12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 303

Date: 10/30/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

I fell into a very strange mood this afternoon, trapped between exhaustion and a kind of brooding feeling. This lasted for a few hours without any kind of precursor, but simply came and went. I recorded this improvisation in the midst of this experience, which included time during my practice session. In this improvisation I wanted to impart my mental state of mind during this experience. I wanted a clean, clear-minded approach, without any sadness or mellencholy but the simple recognition of a passing phase.

In this improvisation I worked with a minor melody in concert F#, played with a combination of heavily bent tempered pitches and chordal accompaniment. In the chordal accompaniment I chose sombre, beautiful chord shapes, as well as a single, far grittier multiphonic used to break up but none the less compliment the overall texture. The piece was improvised freely once I had decided on the key center, and finally the chordal accompaniment. The fingerings used during the chordal accompaniment were as follows:

B/A

(Left Hand) 2-3, Low C# // (Right Hand) 1-2-3, Low C

A/F#

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

G#/F#

(Left Hand) 1-2, Low Bb // (Right Hand) 1-2-3, Low C

Multiphonic (leaning heavily on the G#)

(Left Hand) 1-3 // (Right Hand) 1-2-3, Low Eb

-Neil

The image “Independent”, from “August 12, 1999" accompanying today’s post by Douglas Gordon (1999).