Emile

Browsing Archive: February, 2012

DailySing - 28 (2.28.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Wednesday, February 29, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Tonight's DailySing was an exploration in the classic sense. I used the echo mic, and tried some made up language to get started, and kept my focus until the end where I lost it, several times. I stuck to a couple of themes, but ventured farther than my comfort zone would normally allow. And while this made for good musical ideas, it also left me deeply listening.
The ticking of the clock on the wall, the hum of the computer processors, the occasional car passing by outside, the muted music fr...
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DailySing - 27 (2.27.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Tuesday, February 28, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I'm two for two! I did not leave my body for unexplored inner musical landscapes while improvising tonight. I was able to maintain focus while staying receptive and open to source. I also jumped into my improvisational arch nemesis... Made up language! I love rhythms, melodies then harmonies to play with. Words are a distraction, and made up language has been too close to words, for me to enjoy the musicality of the sounds. I really tried tonight and I was able to make the leap, although my i...
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DailySing - 26 (2.26.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Monday, February 27, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
OMG!!!!!! 
I had so much fun with tonight's DailySing! I sang through a kids toy called an Echo Mic. I got one for myself and one for my daughter India earlier today. She loves it, and I apologize profusely to my wife Billie for the sounds my daughter insists on sharing, but it's a stellar addition of my arsenal of unique sound toys. It's basically a Lion's Roar but the size of a thick-ish mic, with a curved bowl in the top of the mic to create an echo effect, and a spring in the base to ampli...
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DailySing - 25 (2.25.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Sunday, February 26, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
A lullaby from Zimbabwe was my launching place tonight. I don't know why, but it's the first thing that came out of my mouth. I've been training myself to go with whatever comes out at any given time, whether I like it or not. When I went blank and sang, the song Si, Si Si came out. Once that was explored, I kept myself blank and open. It's always educational and entertaining to listen to the playback. Some of the coolest stuff, I don't even remember singing, which is a little trippy. Listeni...
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DailySing - 24 (2.24.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Saturday, February 25, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I did it again! I closed my eyes and started to sing, and when I opened them it was 17 minutes later. I can't take credit for what I sang as I don't remember doing it. I must've gone away when I sang this. I remember it as I listen, but I don't remember doing it originally. Trippy!!!
I bonded over beers with the guys from work, then came home and sang. It was very late and I didn't want to miss it. I did it, but fell asleep immediately afterwards, and woke up at 2:23 AM to write this blog.
It s...
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DailySing - 23 (2.23.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, February 24, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
A friend suggested various interpretations of Happy Birthday for today's DailySing. So, I started several birthday improvs which led to variations of the birthday song I never envisioned. As this is happening at the end of a long day, I am aware of my focus coming and going. Sometimes, I thought I fell asleep, other times, I forgot what I was doing and would vamp until I'd remember that I was doing some guerilla arranging on the fly and add in a happy birthday line or two. I also put the reco...
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DailySing - 22 (2.22.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, February 23, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Wow...! 
Listening is a 7 layer cake that you slowly explore
Listening is a palpably varied and delicate tool
Listening moves me to tears, moves me to ecstacy
listening brings me back to myself
Listening makes me aware of the thick and heavy presence of mastery
Listening brings clarity and light to my inner landscape
Listening helps me guide my mojo (!)
Listening feeds my spirit
I did something different tonight in my singing. I sang a Victor Wooten song that I know, Heaven Is Where The Heart Is, and ...
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DailySing - 21 (2.21.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Wednesday, February 22, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Judgment... Difficult to operate without it. Discernment, judgment, acumen, acuity, astuteness... all necessary to live in the world, and yet used to excess can lead to the antithesis of life. I have so many judgment layers that I am only now "groking". I judge everything. Even when I am practicing I can't seem to suspend judgment. Tonight, I caught myself appraising what I was doing instead of just DOING what I was doing. I caught myself several times, and brought my mind back to neutral. Af...
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DailySing - 20 (2.20.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Tuesday, February 21, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
As I listen to what I just sang, I have to admit to a certain amount of playfulness in what I do. At certain points in my listening, I broke out into a big smile, and once I even laughed out loud. Come to think of it, I laughed out loud and was grinning most of the time during the creation of tonight's improvisation. My listening was easier and deeper, though the ease seemed to belie the depth to a small degree. Rhythm is a huge part of what I do. In the future, I'll see if I can be lyrical w...
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DailySing - 19 (2.19.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Monday, February 20, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I'm not using my full listening abilities when I sing. I read what Will wrote about listening, and the depth of immersion required pushes the boundaries of my comfort zone. I like to bounce in, dazzle/play/jam, then exit... Wham Bam Thank Ya Ma'am, which is rather superficial... on many musical levels. I am good at this improv thing and that requires that I be a good listener. However, in order to achieve the results I want, and to exemplify the behavior and work ethic to those I work with, I...
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DailySing - 18 (2.18.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Sunday, February 19, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
As I listen to this playback, I am filled with utter joy and fascination at the power, beauty and depth of expression in the human voice. It's a good thing to revisit, like Miles' quote from DailySing-17, it reconnects us to the basic truths we take for granted and eventually forget. I remember singing this... and at the time, my moving forward was powered by solid emotion!
I was singing  my emotions, even when I turned the tones into words, I was operating from a primarily emotionally charged...
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DailySing - 17 (2.17.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Saturday, February 18, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I did better tonight staying with a theme and coming back to it time and again. I want to explore the hands playing out a rhythm on my chest as I sing. It syncopates what I'm singing, breaking into separate tempi, sometimes at double time, then switching to half time speed. I keep the rhythm I started playing in my core and even when it can no longer be heard, it is still implied, even as I sing parts with different tempi, while holding longer notes. I sing in French again, this time because ...
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DailySing - 16 (2.16.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, February 17, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I finally did it! I fell asleep whilst singing. I did a good job of floating on the ethereal musical whims of my muse, and jumping in with what I thought of as courage as I leapt from one musical idea to the next, keeping my mind wide open. I realized while listening to what I did that at some of these junctures or focii of change, I am actually falling asleep and singing out loud whatever stream of dream is coming through me at that time. I actually fall asleep for many seconds of agonizing ...
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DailySing - 15 (2.15.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, February 16, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I tried something different this time. First of all it's only 10 pm, and I've already finished singing. Secondly, I took all pressure off of myself to create an experience for a potential listener, and just monitored where I found myself occasionally, throughout this little sing. I did bounce around from genre to genre and idea to idea. I didn't try to make one melodic idea turn into another, cleanly, and with great musicality. No, instead, as soon a a new path showed itself, I decided in the...
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DailySing - 14 (2.14.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Wednesday, February 15, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
One good thing I am doing is staying true to the spirit of improvisation when I do these DailySings. I know this because I am always surprised at where I end up, whether it be on a harmonic tangent, in a percussive interlude, or at the end of the whole piece. I never know where I'm going from one second to the next. Some very happy accidents happen this way. In fact, I'd say that a good portion of new innovative musical ideas are the result of unexpected occurences, "mistakes", my piano teach...
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DailySing - 13 (2.13.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Tuesday, February 14, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Started out with a plan... First mistake! If you're going to improvise, then improvise, don't plan! Planning is the opposite of improvisation!!!
Thought I'd begin with some vocal percussion (vp), and explore how to develop those ideas for the full 15 minutes... Hah!!!
First of all as soon as I had that great idea, I could no longer come up with any vp parts. My brain shut down and I had already begun the 15 mns of improv. I tried desperately to come up with parts in a vacuum, where there were a...
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DailySing 12 (2.12.2012.)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Monday, February 13, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I am upset and unable to focus consistently. I heard about Whitney Houston's death while at choir, then saw the tributes at the Grammy Awards. When I started my 15 minute sing, a catchy little tune drifted down through me, but it morphed into something more melancholy, which drifted into a lyric from "I will always Love You". From there I couldn't grow the chant idea that was coalescing. I kept drifting from one musical idea to another with little rhyme or reason. It felt like I was singing a...
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DailySing - 11 (2.11.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Sunday, February 12, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I zoned out again, only this time, I didn't continue singing through it. There are 2 moments of silence on the playback. It felt the same to me as the other nights when I just woke up singing. The human mind is a marvel!
The rest of the 15 mns turned out to be a multi layered exploration of the textures of my mid range voice.
Enjoy!

To listen to DailySing - 11, click here.

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DailySing - 10 (2.10.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Saturday, February 11, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Here I am once again at the witching hour feeling both drained and energized. I went away again, but I wasn't all the way gone. There was a thin veil through which I experienced the here and now while I was in the music in some other place. This inner journey that comes about every time I sing in this way is intriguing. I feel the weight of the symbols behind the flashes of imagery and behind the story birthing the melodies that are coming through me. My voice stayed in the lower registers th...
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DailySing - 9 (2.9.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, February 10, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I'm amazed at the many places inside us that music comes from. Laughter, sadness, that pain in our heart, the euphoria bursting forth from our throat, the heat in our loins, it's all energies from different places within us. I was fired up from Men's group and brought that fire to tonight's song play. I once again left my body and came back to it (or woke up) singing. This time, I was aware of the fact that I experienced time dilation while being "away". In two separate instances, I remember ...
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DailySing - 8 (2.8.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, February 9, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Tonight was very flat feeling. I fell into my improvisation with the artless slothfullness of a jellied stone. I tried to stay open, but stayed blank instead. In the blankness, snipets of music come, some decent ideas even, but I try not to hold on to them. I'm trying to just be and let it flow through me, whatever form "it" takes... My brain is very busy, as I try to stay blank. Shards of thought debris litter the ground, as I try to navigate through them without touching them. I fail and th...
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DailySing - 7 (2/7/2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Wednesday, February 8, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
The repeated huffing of Timbu, the male of our twin cats, led to an approximation of rhythm which started this little foray into unknown waters. I didn't stick to a musical path or idea, but neither was I a completely free and open channel. I was aware of drifting in and out of knowing where I was musically, and in and out of caring. Tonight was another last minute dealio, where I hit the record button at 11:44 PM. I feel restless and disjointed inside, and that's what I hear in the music dur...
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DailySing - 6 (2/6/2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Tuesday, February 7, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I decided to start my singing earlier in the evening, just after putting my daughter to bed, and today's exploration was inspired by my wife. I was humming the bass line for Come Together just as Billie started talking to me. The musicality of the way she was speaking and the tones she was hitting, turned what I was doing into a minor "thang".The rhythm of her spinning wheel was a part of my backbeat, and the dropped knitting needles became percussive accents to the sound salad. One of the ca...
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DailySing - 5 (2.5.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Monday, February 6, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I really didn't feel like singing tonight! All I wanted was to sleep, but as I've made a pact with myself, I did my duty. I actually feel better for it. When I keep my attention on the song, I simultaneously take many a journey along my inner landscape. The split that occurs is almost automatic. The secret is to stay in the sweet spot, the groove, the zone with a part of myself singing, thinking, creating, allowing, while my spirit goes to be fed in the different places the music takes me.
The...
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DailySing - 4 (2.4.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Sunday, February 5, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
It's fascinating to watch myself while experiencing my Self simultaneously. When I'm singing my soul song, I experience the many layers of my reality as an onion. There are also layers within layers, and I felt them tonight as I fell into stream of consciousness in French, while seemingly aware. I was aware of myself singing, yet was deep in an adjacent layer where I could feel the energy and feelings behind the words without knowing or censoring them until after they were sung.
I wonder why I...
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DailySing - 3 (2.3.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Saturday, February 4, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I left my body... while I was singing! I should say that I became conscious after losing my focus, and was not aware of what I was singing, nor where my place was in the non-existent musical structure that I was trying to map out. It was disconcerting to suddenly wake up singing without knowing what I had been singing while dozing off. I think I sang in the blank spaces, I just can't remember what it was. It'll be interesting to listen to the recording of what I really did sing during the 15 ...
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DailySing - 2 (2.2.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, February 3, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I got lost... Why didn't I simply open up and give voice to whatever came through? Instead, I gave voice to an old idea that's been in my head for years.

I did get lost on this level as well... I zoned out, went into a trance of sorts where time and space merge, and suddenly, I heard the timer. After 7 seconds, I tried to end gracefully. It feels exhilarating in a funny way to be meeting daily for my little ritual. It's like I've got a sweet little secret!

While I sing, thoughts come to mind ...


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DailySing - 1 (2.1.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, February 3, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
This is a day of firsts!!!

- I will speed walk every day, for 20 minutes minimum, for one year!
I want to walk to increase my stamina, lung health and to lose weight.

- I will sing for 15 minutes a day for one year.
I will record these sessions and I will blog my impressions and feelings.

All day yesterday I felt like this was my last day of freedom... How weird! Because February 1st feels like walking through a doorway into the rest of my life, I somehow have to "have a Last Hurrah," like a...


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If you can talk, you can sing


Emile Hassan Dyer I believe that singing is our birthright, and that it is good for our brains, bodies, and spirit. Singing releases oxytocin in the brain, and many studies have shown a correlation of oxytocin with human bonding, increases in trust, feelings of calmness and security, as well as reductions in anxiety. In other words, SINGING IS GOOD FOR YOU! I get high making up music on the spot. I get high(er) when I can do it with several people at once. There's nothing like riding the crest of a creative wave, linked harmonically and rhythmically, supporting, leading, following, creating, coaxing, cajoling, p-l-a-y-i-n-g... THAT'S MY BLISS! Singing for 15 minutes a day means trusting yourself. It means clearing your mind, opening up and discovering what sounds can come out through you, if you allow it. To listen to each of my daily sings, click on the "songs" link on the left in the grey field above the most recent post or on the link at the end of each post.

Categories

My DailySing practice is inspired by Will Hewett's Sing15 practice.

You can learn more about Sing15 at www.willhewett.com.

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