05/16/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 136)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 136

Date: 05/16/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

I found myself with an hour of open time during my teaching schedule today, and spent it practicing in the choir room at South Whidbey High School.  I eventually came to a melodic/harmonic gesture that I decided to record as my improvisation today, but every time the tape was rolling a loud-speaker office announcement was made.  After a couple of frustrating attempts, I decided to embrace the fact that my desire to record was in conflict with the reality of being in a school during the lunch hour.  I made a decision that I would use the jarring interruption to my benefit, and decided that if it came on again I would abruptly abandon my pre-planed gesture and play freely for the full length of the announcement and then return to what I was focusing on.  With this decision I almost welcomed the chance to try it. 

This improvisation centers on a repetitive fingering system with five motions, the last of which dips down in pitch.  By virtue of the fingerings there are many sonic possibilities easily explorable in the chosen cycle.  Just as I accepted the inevitability of a loudspeaker announcement and worked with it, I also chose to accept the indeterminate sounds that would come out of my horn and build off of them.

The fingerings (with a root “focus” pitch)

1.  D (quarter step sharp) 

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

2.  G (quarter step flat) 

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

3.  A (quarter step sharp) 

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

4.  G (quarter step flat) Same as second fingering

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

5.  D (quarter step sharp) Same as first fingering.  Dig down the pitch with embouchure movement.

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

-Neil

The image “Portrait of Francis Bacon” by Lucian Freud (1956-57).

05/15/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 135)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 135

Date: 05/15/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

During my improvisation today I worked with the theme of selected focus.  When I improvise it’s sometimes the case that I will zone in on one or two main ares of the shape being explored.  I will of course listen to the entirety of the sound around me, but it becomes helpful for me to ground myself on a particular focal point in order to almost liberate my mind to explore deeper.   Sometimes this is done for the sake of improving the main area of focus, and other times it is done out of necessity.  The fingering system may be extremely difficult, or the overall sounds being explored may be so abstract that they require a very concise area of focus.  For example, while screaming through my horn and creating blasting tones, I might focus on the sheer energy of the piece versus the extreme particulars of its parts.  In this improvisation I explored two fingerings with a  consistent pulse, and while doing so I tried to meditate on the pitches C# sand A.  

The two fingerings used in the improvisation create chord clusters all their own, but I decided to place my mental focus on the two main pithes as well as the constancy of pulse.  I maintained an even tempo based off a quarter note pulse during the improvisation.  I freely altered the rhythms at will, but none-the less always remained focused on the quarter note pulse.  The fullness of the chords was also on my mind along tones within the chords, but while doing so, again I focused my energy on the two pitches C# (quarter step high") and A (quarter step low) as my main point of departure for exploration.

The two main fingerings used in the improvisation were as follows:

Fingering 1: C# (quarter step high)

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

Fingering 2: A

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

-Neil

The image “Off York Island” by John Marin (1922)

05/14/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 134)

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 134

Date: 05/14/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

Location: Choir room at Chief Sealth High School.

Notes:

Today is my first day home from tour, and I was back in the classroom early this morning.  In the choir room at Chief Sealth High School there’s an air duct that emits a steady flow of air with a constant murmur.  Strung up on the ceiling against the back wall are shredded plastic streamers, and the air duct blows directly towards the streamers at one point in the room.  I recorded an improvisation standing beneath he air duct, immediately below the streamers.  Using an unbroken air flow with tongue articulation against the reed, I balanced the constancy of the air flow with the gentle grazing of the streamers and air duct.

During this improvisation I used exhaling and inhaling while articulating against the reed.  There is no lull in the air being emitted into the horn, and I varied how quickly I would inhale and exhale.  I used a variety of tonging techniques, including: using the tip of my tongue against the center-tip of the reed, flopping my tongue from side to side against the reed, trapping saliva in the mouthpiece, and creating high-tone pitches with my air flow while articulating.

-Neil

The image accompanying today’s post is an airplane model inside a wind tunnel.

(05/13/2013) 12 Moons Solo Project Day 133

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 133

Date: 05/13/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

Location: Above a ravine at the base of Mt. Shasta.  Mt. Shasta, California

 Notes:

Now on the final day of our tour, Chris and I woke up in Mt. Shasta, an hour or so South of the Oregon border.  We drove up an access road about 5 miles to get a better view of the mountain, and found ourselves at a vista point near the base of the.  After doing some recording together on a trail, I headed farther up the service road by foot.  I climbed up a hillside to get a birds-eye view of a deep ravine that had an open meadow beyond it.  I was inspired by the reverberant space beyond me, and I responded to the acoustics by working with the naturally occurring delay.

The forest was alive with bird songs, ants scattering their energy on the ground and the ever-present wind.  During moments of inaction from my instrument, I tried to listen equally to the delay, as well as the environment I was interrupting.  In this improvisation I decided to use a single fingering, played with embouchure adjustments in order to pull out two main pitches and various overblown sound clusters.  The two fundamental pitches were Concert Db, and Eb (quarter tone sharp).  The fingering was as follows: (Left Hand) Fork F, A-G keys // F-E-D keys, Low C, Side Bb.

-Neil

 The image accompanying today’s it Mount Shasta.