05/02/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 122)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 122

Date: 05/02/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

Location: Practice Room B at South Whidbey High School.  Langley, WA (Whidbey Island)

Notes:

This improvisation was a response to my environment this afternoon.  I found myself at South Whidbey High School with about 15 minutes between students, in an otherwise back to back day of teaching.  I walked out of the practice room into the hallway.  In the choir room to my left a few students were practicing congas, in a separate practice room a kid was escaping an assembly by hiding in the corner with his headphones on, and in the band room a group of students was listening to a lecture and Bach organ piece hugely amplified–enough to fill a space twice its size.  I considered my surroundings, the controlled nature of a classroom, the raw intensity of a kid hiding from obligation, and two people exploring new art together.  My response was an attempt to bridge the gap between everything around me.  

I performed this piece at high volume, focusing on a two-part form, the first being a descending gesture that ended on a low tone, and the second a swiping exploration of a single pitch.  In the descending figure, I used various fingerings to create an indeterminate high pitch and descended to a low Bb fingering, all the while screaming into the horn.  For the second element of the form, I played the same low Bb fingering but spoke the first overtone, which is the Bb an octave higher.  I used single, double and flutter tonging to explore a swiping motion of sound.

Also of note today, from the moment I left the house I was convinced I had the flu.  I fought it all morning and when I recorded this improvisation I decided to use it as voodoo to ward off the sickness.  I walked out of the room without a trace of it.

-Neil

The image accompanying todays post is a hurricane as seen from the International Space Station.

05/01/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 121)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 121

Date: 05/01/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

Hummingbirds have been flying around my yard all day in a concentration I’ve never seen before.  They have a very distinctive chirp that sounds like a high pitched electic dental drill being turned on and off.  When they come within a few feet their rapid wing flapping is a sound unlike any other.  But in a large concentration of five to six, which was the case in my yard today, the combination of wing fluttering and chirps created an amazing pallatte of sound.  This interplay inspired my improvisation today.  

During this piece I used a single fingering gesture that created a lower series of repeated tones and a high ceiling of sound exploration.  The lower “wing” sounds were created throughout the piece, including a middle octave E, which was static and had a muted and buzzing quality to it.  The other recurring lower tones (lower being relative here) were the alternating high octave pitches F and D.  Above this I explored tone colors, their interplay with one another and the recurring sounds beneath them.  In these “chirping” sounds I would at times repeat specific discoveries or explore indeterminately.  In the last third of the improvisation, I shifted the center of focus to the held extreme upper register pitches, though again there is the faint murmur of the recurring sounds beneath it.  This was to simulate a single bird coming info the focus of sound.  This section was punctuated by occasional interruptions of the full color exploration, but then returned back to the upper register held tones.

The fingering: (Left Hand) B key, Octave, Low Bb // (Right Hand) High F#, Side Bb.  Trill the Side C (right hand) continuously at a consistent tempo.

-Neil

The image accompanying today’s post is a Bower Bird nest.  

4/30/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 120)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 120

Date: 04/30/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

Location: Performance Hall at Chief Sealth High School

Notes:

Today I worked with an ascending gesture that mixed close intervals and exploring consonance and dissonance.  The tuning system used in this piece allows for beautiful vibrations in the chord structure.  I used an interval pattern that moved from open to closed in range, with a total distance of slightly wider than a whole step.  The was done with three sounds.  In the tenor key, they were:

1.  Eb–F (whole step).  (open–the widest interval)

2.  E (quarter step sharp)–F (medium)

3.  F (quarter step sharp) (closed–fixed pitch)

After the first 30 seconds or so of the above action, I took sound 3 from the above (the fixed pitch) and opened this chord even further by bending it with my embouchure.  I would then blend this intermittently after playing sounds 1-3.  This created a total pitch distance of a Major Third with the pitches F–Eb–Db.  To play this sound the air flow must be focused downward and given a great amount of air.  Depending on my reed, this often creates a very breathy sound, and today this was particularly present.  I decided to use this as a compositional tool and created a “breath” vibrato by pulsing the air while playing the 3-tone pitch cluster. 

The fingerings (corresponding to the numbers 1-3 above):

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

2.  (Left Hand) Fork F, A-G keys, Octave, Low Bb //  (Right Hand) F-E keys, Low C, High F# Key

3.  (Left Hand) Fork F, A-G keys, Octave, Low Bb //  (Right Hand) F key, Low C

For the 3-tone cluster (F–Eb–Db) use the same fingering as #3, but bend down with the embouchure and air flow.

-Neil

The image “To B.W.T.” accompanying today’s post by Philip Guston (1952)

04/29/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 119)

12 Moons Solo Project Day 119

Date: 04/29/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

Yesterday I explored the wide angles possible through embouchure vibratto.  Today I decided to continue the theme of pliable fingerings by creating unbroken bends within a given range.  The interval distance is approximately a major third, from a middle octave B to a D#.  I begin the piece with an initial presentation of the full bend, and during the improvisation I decided to end each melodic phrase on the top most pitch with a fade into silence.  

During the improvisation I progressively began increasing my level of action, which included adding internal upward and downward bends.  The piece begins with a tongue articulation on only the first pitch.  As the improvisation evolved I began breaking the consistency of air flow with tongue interruptions, first with single articulations and then with multiple flutter tonging articulations.  

The improvisation uses a single fingering with three alterations that contribute to the bend.  

The fingering system: Low Bb fingering, including the octave key.  The begin the upward bend, I added the Palm Eb key, then the High F# key, and the finally the Fork F key.

-Neil

The image “The Rose” accompanying today’s post is the spinning vortex of Saturn’s North polar storm, a photo released today by NASA.

04/28/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 118)

12 Moons Solo Project Day 118

Date: 04/28/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

Location: The rec room of my childhood home in Edmonds, WA

This is an energy piece exploring the wide angles possible with vibrato.  Traditionally vibrato on the saxophone is accomplished with either a slight tensing and releasing of pressure in the embouchure or through gentle fluctuations in air flow.  This improvisation uses the former paired with pliable fingerings that allow the pitches to bend in either direction much further than traditional notes.  

The improvisation was recorded at maximum volume, and I attempted to stay in the upper register throughout the piece.  It had an ascending shape overall that made reference to a handful of specific two-note pitch combinations.  

F–Eb  

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

Eb: Same as above, remove the High F# key

Gb–F

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

F: Same as above, remove the Side Bb

Ab–G

Ab:  (Left Hand) B key, Octave, Low Bb // (Right Hand) High F# key, Side Bb

G: Same as above, also put down the A key in the left Hand

A–Ab

A:  (Left Hand) C key, Octave, Low Bb // (Right Hand) High F# key, Side Bb, Side C

Ab: Same as above, remove Side C

The other pitches, clusters and wide intervals were explored by opening and closing the palm keys in combination with the above fingerings, plus wily exploration with embouchure motion, or ad hoc fingerings to explore new sounds.

-Neil

The image accompanying today’s post is a “light beam with a curve.”