12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 67
Date: 03/08/2013
Instrument: Tenor saxophone
Location: Home studio in Clinton, WA (Whidbey Island)
Notes:
My current reed is at a stage where it’s flexibility is beginning to fade. The clarity of tone is there, but the reed is beginning to fight me in areas such as intonation and overall ease of playability . With my particular set-up, it’s ironically at this stage in the life of my reed that staccato playing becomes the easiest for me. My improvisation today focused on staccato articulation with a declining tempo, spread over a six minute period of time.
I made an effort to try and maintain a steady stream of sixteenth notes, with the initial tempo as fast as possible, down to a medium-fast tempo at the end of the piece. There was no tonal focus in this improvisation, though I did center around the mid range of the horn, and found myself referencing a concert A to concert Bb a minor 9th above quite a bit. I did also seem to carry this concept of dissonance and chromatic octave displacement throughout this piece.
The sixteenth articulation pattern remains static, but I gradually evolved away from my initial articulation model. In the opening minute or so I would articulate the same pitch two or three times before moving. This, along with more air, made certain notes sound much more articulated than the rest. As the piece went on my articulation gradually began to focus on only note-to note articulation. This smoothed out the wrinkles and the accentuation needed to come mostly from more forceful tonguing.
-Neil
The image “circles” from painter Louise Schanker
03/07/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 66)
12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 66
Date: 03/07/2013
Instrument: Tenor saxophone
Location: Practice room B at South Whidbey High School. Langley, WA (Whidbey Island)
Notes:
From dawn to past dusk today was filled to the brim with teaching–changing clothes in the ferry bathroom and eating soup out of a tupperware container in my car. It was a good, solid working day that made me feel like I contributed my all by the end of it. I had attempted at various times throughout the day to sneak away and record a piece, but with no results I could be satisfied with. My improvisation today came out of the horn at the end of the day, when I was exhausted and my energy having already been sapped out of me. With every passing second in this improvisation I could feel it surging back.
This improvisation uses a single fingering: (Left Hand) B-A-G keys, Low B // (Right Hand) F-E-D keys. This fingering creates the basis of sound explored in this piece. To create the pulsations I quickly opened and then shut the low Eb and Palm D keys simultaneously. I approached the improvisation as a slow, ominous build that immediately enters from a heightened place of energy. This was not anger, but a last ditch utterance of my industry.
-Neil
Image by painter Max Ernst
03/06/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 65)
12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 65
Date: 03/06/2013
Instrument: Tenor saxophone
Location: Home studio in Clinton, WA (Whidbey Island)
Notes:
In my improvisation today I searched for an elegiac mood. It was not that I necessarily felt in an elegiac mood myself, but the impulse inside me wanted that release. I had a discussion with my wife after recording this piece, that I felt as though I came closer to something in this improvisation today. No matter how abstract my improvisations or compositions may be, I’ve come to realize that what I’m ultimately seeking is clarity in my art. I’m searching for a clarity of something, and this is where I’ve yet to pint-point it. Maybe it’s clarify of mood, or form, or structure. I’m not sure. This improvisation seems to be closer to it though. I would personally say that this improvisation is an easily accessible piece for most listeners. I understand that a considerable amount of my output requires a great deal more from my listeners than this piece. But with that said, in all of it I’m still searching for that same ultimate, elusive quality.
I use two fingerings during this improvisation. Fingering one: Low C fingering // Fingering two: Low B fingering. The steady, melodic pulse is created in both cases by opening the closing the the G key in the left hand. In the mid point of the piece I begin a sixteenth pattern that now includes the high side F key as well.
-Neil
03/05/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 64)
12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 64
Date: 03/05/2013
Instrument: Tenor saxophone
Location: Performance Hall center stage at Chief Sealth High School. Seattle, WA
Notes:
Key clacking and the depression of the key cups themselves can create a world of tones and textures inside the saxophone. The horn is a conical shape, and therefore an excellent vessel for sound to travel through whether blowing into the instrument or not. My improvisation today focused on the area of rhythmic cycles achieved through fingering selected pitches, then opening and closing keys against the body of the horn.
I decided to use the same fingering I explored in my improvisation yesterday (Day 63), but instead of remaining in a fixed position I explored the opening and closing of keys at will. (Left Hand) B-A-G, Low Bb keys // (Right Hand) F-E-D Keys. Primarily, I found myself opening the G Keys, Side C, Side Bb, and Side F keys against this fingering. When performing an improvisation or composition with key clacking and key depression, I am simply amazed at the range of sound the horn in able to create.
During this piece I attempted to create small melodic themes as well, and many tones rung open while others seemed to live only aslong as the brief moment when a key is closed against the body. I worked to maintain a steady rhythmic pulse in sixteenth notes that is maintained throughout the bulk of the improvisation.
-Neil
03/04/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 63)
12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 63
Date: 03/04/2013
Instrument: Alto saxophone
Location: Hallway outside the the SWHS band room. Langley, WA (Whidbey Island)
Notes:
Last night I watched a masterful performance by saxophonist Wally Shoup and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Chris Corsano. This was my first time seeing Chris, and I was amazed by the range of sound he pulled out of the drum set. His vocabulary seemed so natural to him it was as though he were taught from the outset of his life to bow the rims of his toms or hum with his face pressed against kit. Wally was in a particularly enlightened state in this performance. In Wally’s playing, I always hear a joyfulness that fills the room. He seems to take any idea that comes from his instrument and sculpt it into a clean, crystalized version of what had come out the moment before. My improvisation today was inspired by his work.
During this improvisation I use a very common saxophone multiphonic fingering: (Left Hand) B-A-G keys, Low Bb // (Right Hand) F-E-D keys. Inspired by Wally’s work, I decided to start the improvisation with whatever sound by body and instrument seemed inclined to begin with. I made it my aim to approach this piece without ego, and to let my horn and mind take me where they wished to go. At times I would come upon a new sound and choose to explore it in repetition, or to build a slight phrase around it, or even explore tonality as I did at the close of the piece. At other times I would attempt to execute a gesture and the horn would not speak it, so I would take the sound that the horn offered me and begin anew. It seems that with this approach as an improviser, there is no limit to what you can explore and no end to what can be done in even a single piece.
-Neil