12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 354

Date: 12/20/2013

Instrument: Tenor saxophone

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

Notes:

Today I worked with a liquid figure, a sweeping gesture that moved from the lower register to the upper with muted tones and multiphonics. I used a recurring arpeggiated shape, played in the same order in ascending and descending fashion. The shape itself used “false” fingerings and two multiphonics. This arpeggio used the following 7 pitches (in ascending order and in the tenor key of Bb): D, F#, A#, D, F#, A# (quarter step flat), F (quarter step flat). The 5th and 7th pitches also incorporated multiphonics, which I placed there specifically to interrupt the flow of the melody, as the larger multiphonic structure of the 5th pitch (F#) gives the impression that the arpeggio descends when moving to the 6th pitch, but then ascends again in the final multiphonic of the 7th pitch/multiphoinc F.

Structurally, I approached this improvisation freely, and after having established the general tone and pace of the ascending arpeggio, I would change tempos or isolate specific areas of the arpeggio and cycle them continuously. The fingerings used for this arpeggio are notated below in ascending order and in the tenor key of Bb. The descending shape uses the same fingerings beginning with the 7th pitch and moving backwards to the 1st (reverse order).

Pitch 1: D (Left Hand) 1-2-3, Low Bb // (Right Hand) 1-2-3

Pitch 2: F# (Left Hand) 1-2-3, Low Bb // (Right Hand) 2-3

Pitch 3: A# (Left Hand) 1-3, Low Bb // (Right Hand) 2-3

Pitch 4: D (Left Hand) 1-2-3, Octave, Low Bb // (Right Hand) 1-2-3

Pitch 5: F#/Multiphonic Chord using F#, G, C, D# (Left Hand) 1-2-3, Octave, Low Bb // (Right Hand) 2-3

Pitch 6: A#(quarter step flat) (Left Hand) 1-3, Octave, Low Bb // (Right Hand) 2-3

Pitch 7: F (quarter step flat)/Multiphonic using D#, F#, F (quarter step flat) (Left Hand) 1-2-3, Octave, Low Bb // (Right Hand) 2-3, High F#

-Neil

The image “Contra-Construction. Project, 1923 Axonometric” accompanying today’s post by Theo van Doesburg and Cornelis van Eesteren (1923).