08/09/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 221)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 221

Date: 08/09/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

During my practice session this morning, I worked with establishing pitch centers and then interrupting these centers with variations in pitch stability.  This was done by using alternate fingerings that were slightly de-tuned from one note to another.  In this improvisation, I identified 3 pitches, and worked to create subtle sonic variation within them.  This was done by intentionally pitting one pitch against its counterpart a semi tone above or below.  I felt that this piece had a bluesy quality to it, and I wanted to explore how changes in intonation can heighten or diminish our musical experience as a listener in the blues.  The three separate pitches included: Concert A (low octave , E (mid and upper octave) and G (upper octave) represented my pitch material to select from.  

While improvising it is much easier for me to feel emotionally connected to grittier, denser textures.  They are very evocative of mood for me, and this is particularly the case when the sounds are thicker and more aggressive.  In this improvisation I wanted to pair quieter varieties of these sounds alongside more traditional pitches, the later having slightly different tuning than the former.  As I experienced this piece as a sort of blues, the mood throughout was a major focus for me as a listener.  To bring out my own melancholic sound in the blues, I used variations in pitch centers, periods of silence, and a focus on the minor third interval between the G and E.

The pitches used, as well as their fingerings were as as follows:

Concert A (low octave)

(Left Hand) B-A-G keys, Low B // (Right Hand) F-E-D keys, Low C.  Trill the C key in the left hand constantly.

Concert F# (mid octave) 

(Left Hand) B-A-G keys, Octave, Low B // (Right Hand) F-E-D keys, Low C.  Trill the F# key in the right hand constantly.  Note: To pull out a slightly different tuning in this note, while also broadening the pitch into a wider series of overtones, I would take away the octave key.

Concert A (mid octave) 

(Left Hand) B-A keys, Octave, Low B // (Right Hand) F-D keys, Low C.  Trill the F# key in the right hand constantly.

Concert A (quarter step sharp than that above) 

(Left Hand) B-G keys, Octave, Low B // (Right Hand) F-D keys, Low C.  Trill the F# key in the right hand constantly.

Concert F# (upper register) same Concert A (quarter step sharp) fingering above.

-Neil

The image accompanying today’s post is a series of oil blobs from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

08/08/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 220)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 220

Date: 08/08/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

During todays improvisation I focused on my familiar theme of phasing in and out of sounds within a single fingered motion.  Some of the sound textures explored in this piece cross-faded between one another, and others began or ended abruptly.  As opposed to other improvisations I’ve done in this series with a similar improvisatory model, I aimed to focus more in transition rather than direct movement.  The periods of transition became essential in regards to my perspective on shaping the improvisation.  I tried to establish in my mind a state of calm and focus, and to use this clear-mindedness as a guide to help me phase between sections of the horn.  I recorded this improvisation around 9am after having woken up around 5am and trying for over an hour to fall back asleep.  I felt calm and pensive this morning, and experienced the morning in a very contemplative state of mind.  In many ways my mood felt uncontrolled, but strangely my realization of this fact was a comfort to me.

A wide variety of pitches very used, including single tones, split tones, and multiphonic chords, and there were several direct pitch relationships I seemed to gravitate towards.  These included (in the tenor key of Bb):

-C to D in the upper octave.  This was a trilled figure between these two pitches.

-E (quarter step flat) in the middle octave

-C (quarter step flat) in the upper octave

-E in the upper octave

C to E (quarter step flat) in the upper octave.  This was a trilled figure between these two pitches.

I used a single fingering while continuously trilling the Palm Eb.  I trilled in a variety of tempos and varied the pacing of the trill tempo at will.  There were a few select periods during this improvisation where I stopped trilling momentarily and this occurred while holding out single pitches.  It was not done intentionally but rather subconsciously.   The fingering used was as follows:

(Left Hand) B-A-G, Low B // (Right Hand) F-E, Low C.  Continuously trill the Palm Eb in the Left Hand.

-Neil

The image “Haley’s comet as It Looked in 1910” by United Press International (1910)

08/07/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 219)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 219

Date: 08/07/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

Location: The orchestra room at Chief Sealth High School.  Seattle, WA

Notes:

I set up to record in the center of 6 or so steel drums this afternoon.  As I’ve discussed during this project in months past, the orchestra room at Chief Sealth is a very dead space, and the steel drums seemed to give it some humanity for me.  To explore the dichotomy between the vacuum-like quality of the room and the amazing gift of resonance from the steel drums, I decided to improvise a piece based off of extreme dynamic gestures.  I used wide arches of air flow to push and pull at the sound, swiping the air with my tongue and slight movements of my fingers.  I centered on two fingerings in this piece, each of which pulled out beautiful overtones and lasting resonance out of the steel drums.  My aim was not to exploit this resonance but rather to use it in such a way as to give the impression of a room with warm acoustics.

The improvisation is based off the oscillation of a Concert A and Ab.  The fingerings for these two pitches were as follows:

Concert A:

(Left Hand) B-G keys, Low B // (Right Hand) F-E-D keys, Low C.  This fingering also allows for a split-tone chord of A and Gb, which can be heard at times. 

Concert Ab:

(Left Hand) B-G keys, Low Bb // (Right Hand) F-E-D keys, Low C

As a general approach, I would not play the Ab (the second of the two pitches) without having played the A above it and sliding down into the Ab.  To make this transition as smooth as possible, I would not lift my finger from the Low B to play the Bb, but rather pivot it so as to be able to easily trill between the two.  As the piece progressed, I also began singing through the horn to pull out grittier clusters, as well as trilling the Side C.  

-Neil

The image “Dinamismo di un foot-baller (Dynamism of a soccer player)” by Umberto Boccioni (1913)

08/06/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 218)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 218

Date: 08/07/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

Evolution was my theme for today’s improvisation.  In nature there are of course extreme examples of evolution within an animal or an environment, and then there are more subtle adaptations.   Today I was concerned with the evolution of slight sound traits, the evolution which is subtly shaped as a response to changes in a given environment.  During this piece I considered 2 points of action within 2 sections.  They are respectively labeled below as Section A, Actions 1 and 2  //  Sections B, Actions 1 and 2

Section A, Action 1: Pitches (in ascending order and in the tenor key) C, Db, Ab

(Left Hand) C key, Octave, Low B // (Right Hand) F-E keys, Low C

Section A, Action 2: Pitches (in ascending order and in the tenor key) Db, Bb, Gb

(Left Hand) B key, Octave, Low Bb // (Right Hand) F-E keys, Low C

Section B, Action 1: Pitches (in ascending order and in the tenor key) C, Db, F

(Left Hand) C key, Octave, Low B // (Right Hand) F-E keys, Side F, Low C.  Slowly trill the side F key.

Section B, Action 2: Pitches (in ascending order and in the tenor key) Db, B, Gb

(Left Hand) B key, Octave, Low Bb // (Right Hand) F-E keys, Side F, Low C.  Slowly trill the side F key.

I was fascinated by the sound colors that just the root fingerings Action 1 and Action 2 could create.  While preparing to record this piece, I would hold each of these chords out independently.  This ringing out of the chord was used in the improvisation today as an intermediary between the two sections.  Section A was dominated by the pulsing sound heard at the outset of the improvisation, and Section B included alterations to the rhythm cycle that had been established.  I viewed this evolution as the necessary response to the changing environment of the piece.  This can be heard the first time at 2:35.  I experienced the entirety of the piece without any jolt of action whatsoever, but rather just a slight, continuous evolution as the big picture sound unfolded.

-Neil

The image “4-Part Variation” accompanying today’s post by Stephen Shore (1969)

08/05/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 217)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 217

Date: 08/05/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

In my practice session today, I worked to incorporate harmony within my single pitched melodies.  For this improvisation I maintained this concept by, in the moment, gravitating towards a small number of multiphonics and split tones with very predictable patterns of sound.   With the chord structures clearly in my mind as I was playing, I tried to get myself in the headspace of a pianist, in that I wanted the flexibility of independent melodic voices, harmony, and a combination of the two together, and finally to make these relationships very intimate and balanced with one another.  Specific sections of the improvisation are centered more heavily on single pitch melodies, and others on phasing melodies in and out of chords.  In other musical moments, such as the mid point of the improvisation, moving between one chord to another chord with no single note melodies became the point of action.

Some selected multiphonics/split tones used during this improvisation were as follows (in the tenor key)

F (quarter step flat), Ab, Gb

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

E/C#

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

F#(low octave) G (middle octave), C# (upper octave)

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

Ab, Bb (quarter step flat)

(Left Hand) B-A keys, Low Bb // F-E-D keys, Low C

F, Eb

(Left Hand) Fork F, A-G keys, Low Bb // (Right Hand) F-E keys, Low C

-Neil

The image “Map” accompanying today’s post by Jasper Johns (1961)