Emile

Browsing Archive: March, 2012

DailySing - 59 (3.30.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Saturday, March 31, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Today, I learned of the death of dear friend, beloved singer and fellow improviser Anne Potter. I will miss her sharp wit, quick mind and wicked sense of humour. When we improvised together, I always felt like we went to similar creative places for our inspiration, and I thought of her as my "creatin' cousin". I love her a lot and was thrown for a loop as the news of her death trickled through my body. I remembered an unflinching explorer pushing me to stay outside my comfort zone, who stayed...
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DailySing - 58 (3.29.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, March 30, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
While I feel like every 15 mn session teaches me much and allows me to go deeper into my vocal exploration, I still don't feel like my day revolves around this practice yet. It's usually tagged on as a last task of the day, even when I think of doing it earlier in the day, it still gets relegated to the last thing I gotta do today.

That being said, I had a great time singing tonight, because I let it come through me without controling it which I haven't done in a while. No agenda of trying to ...
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DailySing - 57 (3.28.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, March 29, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
As I observe large swaths of emptiness in my inner landscape, I am also aware of a feeling of hope emerging. This feeling had me thinking thinking about and missing my son Chance. This hopeful feeling started inside me as a question, "Where are you now?"... And came out of my mouth sounding like "wee yoo - wee yoo - oo-ooaah".

I persevered with the idea of jumping from a bass line to a melody, to a harmony, then to some solo motifs, and back again. I started with a simple syncopated little rif...
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DailySing - 56 (3.27.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Wednesday, March 28, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Tonight I decided to try something different. Instead of just improvising, I sang Roberta Flack's well known ballad, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. I've never sung that song before and didn't now how to approach it, so I paired everything down to the bare essentials. I could hear wavering, and sliding and catching in my voice as I got acclimated to the song.

I used my daughter's Echo-Mic, and it's sound qualities to play different rhythms while I sang. It added another dimension for me a...
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DailySing - 55 (3.26.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Tuesday, March 27, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Tonight's vocal exploration felt like a journey along a linear path... Kind of like a Grateful Dead jam, you know... Lots and LOTS of improvisation, for long periods of time!!!

I find myself stretching my capacity to sing octaves, to jump back and forth and land squarely on the note. A little like life.I am stretching my capacity to ask for what I want, for what I am worth and for what I deserve. I am expanding myself enough to see a glimpse of my core and that place that recognizes my self wo...
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DailySing - 54 (3.25.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Monday, March 26, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I decided to start with a slow ballad-like melody to push my voice a little, to listen to my tone, to test my vocal control. I dipped, dove, soared, tumbled and spun with my voice. It was like an aerial display for my voice. Like last night's DailySing, I was trying to keep it together at the extremes of my range, by jumping back forth between the melody, the bass and solo motifs.

About halfway through, I switched from improvisation to singing Afro Blue. After a few passes I started to stretch...
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DailySing - 53 (3.24.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Sunday, March 25, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
When I opened my mouth to sing this evening, an old song just came out, so I went with it. I normally play guitar with this song, and found myself singing the guitar part along with the melody, since it's all a cappella. It's been so long that it was a bit of a rollercoaster ride remembering where the key was, which lyrics were used, how to make the different parts fit together as I bounced back and forth with my voice. I improvised a lot toward the end, as I was exploring untried possibiliti...
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DailySing - 52 (3.23.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Saturday, March 24, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
What a journey tonight's DailySing turned out to be. I just dove in with both feet so to speak, and found myself warming up my groovebox, then jumping into sung words, over to the land of polyrhythms (sung consecutively), into a rendition of Jobim's The Waters Of March, more grooveboxing, and finally a funky little rendition of Sweet Jane. It lasted over 17 minutes. I am happy and sleepy all at once.

To listen to DailySing - 52, click here.

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DailySing - 51 (3.22.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, March 23, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Now, instead of trying to find a theme and coming back to it, my brain wants to just go and explore with no rhyme or reason, just for the sheer joy of discovery and play.

I mean, why not give my brain free license? Something will come of this, It always does.Listening to the playback,  I can hear certain patterns and choices that I always make. Do I simply acknowledge them, or do I try to change them? No, I simply augment them for now. I'll observe what I do then look for alternatives to enric...
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DailySing - 50 (3.21.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, March 22, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Tonight's DailySing was a straight ahead journey into the unknown. I didn't put any restrictions on myself, or devise a structure upon which to hang the improvisation. It felt like I was gliding from one idea to the next, making the rules up as I went along. It was a freeing experience! I just opened my mouth and got out of the way! I didn't try to guide the improv, or anticipate the improv. I just rode the creative wave and embraced the process of birthing soundscapes while maintaining no at...
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DailySing - 49 (3.20.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Wednesday, March 21, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
This DailySing was a little more coherent than the last one. I was so sleepy last night that I couldn't string together two simple thoughts, let alone describe what was going on in my inner musical landscape while I was singing.

Tonight, I explore my voice as "jazz singer", as another instrument in the band, as a tonal center. Kurt Elling, Al Jarreau, Frank Sinatra or Harry Conick Jr, all can sing in the same register in which they speak, so I tried it. I attempted to keep my throat and chest ...
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DailySing - 48 (3.19.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Tuesday, March 20, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Fell asleep during tonight's DailySing, 3 times. I felt lke I was rambling in sections, while in others, the theme was well in hand.

To listen to DailySing - 48, click here. 
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DailySing - 47 (3.18.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Monday, March 19, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I've been into continuity lately, with the several blogs mentioning themes and the ability to return to a melody or passage. Tonight was not that... at all!

 Tonight, I went on what felt like an ultimate exploratory musical journey. I sang melodies, established patterns, and somewhere in the convoluted joy of birthing these musical ideas, I tried to return to an idea, and made the choice to follow whatever came up, whether it was a variation on my original idea, or a new idea springing organic...

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DailySing - 46 (3.17.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Sunday, March 18, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I'm proud of myself tonight, and feeling better about my ability to keep a theme going. 
I can depart from the original idea, play around, then come back to the main melodic phrase, then explore some other aspect of this thing called improvisation, and again return to the same main melodic phrase. I often come back to a variation of the main theme because I get so lost in my exploration that I forget what the theme is exactly and can only express an approximation of it.

 Tonight, I struck anoth...

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DailySing - 45 (3.16.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Saturday, March 17, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
"Dodging the Judges" should be the title of this blog entry. How to create  beauty yet stay unattached? The line between investing oneself and remaining unattached is undefined for me when I create music in the moment.
 
On the one hand I can stay hyper vigilant, as during a performance where I straddle being in control, yet spontaneous enough to keep the listener engaged. My spontaneous creations demand flexibility and adaptability, yet clarity and pitch can be greatly affected during an impro...
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DailySing - 44 (3.15.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, March 16, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Tonight''s DailySing was about the unmitigated joy of unapologetic exploration! There are some really juicy moments and some good idea development going on. I picked up the shakers and started using them, and pretty soon it became a game of "how far can I keep going?". 

The first part was mostly setting up a melodic pattern, then I added shakers and slowly slipped into riffs I grew up with, from Pink Floyd and Grand Funk Railroad. I kept jumping back and forth between a 6/8 feel and a square r...
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DailySing - 43 (3.14.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, March 15, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
What a gift we humans have in our capacity for creativity and imagination. I've been listening to tonight's playback and feel humbled and amazed at the continuous flow. A balance was struck tonight, as far as keeping a listener's ear is concerned. In spite of a few rough spots, where I started to think too much and was immediately rewarded with pitch issues, my attention never wandered  and I found myself engaged "as listener" for the entire 15 mns. This means, I'M NOT BORING!!!

There's a cert...
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DailySing - 42 (3.13.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Wednesday, March 14, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
My iPod has rebooted and all is now well. I sang to celebrate, after an exceedingly long day and found myself drifting off as I was singing. I didn't find any gaps in the playback, but my focus was elsewhere at the time I was singing.
I found myself juxtaposing disparate elements like a jazz rhythm and melody in a chorus while the the verses have more of a blues feel, and the bridge sounds African. 
And I seem to be casting my net far and wide this evening, as I listen to the playback. I go fro...
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DailySing - 41 (3.13.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Tuesday, March 13, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
My iPod is frozen, locked up, won't respond!!! This has colored my emotional landscape (see yesterday's blog) for the singing tonight. I came home from men's group, spiritually sated, emotionally full, mentally fatigued, and rather happy. I sat down to sing and realized that my iPod was frozen, but I had to sing anyway, so I did. I sang:
Ali maye, saya na nyine
Ali maye, saya na nyine... Fama 'ala
A song from the Gambia for my friend Kumani's play, started me out, and then I went into vocal expl...
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DailySing - 40 (3.11.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Monday, March 12, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Our emotional landscape directly affects the content of the music, the method of performance, and the energy invested. Seems rather obvious, but the visceral experience is noteworthy. 
I had quite a good day, first breakfast with my daughter India, followed by teaching at choir, India's friend Philina's birthday party, where one of the other parents played piano while I jammed with my voice and beatbox rhythms, pick up my wife Billie from a workshop that she loved, then home for pizza from Mam...
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DailySing - 39 (3.10.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Sunday, March 11, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Once again it was late when I finally sang. I thought to change things up and energize myself by starting with made up language, but that didn't work. Not only did I not feel as energized as I wanted to be, I left the made up language behind and started singing. I occasionally threw in words, but that only lasted a few bars before I started reading words out loud randomly as accents to what I was singing. Words on the TV screen, words on the fridge, words on a letter, words on business cards,...
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DailySing - 38 (3.9.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Saturday, March 10, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I really need to look at my microphone. Parts of the playback are hard to hear because of it. Also, at this point in time, I am doing myself a disservice by singing late at night, at the end of my day. I find myself in a twilight between sleep and wakefulness where I am only aware of what I am singing by listening to the recording. I will focus on singing in the morning for now...!

To listen to DailySing - 38, click here.

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DailySing - 37 (3.8.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, March 9, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Sometimes, like tonight, I wonder what I am doing with this singing thing, I try to remember why this is so important and realize that I and this pact are still getting used to one another. It's early,and I want to catch up on some badly needed sleep, but NOOOO.... I gotta do todays' DailySing... And I feel annoyed... annoyed at this thing I love, annoyed at myself for putting us (me, myself and I) in this position. The lofty goals of learning about myself and attaining some deeper understand...
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DailySing - 36 (3.7.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, March 8, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Tonight's DailySing was really different from yesterday's singing session. Whereas yesterday was about exploring what I could do with established songs, tonight's journey is about staying present while opening up to channel whatever sounds come through. While rhythm seems to remain almost constant in my creations, it too is taken around the percussive block for a different perspective.
 
Creating on the spot, while fun, is not as easy as we make it look. The amount of musical sensitivity is pal...
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DailySing - 35 (3.6.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Wednesday, March 7, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Tonight's exploration started with me wanting to sing The Waters of March, by Carlos Antonio Jobim, then seeing where the journey would take me. In listening to the playback, I realize something was very wrong with the microphone, but that didn't hamper my vocal trek. 
 
Singing tonight was about experiencing the act of singing as free and easy, with no constraints or expectations, while maintaining enough focus to explore my vocal qualities several layers beneath the main melody. I also was ab...
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DailySing - 34 (3.5.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Tuesday, March 6, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Why is the listening especially sweet tonight? What makes the same music move me one night, and bore me the next? Why does one person's unrefined delivery bring us to tears, while the trained vocalist can sound like a machine? 
It feels to me like a spirit versus brain question. If I feel it and channel the feeling and the intent into my words, no matter what they are, the emotion will come through to the listener. When I sing Spirit, when I am the song, when my intent is one with my sonic vib...
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DailySing - 33 (3.4.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Monday, March 5, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I finally did it! I sang outside, on my balcony facing the sunset, suffused with the sounds of the city, and the sounds of life in general. I even had a passing audience at various times on the sidewalk below, as well as perceived movement behind 2 of my neighbor's windows. Being in this soup of living sounds while singing was extremely energizing to me. It influenced some of the melodic interludes I found myself channeling. The sound of a siren fading in the distance, passing conversations c...
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dailySing - 32 (3.3.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Sunday, March 4, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I can't keep doing this. I'm going about my day, then tacking this practice on, at the very end of it. I'm half out of it and singing then becomes this "thing" I MUST complete before I can go to bed. I have to consciously make this the center of my day, and sing earlier in the day. Being tired, I can tell that tonight's singing was better than last nigh's fiasco, but not by much. I did fall asleep tonight, but only once during the singing. My ideas were rehashes of old patterns, and my delive...
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DailySing - 31 (3.2.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Saturday, March 3, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I was listening, listening to a mournfully long note across a bleak terrain when the sound of my own annoyance woke me up and I started singing, we jammed for a while, then I fell asleep again, but got caught up in a good thang and waited it out until you were willing to sing again... So it has been my inner thing.
My wife said that ever since I started DailySing, I am nicer to be around. I told her we'd be on the look out to talk later.
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DailySing - 30 (3.1.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, March 2, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Tonight, I was flitting from one idea to the next. I didn't even try for a semblance of continuity. I changed keys, juxtaposed opposing time signatures, put seemingly irrelevant ideas together and the results were rather bland. I expected at least some disharmony, or dissonance, but it was all a little boring. A pity, as I was actually trying to shake things up. I expect to learn from this year long commitment, but I am lost right now. I don't know where I'm going with the DailySing or what n...
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DailySing - 29 (2.29.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, March 1, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Leap Year Day! This rare and wonderful energy exists on this unique day. It sent me back to basics for my DailySing, I just explored my voice with some simple melodies. I alternated using the echo mic and singing without it. I was more focused when I used it and my concentration drifted when I didn't. The novelty of the new toy is helping me to maintain my focus. When I "drift", I do go into some amazing musical places that I don't want to give up! Tonight's session lasted over 16 mns. I can ...
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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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"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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