Each entry is a live recording of me attempting to shorten the distance between my brain and the hammers of the piano.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
10 Dec 2007, #1c. Saskatchewan - 8m06s
The Lydian mode is probably my favorite mode. For those of you non-theory inclined, a mode is simply a group of notes around which you can base a piece of music. Do you know your major scale? Then you know a mode. The Lydian mode is the major scale, except with a raised fourth degree. For instance, C Lydian is C major but with an F# instead of an F. Pretty simple. I like Lydian because it has a very airy feel, and sort of anticipatory, as if you're almost somewhere, but not quite. (That's because of the raised fourth, which makes it sound like we're in IV of I and are ready, at any moment, to resolve to I. But we don't. Because we're already in the tonic.)
This piece, "Saskatchewan," starts in B Lydian. Adding to the dreamy, uncertain quality is the rhythm of the ostinato, which can either be in 6 or in 3, depending on what you hear. It's not until 1:41 that the first "dissonant" (out-of-mode) note is played, and it's another minute before the next, which actually was a mistake, but convinced me to begin exploring outward. There's a long way to go from there...
Recorded on December 10th, 2007, at Peace Church of the Brethren, in Portland, OR, with a Zoom H4 Digital Recorder. Edited with Audacity music software.
I dug this one once you seemed to figure somewhere to go with it. In the beginning I got bored with the ostinato, but when you really began to stray it became very interesting. It seemed to be your most experimental, and it definitely was the most exciting but (now don't get all huffy), it had parts where I could really hear you trying to figure something out, because what you were laying on top of the ostinato wasn't quite keeping up with it. However, after about the first minute, there were so many moments that were brain breakingly beautiful in an unforeseen way (like say, the end), that it was worth it. As usual, I would consider it awesome. Keep it coming!
The goal of this blog is to post, on a semi-regular basis (I try to update it weekly), recordings of piano improvisation sessions, for people to listen to, and possibly comment on. These pieces are free improvs – stream-of-consciousness creations. Each improv session yields multiple pieces. A new piece starts when I sit down to play, and ends when I get up. Some pieces are split into movements, based on significant shifts in musical direction, usually with a complete stop. For more info, please read the introduction.
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2 comments:
I dug this one once you seemed to figure somewhere to go with it. In the beginning I got bored with the ostinato, but when you really began to stray it became very interesting. It seemed to be your most experimental, and it definitely was the most exciting but (now don't get all huffy), it had parts where I could really hear you trying to figure something out, because what you were laying on top of the ostinato wasn't quite keeping up with it. However, after about the first minute, there were so many moments that were brain breakingly beautiful in an unforeseen way (like say, the end), that it was worth it. As usual, I would consider it awesome. Keep it coming!
yep, definitely gonna put these all on my ipod RIGHT NOW. as the last commenter said, keep it coming!
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