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