Emile

DailySing - 44 (3.15.2012)

March 16, 2012
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 rock 4/4 feel. I explored solo voice while the shakers kept a pulse. I jumped from bass line to melody, to harmony, to bridge, and all the while the shakers kept a rock steady pulse. It was then that I abandonned the shakers altogether and explored my solo voice with long tones and sweeping phrases. Of course as soon as I got going I had to add a backbeat which changed the whole thing. The backbeat was the foundation for a funky bass line, and I even threw in some solo moments in my upper falsetto register. I slipped into a jazz feel... THAT didn't work! So, I brought the funky bass line back and jumped to all manner of solo horn, violin, and guitar sounds using that bass riff as home. It felt exhuberant!!!

To listen to DailySing - 44, click here.
 

DailySing - 43 (3.14.2012)

March 15, 2012
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)

March 14, 2012
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)

March 13, 2012
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)

March 12, 2012
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)

March 11, 2012
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)

March 10, 2012
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)

March 9, 2012
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)

March 8, 2012
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)

March 7, 2012
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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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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