12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 17

Date: 01/17/2013
Instrument: Tenor saxophone
Location: Home studio in Clinton, WA (Whidbey Island)

Notes:

This is an energy piece. My intention with this improvisation was to create a slight escalation of tension, with a moderate drop part way through and a reemergence of the high tension build towards the end. Throughout this piece the alarm call sound centers around a concert Bb–a fingering that can produce a minor third chord. With my embouchure I bend this pitch upwards and downwards easily within his range, then creating the bright alarm call sound.

In my study of chordal action on the saxophone I quickly learned that each of these chordal sounds seems to have a fundamental pitch center. If you gently blow into the horn there will always be a single tone that is produced naturally, and this is the sound I’ve come to define as the “center” for any given chord fingering. The remaining action of this piece, as noted above, is intended to be of high energy and avant exploration at a high volume.

-Neil