12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 258
Date: 09/15/2013
Instrument: Tenor saxophone
Location: Home studio in Clinton, WA (Whidbey Island)
Notes:
Today I worked with a bluesy gesture in the key of E minor. I used a series of multiphonics which hd distinct profiles in two separate octaves, creating melodic ideas that I explored in each range but tried to weave together into a broader melodic and harmonic whole. I combined the multiphonics to create melodic fragments which I repeated continuously. There were some figures, particularly those in the lower register, which I played far more infrequently than those explored in the upper register. During this improvisation I maintained a steady tempo, but because of the nature of my improvised fingering systems, some of the pitches were more muted or were slightly de tuned from one note to another. Because of the additional notes, this resulted in polyrhythms that bled into the melody, giving the melodies either a steady pulse, or at other times these polyrhythms added momentary hiccups into the expected phrasing.
The melodic fragments in the two octaves tended to center around the following melodic gestures (written in the tenor key of Bb):
Upper register: F#, C#, E, F, E, C#—- // // C#, E, F, E C#—-
The fingerings used to make these various pitch centers, again with additional sound profiles built into them as multiphonics were as follows:
(Left Hand) B-A-G keys, Octave, Low B // (Right Hand) E-D keys
(Left Hand) Fork F, G key, Octave, Low B // (Right Hand) E-D keys
(Left Hand) Fork F, G key, Octave, Low B // (Right Hand) E-D, F# key
Lower register: F#, C#, F#—- // F#, A, F#—-, C#, F#—-
The fingerings used to make these various pitch centers, again with additional sound profiles built into them as multiphonics were as follows
(Left Hand) B-A-G keys, Octave, Low B // (Right Hand) E-D keys
(Left Hand) A-G keys, Octave, Low B // (Right Hand) E-D keys
-Neil
The image “Forest Floor” accompanying today’s post by Tony Urquart (1961).