12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 36
Date: 02/05/2013
Instrument: Tenor saxophone
Location: Choir room at Chief Sealth high school. Seattle, WA
Notes:
In my improvisation today I decided to try and explore an equal use of melodicism and harmony. The overtones and multiphonics I work on are often very colorful, filled with complex chords and rich clusters of sound. I find this complexity to be beautiful unto itself, but at times my ear is also drawn towards particular pitches or sounds. With this shift of focus I begin to hear more melodies coming out than actual chords. I can often times even momentarily trick my mind into believing that another sources is playing the chords, and I’m merely accompanying these chords with melodies of my own independent creation. While blindly setting out to perform this improvisation I found myself searching for this balance today.
This was a free improvisation piece with no particular performance model or preparation ahead of time to set in motion. After choosing a basic fingering as a jumping off point, I let my subconscious be my guide. While performing this piece I was surprised by the percussiveness in many of these gestures. Muted tones in the lower register seemed to set their own pace, while melodies and chords navigated a grid above these rhythms. Within the first few seconds of this piece my attention was drawn towards a balance of chordal sound and melodic shape as being a unified goal.
-Neil