again there is the faint murmur of the recurring sounds beneath it.  This was to simulate a single bird coming info the focus of sound.  This section was punctuated by occasional interruptions of the full color exploration, but then returned back to the upper register held tones.

The fingering: (Left Hand) B key, Octave, Low Bb // (Right Hand) High F#, Side Bb.  Trill the Side C (right hand) continuously at a consistent tempo.

-Neil

The image accompanying today’s post is a Bower Bird nest.