12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 353

Date: 12/19/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

During a brief practice session this morning I worked with extreme dynamic shifts with abrupt texture changes. In what eventually became today’s improvisation, I isolated two lower register pitches and two upper register textures, and paired each of the lower tones with the same upper texture each time. I used the powerful bell tone pitches B and Bb, and played each of them at a high volume with a wide vibrato and faster oscillation. The upper textures were played with no vibrato and were held at an extremely low volume. The Low B was paired with a split-tone Ab/Bb in the upper register, and the Low Bb was paired with a muted single Bb pitch in the upper register. These fingerings were as follows:

Low Register B

Standard Low B fingering

Upper register texture: Ab/Bb split-tone

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

Low Register Bb

Standard Low Bb fingering

Upper register texture: Muted Bb

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

In performing this improvisation, I tried my best to execute the low register pitches with a common vibrato, constant vibrato oscillation, and common dynamic level. I was moderately successful at this. I tried to follow suit with the upper register tones as well, attempting to play each sound in turn with a constant dynamic level. For the upper register Bb (paired with the Low Bb), I attempted to play this pitch as quietly as possible. However the Ab/Bb split tone pitch (paired with the Low B), I played at a slightly higher volume. Again, I was only moderately successful at maintaining consistency. With the extreme dynamic and texture changes, I recognized an opportunity to use silence as a compositional component. With this in mind I used abrupt cut-offs when moving between octaves and when finishing phrases. This was done to heighten the potency of the silence when it was utilized.

-Neil

The image “Through and Beyond” accompanying today’s post by Sandra Blow.