09/17/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 260)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 260

Date: 09/17/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

Location: Performance hall at Chief Sealth International High School.  Seattle, WA

Notes:

After a few months away from this room, I recorded this morning in the performance hall at Chief Sealth High School.  I love this space, but I’m admittedly a bit intimidated recording here.  The acoustics are vibrant and warm and the space is welcoming enough, but it seems every time I walk into this room my sound is overtaken by the shear size and presence of it.  I don’t often perform in a traditional performance hall, and rarely one of this size.  This is a very flexible space, and it allows for an amazing dynamic range and very site-specific sonic responses as I play.  I think my leeriness may come from my own ego trying to fulfill the allure of this room.  It offers so many specific options I rarely take full advantage of, or execute in such a way as to maximize their effect.  Today I walked in feeling much more confident and welcomed the chance to explore what the room had to offer me.

Because of the clear projection of my sound in this room, I decided to record a piece that used a phasing melodic sound with the illusion of an echo.  This was best executed near the beginning of the improvisation at (:18).  To do this, I projected my volume at an equal level but would very quickly pull back my volume as evenly as possible at the very last moment.  I thought of my sound as traveling along a fixed line with a quick descent at a 45 degree angle into silence.  I used a recurring folk-like melody, and explore de-tuned tones at the ends of my phrasing.  Along with the dips in volume, the de-tuned pitches helped to contribute to the illusion of an echo.  I developed this improvisation over about 15 minutes of trial recording, letting the room be my guide as how to best achieve these effects.

-Neil

The image “Stellar by Starlight #2” accompanying today’s post by Anne Noggle (1985).

09/16/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 259)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 259

Date: 09/16/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

In a rehearsal yesterday with Chris Icasiano for our duo Bad Luck, we worked on melodic material we’ve constructed that can only be played by the two of us.  This is an artistic process we’ve cultivated over several years together now.  Our compositional process is reliant on each other for execution, with passages that are specifically written for textural or conceptual figures unique to our playing, usually via composing based on each others interests in solo work.   This concept bled into my 12 Moons improvisation today.  

For the past several days I’ve also been very discouraged by my sound.  I had a lip blister which made it difficult to play and even more difficult to form my regular embouchure.  The embouchure changes I needed to make in order to play did open up some new sound fields for me, but today my mouth is thankfully feeling just about back to normal.  The reed I stumbled on this morning was really optimal for this kind of improvisation.  There are colors and textures in this piece that aligned perfectly with the physical conditions in my body and horn today.  In this way, from yesterday’s rehearsal and more confidence in my sound, my mind was free to explore more complicated figures that are unique to my own sound interests.

In this piece I used a recurring 5/8 phrase with the beaming of 2-3.  Using odd metered phrasing is a very common approach for me in solo playing.  I used 2 Figures during this improvisation, and each figure had two fingering systems.  I divided Figure 1 up in my mind as having three tiers.  Tier 1 is the lower register melody (this opens the improvisation).  Tier 2 is a mid register counter melody added to the bottom (this begins to enter at :27).  Tier 3 is in the upper register, which is added to the bottom and middle melodies.  This begins to enter at 2:22.  Each of these Tiers was played by adjusting my air flow and embouchure pressure while maintaining the fingering and rhythmic cycle.

At 3:10 I make an abrupt harmonic change and Figure 2 enters.  There is also a slight, momentary pause before it begins.  I maintained the 5/8 time signature and 2-3 phrasing.  This figure has a slightly different sound profile than Figure 1, with tighter chord voicing’s and a darker aesthetic quality to it.  I then began alternating between the Figure 1 (3 Tiers) and the Figure 2 landscapes from this point forward.  The piece ends with a focus on a more static upper register tone in the Figure 2 fingering system.

Figure 1

System 1: 2-3 Phrasing (written in order they were played)

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Octave, Palm Eb, Low Bb  // (Right Hand) 1-2, Low C

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Octave, Low Bb  // (Right Hand) 1-, Low C

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Octave, Palm Eb, Low Bb  // (Right Hand) 1-2, Low C

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Octave, Palm Eb, Low Bb  // (Right Hand) 1-, Low C

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Octave, Low Bb  // (Right Hand) 1-, Low C

System 2:  2-3 Phrasing (written in order they were played)

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Octave, Palm Eb, Low Bb  // (Right Hand) 1-2, Low C

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Octave, Low Bb  // (Right Hand) 2-, Low C

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Octave, Palm Eb, Low Bb  // (Right Hand) 1-2, Low C

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Octave, Palm Eb, Low Bb  // (Right Hand) 2-, Low C

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Octave, Low Bb  // (Right Hand) 2-, Low C

Figure 2 fingerings (same as above, but supplement the F Palm key instead of the Eb palm key, and completely take away the octave key).  To do this, reach over to the key with the left thumb which was formally pushing down the octave key.  For specific reference, this fingering system is notated below as well.

System 1: 2-3 Phrasing (written in order they were played)

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Palm F, Low Bb  // (Right Hand) 1-2, Low C

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Low Bb  // (Right Hand) 1-, Low C

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Palm F, Low Bb  // (Right Hand) 1-2, Low C

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Palm F, Low Bb  // (Right Hand) 1-, Low C

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Low Bb  // (Right Hand) 1-, Low C

System 2:  2-3 Phrasing (written in order they were played)

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Palm F, Low Bb  // (Right Hand) 1-2, Low C

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Low Bb  // (Right Hand) 2-, Low C

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Palm F, Low Bb  // (Right Hand) 1-2, Low C

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Palm F, Low Bb  // (Right Hand) 2-, Low C

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Low Bb  // (Right Hand) 2-, Low C

-Neil

The image “Samurai, the Watcher” accompanying today’s post by Tateishi Koichi (1965).

09/15/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 258)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 258

Date: 09/15/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

Today I worked with a bluesy gesture in the key of E minor.  I used a series of multiphonics which hd distinct profiles in two separate octaves, creating melodic ideas that I explored in each range but tried to weave together into a broader melodic and harmonic whole.  I combined the multiphonics to create melodic fragments which I repeated continuously.  There were some figures, particularly those in the lower register, which I played far more infrequently than those explored in the upper register.  During this improvisation I maintained a steady tempo, but because of the nature of my improvised fingering systems, some of the pitches were more muted or were slightly de tuned from one note to another.  Because of the additional notes, this resulted in polyrhythms that bled into the melody, giving the melodies either a steady pulse, or at other times these polyrhythms added momentary hiccups into the expected phrasing.

The melodic fragments in the two octaves tended to center around the following melodic gestures (written in the tenor key of Bb):

Upper register: F#, C#, E, F, E, C#—- //  // C#, E, F, E C#—-

The fingerings used to make these various pitch centers, again with additional sound profiles built into them as multiphonics were as follows:

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

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

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

Lower register: F#, C#, F#—- // F#, A, F#—-, C#, F#—-

The fingerings used to make these various pitch centers, again with additional sound profiles built into them as multiphonics were as follows

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

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

-Neil

The image “Forest Floor” accompanying today’s post by Tony Urquart (1961).

09/14/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 257)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 257

Date: 09/14/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

Today’s improvisation was born out of a long, laborious process.  This afternoon I had an allergy attack, which is very unusual for me.  This unfortunately coincided with the practice session time I had set aside, and during the two hours I was working the allergy attack spanned the gamut from physical discomfort, to a near inability to play, the hazy mental perception that comes with any kind of cold, and eventually the attack’s passing.  At one point, after every note I played my body responded with a sneeze.  I continued to play because I’ve found in the past that by playing the horn, I can cast out certain ailments like black magic.  By the end of my practice session, my allergy attack was down to a state of mild discomfort.  My improvisation today was a piece that explored the extremes that we all know will exist in these circumstances, the storm and a return to the calm.

During this piece I used a total of three fingerings.  The first two make up the aggressive swatches of sound where I sing into the horn and the third is the calm major chord.  In the aggressive textures I sang between a Concert Ab to B, which mirrored the split tone chords being played that had the same pitches inside them. The split tone can be played simultaneously or one pitch at a time.  During this piece I used both approaches. 

Aggressive split tone chords:

(Left Hand) Bis Bb, Low Bb // (Right Hand) F-E-D keys, Low C, Side Bb

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

Major Chord:

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

-Neil

The image “IX from the series Folded Light (Luz Plageda)” accompanying today’s post by Jose Maria Sicilia (1994).

09/13/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 256)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 256

Date: 09/13/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

Today I worked with repetitive, sustained pitches and chords using different tonging techniques.  In this improvisation I wanted to explore the idea that quickness of tempo can be linked to timbre.  To explore this idea, I would sustain a note and find false fingerings to play against it that would make  very marginal, subtle changes in the tuning.  Because each false fingering is a little different, some pitches speak more than others, whether because they have greater or less volume relative to one another, or maybe because of the timbral relationship from one pitch to another.  This can create sound cycles that, because some notes are more punctuated, begin to create complex rhythms and incredible sound worlds.

In the opening of this piece I use rapid, single tonging at a consistent tempo.  I play a Concert C, then close the F, E, and D keys before opening them all back up to speak the Concert C again.  This is a sound cycle with 4 components, which is easy to link up with when articulating sixteenth notes.  At :49 seconds I began using double tonging. Even though this articulation is clearly more rapid, in a way it feels almost slower to me than the single tonging.  The double tonging has a harsher attack, but in the single tonging, I strike the reed much more gently in order to play quickly.   The false fingerings bring out a very subtle, sustained C in the upper register which is very audible in the single tonging but almost inaudible in the double.  This upper octave tone combines with the sustained G in the lower register, and to my ears this pairing of sustained pitches accentuates the stark difference of the articulation attack, and makes is sound even quicker.

In this improvisation, along with the varied articulation, I was also interested in using contrasting sound elements.  At 2:33 I abruptly jump into the upper register to play two very consonant chords.  Before doing this I changed the fingering cycle pattern in the right hand in order to allow those chords to create a sound cycle as well.  The pitches and fingerings (in the tenor key of Bb) used were as follows:

Lower register sound cycles:

Pitch D: B-A keys, Palm Eb only.   Close the F, E, then D keys in the right hand, and then open fully.

Pitch Eb: Bend up to this pitch by playing the A fingering and opening the Fork F key.  Close the F, E, then D keys in the right hand, and then opening fully.

Upper register chords/sound cycles:

Chord 1:

(Left Hand) B-A keys, Octave, Palm Eb key // (Right Hand) 

Chord 2: 

(Left Hand) B-A keys, Octave, Palm D and Eb keys // (Right Hand) 

Notes: Close the E, D, then C keys in the right hand in a triplet pattern for each chord.

-Neil

The image “Untitled” accompanying today’s post by Charline von Heyl (2007).