12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 229
Date: 08/17/2013
Instrument: Tenor saxophone
Location: Home studio in Clinton, WA (Whidbey Island)
Notes:
During my practice session today I worked with the theme of orchestration. I combined clusters of sound in a variety of different textures and fingering cycles. These ranged from very controlled sound concepts to more abstract sound-color improvisations. My recorded improvisation today lies somewhere between these two spectrums. I used a single fingering as a springboard, which was as follows:
(Left Hand) B-A keys, Octave, Palm Eb // (Right Hand) F# key
From this fingering I also added the Side F#, Low D and Low F (all in the right Hand) in vary combinations to create recurring cycles of sound or abstract one-off textures. At the beginning of the improvisation I added or took away keys more indeterminately, exploring colors of sound in the aforementioned abstract approach. The patterns and melodies played in this piece were improvised, but as is clearly heard, there are many recurring patterns. These shapes became my point of departure to begin balancing tones within the sound clusters, orchestrating them based off of what struck me from moment to moment. At times I would begin to pull out one tone more than another, particularly when I used more complex poly-rhythms. The high E and high F (each in the tenor key) became integral in centering my ears towards concrete elements from which to privet on. I worked to cross fade tones in and out, with a particular emphasis on the crescendoing of sound. Variations in tempo from slow to fast, fast to slow, or more abrupt changes also became improvised elements used to help accentuate the orchestration of sound by punctuating recurring themes or helping to transition from one section to another.
-Neil