Emile

Browsing Archive: July, 2012

DailySing - 181 (7.30.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Tuesday, July 31, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
P.H.A.T, funky, fresh... That's what tonight's DailySing felt like as I was creating it.

Very scary to try for words right off the bat, but it wasn't too bad, even though I went back to scatting sounds as soon as I was able. 

I liked the idea of soloing in between the lines of the bass line, but I made it too dense, so there's really no room to do anything spectacular but hit a couple of notes in the short time alloted.

I like my little vocal percussion (VP) section, along with the breaks in 6/8...
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DailySing - 180 (7.29.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Monday, July 30, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
There's an up energy that I have around my music lately. I can hear it in the choices I made in tonight's DailySing, in the choices I make when I randomly pick a sound pattern from a crowded room or the street and riff on it.

I haven't been too worried about going to my defaults lately, but have been working them in new ways and from more of an architectural perspective. Crafting a sonic piece from a perspective other than that of a singer or even of an instrumentalist, but the perspective of ...
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DailySing - 179 (7.28.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Sunday, July 29, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Wonky modem... Again... ARRRGH!!!!!
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DailySing - 178 (7.27.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Saturday, July 28, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
A bright exhuberant DailySing with plenty of explorations and sections of effusive rhythms and joyfully sung melodies. 

I feel full of effervescent life energy and it's coming out in hearfelt musicality. 
I suggest that anyone reading my words try this.

Focus on a positive or happy thought or feeling. Let it build and swell until it's in your heart/gut... then open your mouth to sing. Don't anticipate, don't think... remain blank in your mind, while allowing your heart/gut to run riot.
What comes...
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DailySing - 177 (7.26.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Saturday, July 28, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Screwy modem... no connectivity... Aaarrgh!!!
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DailySing - 176 (7.25.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, July 26, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I have to say that the timbre of the last two DailySings has been joyful and bright.

Today, I sang as soon as I came home out on the balcony. I did attract a little attention from a few passersby, but it didn't matter. The music was exhuberant and energized. One of these days, I'll do it in the park.

The traffic and other ambient sounds provided a nice backdrop or pad for my improv. I found a melody and was able to come back to it with no problem. I was also able to stick to the same groove wit...
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DailySing - 175 (7.24.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Wednesday, July 25, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Wide ranging... That's what I call tonight's DailySing. I started in one rhythm and feel, and abruptly changed to something rhythmically different, while keeping the melody or a variation thereof.

I began with a laid back 4/4 , then went into a 4/4 rock steady feel. Later on, I was basically switching between a rolling 6/8 feel and the 4/4 rock steady beat. Those were my two interpretations of the melody I set up. I had a lot of fun jumping back and forth between the melody and my various solo...
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DailySing - 174 (7.23.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Wednesday, July 25, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Modem is burnt out...
The theater is dark for the next 24 hours.

Wish me luck in getting back up and running.!

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DailySing - 173 (7.22.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Monday, July 23, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I feel joy and elation, coupled with some playful energy as a direct result of my earlier singing experience today.

The studies that measure brain health are pretty straightforward in their findings of a corrolation between singing and increased brain plasticity and function. Fascinating stuff.

 I did a good job starting with a theme and coming back to it successfully, time after time.

To listen to DailySing - 173, click here.

 

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DailySing - 172 (7.21.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Monday, July 23, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
There are times when the musical landscape that I traverse is irksome to me, bleak and scarred and deserted.

That's how singing feels tonight... Just so empty.
I can find nothing that points to my present feelings. I'm just devoid of all creativity, curiosity and will.

I'm sure that this too shall pass. I am hesitant to download the recording that resulted from these feelings.
I'll decide in the next few days.

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DailySing - 171 (7.20.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Saturday, July 21, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Tonight's exploration ranged far and wide!

First, keeping one's emotions under control after a traumatic event and channeling the energy into  going for broke with tonight's DailySing.
Secondly, I learned a thing or two in the percussive section.

To listen to DailySing - 171, click here.

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DailySing - 170 (7.19.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, July 20, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
In keeping with last night's discoveries around keeping happy thoughts while singing, I did just that and am a little surprised at how obvious it is. My joyous mood is affecting the music I chanel,  which leads me to tonight's discovery.

The most effective way to be creative in the moment with vocal improv, is to not rely on our brains, but to allow it to step aside while other senses take over. Just a light touch is all that's needed.

To listen to DailySing - 170, click here. 


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DailySing - 169 (7.18.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, July 19, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Not only do our thoughts create our own reality, but they color and influence everything we feel and do.

Tonight, I stayed focused on very happy thoughts and positive feelings while doing my exploratory singing. While I didn't find a direction influenced by my mood, I did find a distinct flavor to my musical choices.

I also found that thus occupied, my mind wasn't looking for ideas to come up with. It was all right there at my fingertips, as long as I didn't push too hard to lead and be in char...

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DailySing - 168 (7.17.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Wednesday, July 18, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
My thoughts were lyrical in nature and tonight's DailySing reflects that.

A friend and fellow drummer and singer turned me onto Symphonicities, an album with Sting backed up by a classical orchestra. I was able to listen to a song called I Burn For You, in which the orchestration was simultaneously rich and sparse to great effect.

I imagined my musical co-conspirator and I exchanging patterns, riffs, and ideas ad infinitum, with vocal variations on the main melody and rhythmic textures to excit...
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DailySing - 167 (7.16.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Tuesday, July 17, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Tonight's DailySing was all about getting through it.

Not getting lost whilst going through it, not falling into old patterns, getting swept up in the surge of creativity.

While fully invested emotionally, I felt as distant as an observer, although I do remember some smokin' licks for a few minutes there.

To listen to DailySing - 167, click here.

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DailySing - 166 (7.15.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Monday, July 16, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Thinking about using words on the fly, as rap, as spoken word, as sung lyrics.

Tonight's experiment went rather well. I decided to riff on  the idea of asking for help with a funky backbeat and bass line as a foundation. The lyrics were then interwoven as accents and counterpoint.

I played with a percussion section, followed by soloing with long tones, and finally focusing on content and meaning of my lyrics. The words from the heart work best...!

This was a solicitation done in song form, and a...
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DailySing - 165 (7.14.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Sunday, July 15, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Being true to my current emotional state, and bringing it through my singing.

Emotional expression both literal and abstract was the theme tonight.

I explored leaving the melody for parts unknown and coming back to it without needing to come up with a variation. Yea, my memory is improving!

Scating was another feature of this jam, as was the percussion section, and the lyrics that poured out of my heart.

To listen to DailySing - 165, click here.

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DailySing - 164 (7.13.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Saturday, July 14, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
The theme for tonight... Staying Fresh!

What does that mean?
Staying fresh means not falling into known patterns, or staying away from comfortable "default settings."

From bass solos to vocal modal explorations to percussive interludes... It's all gottta be F-R-E-S-H...!!! Unused, untried, and strangely enough... innocent

I'm gonna sing now, and see if any of this applies.

Of course it was entirely not what I expected. I knew enough to keep singing, which brought me to a place of acceptance for my...
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DailySing - 163 (7.12.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, July 13, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I feel tonight as if I've reached a plateau of sorts.

As went through tonight's jam, I felt like a part of me was going trough the motions as the rest of me is flowing and riding the creative wave.

I tried to break the inertia of the plateau by exploring percussive sections, lyrical vocal solos and more with an eye to getting back to my main melody.

This was only partially successful as I had a harder time coming back to the main melody toward the end.

It was still a good time!

To listen to DailyS...
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DailySing - 162 (7.11.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, July 12, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I wanted to reach into a person's mind and know that they hear my bass line.

I want them to sing and feel the bass line, so that when I depart from it, they still hear it, psychologically.

I did this all throughout tonight's DailySing.

To listen to DailySing - 162, click here.
 

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DailySing - 161 (7.10.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Wednesday, July 11, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Just staying open... That's tonight's goal, to remain an open conduit.

I stayed pretty open, but my mind kept trying to arrange, compose, and orchestrate. It's a very thin line that I trample constantly.

Even at my most vulnerable, and willfully open, a piece of me is observing, evaluating, weighing choices and decisions.

I have no answers, but I do think that each mindset has its uses.

To listen to DailySing - 161, click here.

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DailySing - 160 (7.9.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Tuesday, July 10, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I was back in the car getting lost in the music! It was great!!!

A soft repetitive melody in my low range served as a solid bass. I was even able to depart and go way outside without forgetting the main melody when it was time to get back to it. Guiding this felt very light and effortless. Less is certainly more!

I enjoyed the funkiness of the bass line and all of its permutations. We bridged into jazz, rock, and some imitation neo-soul.

The vocal solos were all different, yet were inspired by t...

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DailySing - 159 (7.8.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Monday, July 9, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Memories are an excellent conduit for creativity, whether it be for actors, scuptors, or musicians.

In the same way that an actor accesses his or her emotions through memory, so too can a singer bring forth rich material as inspiration, as subject matter, as an entry to places where we can transport a listener or an entire audience.

Tonight, I revisited places, emotions and states of mind from this past week, from the bitttersweet to the sublime. 
The trick is to not let oneself get distracted f...
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DailySing - 158 (7.7.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Saturday, July 7, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Early morning sing to greet the day.

Just open yourself up to the day, the sun, the breeze, the rising heat, the dappled shadows cast by the trees, the bird song.

Open yourself up to every detail you become aware of as you sit in nature in the early morning, then sing each one.

Lift your voice to the heat of the sun, let your melody follow the feel of the wind, and any other early morning inspiration.

Finally, notice how it makes you feel inside your body, your mind and about the day.

To listen to...
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DailySing - 157 (7.6.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, July 6, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Sweet to sing in the early morning sunshine!

I was stuck trying desperately not to replicate Bobby's Sweet In The Morning, so I let myself drift from idea to idea, exploring each one, but never really gelling with anything until that funky beat that pulled WORDS out of me.

It Feels So Good In The Morning Time
It Feels So Good In The Morning Time
Life Feels Fine.
The Sunshine Feels Fine.
I Feel Fine.
 


To Listen to DailySing - 157, click here... after 7/9/2012

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DailySing - 156 (7.5.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, July 6, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Riding the wave of the now... That's how I tried to approach this sing. It was after a long day, and I could hear how tired I was when I began to sing. I didn't mind falling into old patterns or defaults. In fact, I explored them in greater depth than I have in a long time.

That was liberating in its own way, because I wasn't monitoring myself and allowing for the discovery of unknown territory within my strengths.

As I said earlier, it was the end of a long day, and I fell asleep...several tim...
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DailySing - 155 (7.4.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, July 5, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Intervals are tonight's byword. The second part of the main melodic phrase was a decrescendo with odd intervals which gives the funky groove added validity and weight.

All explorations away from the main melody were different from one another which was an achievement.

I did get lost and drift off, even singing for an extra 18 mns. 


To listen to DailySing - 155, wait until after 7/9/2012, and click here

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DailySing - 154 (7.3.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Wednesday, July 4, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Here it is...

The funky beat that keeps bubbling under the surface of my spirit. I decided to let it burst forth, so to speak.

It feels good to let myself be carried along. It makes me wonder if I shouldn't explore singing and scatting very rhythmically oriented material that people want to move and groove to.

I explored a little soloing in my upper register, jumping back and forth between it and the main melody.

To listen to DailySing - 154, click here after 7/9/2012.

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DailySing - 153 (7.2.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Tuesday, July 3, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
The question for tonight turned out to be, how many ways can I make any departure from the main groove fun, exciting and engaging without being repetitive. 

I tried several things. At first I added VP to the groove, then went into a percussive exploration with the kuika as the main time keeper. I then checked out soloing using voice, guitar, strings and horns as inspiration. I interspersed all of this with VP and BP (Body Percussion).

To listen to DailySing - 153, wait until after 7/9/2012, the...

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DailySing - 152 (7.1.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Monday, July 2, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Percussion is a part of the array of rhythmic sounds that we relegate to instruments, yet these sounds can be imitated and new ones created as part of a larger vocal vocabulary.

Instead of using vocal percussion to merely keep the beat imitating a drummer, this vocal array of percussive sounds can be incorporated with tonal sounds to enrich a solo, bass line, or main melody.

To listen to DailySing - 152, wait until after 7/9/2012, then click here.

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DailySing - 151 (6.30.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Sunday, July 1, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Another road trip for tonight's DailySing...

As varied as these different themes were, they felt like defaults that I always fall back on.

Playback was a little frustrating. At least now I know what to change n the furture.

To listen to DailySing - 151, click here.

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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.

Tags

"creative wave"percussive lyrical vocal solos melody "richard bona "sing out loud 'vp guy" riffs sounds patterns 4/4 4/4 feel 4/4 time 6/8 6/8 bell 6/8 feel 6/8 time a cappella a cappella thang abandon accented beat accents act of singing actors adaptability addendums aeolian african vocal delivery afro blue afro funk afro-cuban air flow alive ambient apex approach arc arc of the improv architecture arrange arrangements arranging art artless aspect of music atmosphere attacked the singing audience backbeat background hum balance ballad ballad-like bass bass line bass lines bass llne be the sound beat beatbox beatboxing beats berimbaus berzerker bird song birthday birthing the melodies blog blues bluesy body percussion body rhythms bp brain brassy bre bridge bridges burst carlinhos brown catchy tune cd channel chant chants choices choir chops chorus clapping claps clarity classical clave climactic crescendo codification of play cohesion color compose compositions concert conduit 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