12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 300

Date: 10/27/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

Location: Home studio in Clinton, WA (Whidbey Island)

Notes:

It rained this morning for the first time in weeks. The drier weather was very unusual for our region this time of year, and it was a welcome sound hear the rain poring down the gutters. I felt inspired to go immediately into my practice space to begin practicing and recording this morning. In today’s improvisation I wanted to capture the welcome change in the weather and its union with my calm, unhurried morning. This improvisation was recorded at a very low level of volume, and pivoted around a central Low B sound cycle and simple melodic gestures.

During this piece I used the Low B fingering with the octave key depressed. I maintained a de-tuned B Major sound cycle by blowing into the horn with an overtone shape and trilling the Octave key continuously. Melodically, the improvisation primarily used 4 pitches: Middle octave B, C#, D, and the upper octave A#. In the sound cycle the low octave B is maintained along with elements of the major chord, creating an ever present pad beneath the 4 pitches, which I explored freely. At two points in the improvisation, after playing the A# in the upper register I would take away the B major pad beneath, and bend between the A# and B#. In the final few moments of the improvisation I released the octave key and began trilling the F key in my right hand, allowing the Low B fingering to resonate more freely for just a moment.

During this improvisation the fingerings used were as follows. The Octave key should be trilled continuously at all times:

Middle octave B:

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Octave, Low B // (Right Hand) 1-2-3, Low C.

Middle octave C#:

(Left Hand) 1-2-3, Octave, Low B // (Right Hand) 1-2-3, Side Bb, Low C.

Middle octave D:

(Left Hand) 1-3, Octave, Low B // (Right Hand) 1-2-3, Low C.

Upper octave A#, as well as the A#/B# split tone.

(Left Hand) 1-3, Octave, Low B // (Right Hand) 1-2-3, Side Bb, Low C.

-Neil

The image “Untitled” accompanying today’s post by Hann Trier (1967).