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.