Music

Saxophone, iPhone … Soundcheck

I’d been hoping to shake some of the dust off my saxophone recently and record a few meditation-type pieces like I have on the piano. Well, tonight I decided to give it a go.

However, this time I recorded myself using Garageband on … the iPhone.

I frankly amazed that I can create multitrack recordings on a telephone, and even more surprised that the little microphone on this phone has such high quality.

The recording’s not perfect, but I like the result.

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December 8th, 2011
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Music

Piano meditation: On the breeze

Here’s my latest piano improvisation, a short piece that I think I channeled my inner Erik Satie to create.

Again, I’ve used a simple motive, in this case the movement between two chords, and have tried to create a piece that has steady degree on movement without relying on harmonic changes and instead leaning on a repetitive rhythm and dynamic changes to create the mood.

It reminds me of a see-saw, or a sunflower swinging back and forth on a growing and fading summer wind.

I’m happy with the outcome, it’s peaceful.

Enjoy.

Piano Meditation 6:

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February 12th, 2010
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Piano meditation: The steps

When I sit down to record a piano improvisation sometimes I just empty my head, play what I feel until I’ve said what I need to say. But sometimes I like to restrict myself to a specific motive, one of music’s oldest tricks, to create the piece.

You’ve already heard my “one note” meditation, as well as my exploration of the V-I progression. However, for this latest one, it’s all about octaves.

To create this each hand only plays octaves, so the harmonies never include more than two notes. The result is a sometimes haunting piece that climbs and falls, or mounts and slides downhill at times.

It’s beautiful and creepy and I’m happy with it.

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Flickr photo by Tim Green aka atoach
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January 26th, 2010
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Piano meditation: The tempest

Who said program music is rightfully dead? In fact, I love it when music evokes a scene, mirroring some living phenomenon. It already mirrors, amplifies and often juxtaposes our emotional and spiritual experiences.

In the case of my next piano meditation, the idea was simple: a storm.

In order to create the effect I played a series of arpeggios, often faster than my fingers could move, causing a few muffed notes and blurred passages that I felt the captured unevenness of a whirling rainstorm. At one point, I break the rhythm altogether, and go wild like uneven bands of storm.

To make the point even more I upped the tempo in Garageband just a bit.

I pretty happy with the result. I don’t often play to set a scene, but maybe this is my musical attempt at haiku, which often finds greater meaning in the simple observation of nature.

Enjoy the piece.

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Flickr photo by OneEighteen
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January 6th, 2010
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Piano meditation: Peace, dark or light

My last piano improvisation was on the more abstract side, an experiment in using one note only while still telling a musical story.

In this next one, it’s back to an exploration of mood, especially a minor mood. I based the meditation on a simple V – i resolution, stepping in and out of it, meandering through outside chords always with the inevitable V – i resolution in mind.

At the same time, I kept the movement of the piece very slow, almost decelerating  at times, all to create a very somber and reflective feeling to the piece.

I kept the high points from gathering too much strength as well, which when I thought about it after listening to the piece the first time, it made it feel as if the music was a man with his head bowed who even when he’s on the brink of breaking out of the melancholy, doesn’t because he loves the mood too much.

Enjoy the piece.

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Flickr photo by seligr
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December 29th, 2009
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Piano meditation: One note, no more

I’ve always been disappointed the One Note Samba by Antonio Carlos Jobim doesn’t stick to one note, though the tune is catchy as hell. So for this second piano meditation I decided to try sticking to one note, and only one note.

That doesn’t mean one frequency. In this case I used five different octaves of G, but never left G.

It’s not all that pretty, and I made a point of breaking up the rhythms so the time and tempo felt fluid. In fact, the piece is a bit stressful at times, with all of the repetition, but who says music must always be pretty. Art not only imitates life, but it amplifies life too. And while repetition in our own daily lives may beat and beat on a muffled drum, it’s normal that an artistic interpretation of that sounds with more tension.

In addition to the repetition of the G, I discovered while recording that the pounding Gs started to generate a lot of feedback, which I ended up using in the piece. And since I played this on an electronic keyboard, which is always perfectly in tune, there are plenty of harmonics floating over the monotony.

Enjoy.

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December 19th, 2009
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The first keyboard meditation

411599127_699b03d2f0This is an exciting post for me, because I’ve decided to start posting some improvised piano music here, taking a risk, but getting it out there.

For as long as I’ve been playing piano I’ve held these types of personal sessions, where I hang my head and wail on the piano, following every idea as it pops into my head, encapsulating the mood of the moment in notes and chords and rhythms, letting go of any skill limitations and reaching in any direction I have the impulse to follow. When I was in high school I’d pick the lock of the theater door so I could jam on the baby grand on stage. When I moved out of my parents’ home, taking my piano with me, I’d often break into a meditation that lasted late into the night. And in college I again found ways to sneak into the auditoriums so I could play on the empty stage, whispering or pounding out music, alone and in the dark.

Now, as I’ve gotten older, my free time to jam like this is much less, which is why I’ve decided to start recording them when I get the chance.

For now, I’m playing these on a full size, USB-powered keyboard, using Garageband to record. The “Orchestra Steinway” piano in Apple’s symphony jam pack is incredibly warm and realistic, and with just enough echo to evoke an empty hall, the sound is perfect.

I’ll call these “piano meditations,” and I’ll post them as I record them.

The first one went in a somber, introspective direction, with moments of sweetness and a few spots of disorganized distress. I hope you enjoy it.

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Flickr photo by ramon_perez_terrassa
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December 17th, 2009
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Music: My piano is chanting

228253734_54af27f603Today I share a piece of music, Chant 1, which is last piano piece I’ve written in a while.

The general idea of the piece was to create a melody and to repeat it, each time adding a new note to the harmony. The motive, which is played in unison with its harmonies for the entire piece, starts out as a two part harmony, later picks up a third, fourth and lastly fifth voice.

I chose “Chant” because of the choral nature of the melody, and perhaps I will score it for choir one day. For now, I like how it functions as a piano piece.

Click to Listen:

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And if you’d like to print out the score and play it yourself, be my guest.

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July 24th, 2009
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