07/03/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 184)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 184

Date: 07/03/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

I focused today on the technique of melody with harmonic accompaniment.  I often work on combining harmony with internal melodies, as opposed to the playing of a series of chords followed by a melody–one separate from the other.  In this improvisation I tried to combine both approaches, that is, using an independent single pitch melody followed by a secondary melody which takes places within a series of chords.  I began by playing bluesy figures, and decided to work with this spirit.  

To begin sculpting this improvisation, I used a series of multiphonic fingerings with very consonant chords.  These were 2-note mutliphonics, with the upper tone being far more present in volume than the lower.  The chord pairs were are follows (first note is the top note, and the second the bottom):

Db/E

C/Eb

Bb/D

The upper (first notated) pitches create a descending minor shape: Db–C–Bb.  The lower (second notated) pitches create a descending chromatic shape: E–Eb–D.  With these chords as my starting point, they were ultimately used to create a chord progression with an internal “secondary” melody using the notes written above.  I then began playing a single note melody with the pitches G, Ab, G, and E.  These notes make up the primary melody, which opens the improvisation.   I thought of the improvisation as being in the key of Bb, with the secondary melody (that using chords) really establishing this mood, and the primary melody being more of a bluesy ornamentation.  In the mid point of the improvisation I began adding a third and more harmonically dissonant melody, which used the perfect forth interval on the pitches B and E.  

The multiphonic fingerings (for the secondary melody) were as follows:

Db/E (Left Hand) B-A, Octave Palm Eb // (Right Hand) F-E keys, Low C, Side F

C/Eb (Left Hand) B-A, Octave Palm Eb // (Right Hand) F-E keys, Low C

Bb/D (Left Hand) B-A, Octave Palm D // (Right Hand) F key, Low C

-Neil

The image “Flowers in a Vase” accompanying today’s post by Frederick Papsdorf (1940)

07/02/02013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 183)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 183

Date: 07/02/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

This morning my wife and I bought a card game called “Set” which uses pattern-based pictorial recognition.  The cards are laid face up on the table for all to see, and the first person to spot a correct pattern wins the cards.   I was surprised by how challenging this game was for me, and I decided to cary this theme into my practice session.  During the game, if a pattern does exist in the cards in play, it is laying on the table waiting to be discovered.  The only hurdle is the right mind to see it. This evening I set out to find a new fingering system with what ought to be an obvious choice I have yet to use.  The moment I came upon the system used during this improvisation, I was incredibly surprised that I had not specifically improvised with it before.  The finger shape is simple, but it is the embouchure shape that brings out the wide variety of color.  It’s of course very likely that I’ve played this fingering system in the past, but I’m almost certain this is the first time I’ve played it in an isolated fashion.  

The fingering system used a very common recurring theme for me, which is a static drone with melodic action above it.  The drone is a Concert Bb (quarter step high) in the upper register of the tenor.  By continuously trilling the G key with the right hand (crossing over into what is usually the territory of the left hand), various shapes emerged, including recurring minor third intervals and other sustained altissimo pitches.  I used my embouchure to bend tones up and down while the drone and minor third shapes continued below.  Near the end of the piece, I released the octave key but maintained the same finger system.  This resulted in a much more focused, middle octave drone on a concert C (quarter step flat).  The fingering used was as follows:

(Left Hand) B-A keys, Octave, Palm D.  Continuosly trill the G key with the right hand index finger.  To create further sound colors, I also slowly opened and closed the B or A keys in the left hand.

-Neil

The image “Technology/Transformation: Wonder Woman” accompanying today’s post by Dara Birnbaum (1978-1979)

07/01/2013 (12 Moons Project Day 182)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 182

Date: 07/01/2013

Instrument: Soprano saxophone

Location: Beside Nason Creek near Lake Wenatchee, WA

Notes:

My wife and I struck out first thing this morning east of the mountains in our 78 VW bus.  We traveled along Highway 2 towards one of our favorite camping spots, a rustic national forest camp on the western side of Lake Wenatchee, about 15 miles over Stevens Pass.  It is a sweltering day, with temperatures around 100 degrees with clear blue skies overhead.   To practice and record, I drove out along the main road a few miles and found a pullout next to Nason Creek, which feeds the lake further to the north.  I made the mistake of waiting until the afternoon and was plagued by mosquitoes, flies and the blistering afternoon sun as I struggled for an hour to play.  Directly in front of me was Nason Creek, and behind me was the main road leading away from the lake.

This improvisation was a response to my discomfort.  I was not only frustrated by the constant bombardment of mosquito bites, but also the flow of traffic behind me–trucks with jet skies and boats in tow barreling down the road, and cars stopping to curiously look at me until driving away without a word spoken.  I decided to respond by improvising a quietly aggressive piece, like the persistent force of the sun beating down on me.  I used detached, high pitched dots and smears, and stayed mostly in the altissimo range of the instrument.  I used single tonging and balanced more isolated pitches with clusters of much higher tones of a greater density of notes.  To create a recurring point of departure I mostly alternated between two fingerings, and occasionally diverged from there to add further pitches.  These two fingerings were as follows:

Fingering 1:

(Left Hand) B-A-G keys, Octave, Low Bb // (Right Hand) Low C, High F#  

Fingering 2:

(Left Hand) B-A-G keys, Octave, Low Bb // (Right Hand) Low C, High F#, High Side G

-Neil

The image “untitled” accompanying today’s post by Nathan Lyons (1958)

12 Moons Project Days 182/183 will likely be delayed

I’m out of town again for the next few days camping in Eastern Washington.  Depending on web access, the next couple of posts may have to wait until Wednesday of this week.  Hold tight for now and thank you for listening!

06/30/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 181)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 181

Date: 06/30/2013

Instrument: soprano saxophone

Location: A trail on the edge of Mountain Lake in Moran Sate Park.  Orcas Island, WA

Notes:

This morning I woke up early and my wife and I walked to Mountain Lake to take in the morning calmness.  The lake is large and clean, so much so that I could toss a rock off the edge of a bluff and watch it sink fully to the bottom.  I walked about a quarter way around the lake on a trail that followed it’s edge.  I stopped to play beneath a large pine tree on the edge of a bluff that overlooked the lake.   Though this recording does not accurately capture it, the echo from my horn traveled an amazing distance, bouncing and pulsing with a warm sound around the lake.  I was at least ½ of a mile away from our campsite, and when we walked back in I was told by our comrades that they could hear me practicing, and thought I had walked just a little ways into the woods.  

During this improvisation I focused on tight sound clusters in various combinations.  A recurring theme became the major chord multiphonic which I would hold out and increase in tempo before abruptly cutting it off with my tongue.  With the clustered pitches, I worked to create simple, almost folk-like melodies with tiny chord flutters.  I would set these against the more severe but steady multiphonics.  Mid way in the piece I worked to bridge these two approaches by unifying the clusters into quick melodic actions that combined various chords.  

-Neil

The image “Tatra Mountains” accompanying today’s post by Emil Orlik (1898)