02/10/2015 (Continuous Resonance Solo Improvisation)

Neil Welch, Continuous Resonance Project
Date: 02/10/2015
Location: The orchestra room at Chief Sealth High School. Seattle, WA
Instrument: Tenor saxophone

Notes:

I recorded this improvisation in the middle of a sea of steel drums, maybe 25 or so, which I found waiting for me in the orchestra room between students today.

The image “Hour House is My World” (2011) accompanying today’s post by Markus Linnenbrink.

02/03/2015 (Continuous Resonance Solo Improvisation)

Neil Welch, Continuous Resonance Project
Date: 02/03/2015
Location: Performance Hall at Chief Sealth High School. Seattle, WA
Instrument: Tenor saxophone

Notes:

This morning I searched for an approach to the instrument I have not yet taken. I worked in vain for some time, reflecting on my current improvisatory interests and thinking about the directions I would like to explore further. I decided to enter into this goal through the modus of singing into the horn, a technique that seems to occupy a lot of my artistic effort these days. As I’ve worked primarily on creating harmonic texture with two or more total tones, I decided to focus instead on single pitches. I often sing unison pitches into the horn, but rarely do I ever simply sing into the instrument without actually sounding a played pitch. I decided to focus during this improvisation on singing with my voice alone into the horn while exploring fingerings against the flow of my air. I then incorporated slap tonguing into the sound spectrum. I found that the room became an absolute essential part of the resultant sounds explored here.

The image accompanying today’s post by Andre Gilbert Schmucki.