Emile

Showing Tag: "fun" (Show all posts)

DailySing - 211 (9.5.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, September 6, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
At some point in this process of singing every day, you hit a wall. A great wall as thick as anything you can imagine. It takes a tremendous act of will to break the lethargy and inertia.

The rolling funky fun fresh beat of tonight's jam is rhythmically varied and often interspersed with VP (vocal percussion) interludes. From a rhythmic standpoint, this sounds like a lot of fun.

I feel that my choices for solo voice in my upper range always sound the same. I'll see what I can do to break it up ...
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DailySing - 208 (8.29.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, August 30, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I've had a wondrous day, full of wondrous experiences, from the tastes, scents, and sensually rich sounds to the sobering daily reminders of my mortality. Ok, maybe not wondrous, but still a damn good day rooted as it was, in the appreciation of the mundane.

The vitality I felt was transfered to the music I sang. With gusto and fervor didst I enter the funky realm of VP (Vocal Percussion), bass grooves and syncopation!

I felt tonight's division of time was in 2 eight minute segments instead of ...
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DailySing - 185 (8.3.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Saturday, August 4, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Tonight's session was created from a snipet of a sound... Tooky-tooky!

A funky little groove surrounded my "tooky-tooky" sound at first. Then I added a percussive bridge before coming back to "tooky-tooky". By now, chest claps are my snare drum, and I start soloing in my upper register, sometimes on a jazz riff, sometimes on a 6/8 bell or clave, and even around Nayabengi. I call it the "We Will Rock You" rhythm.

Towards the end of the jam, I played with polyrhythms by combining VP with BP durin...
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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 - 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 - 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 - 148 (6.27.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, June 28, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
What started as a fun island sounding groove morphed into something a little funkier and even more fun!

This didn't last all that long. The funky island fun groove became an exercise in staying awake, then when I did doze, it became about singing for the full 15 mns. Forget modalities, scales and musical theory. This was about something primal like survival. Like keeping my promise to myself! By the end it just involved making sound... producing sound... For 15 mns...!

To listen to DailySing - ...
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DailySing 145 - (6.24.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Monday, June 25, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
A funky little energy ball took over just as I opened my mouth tonight, and you can hear the result on the recording.

It was a field day for learning to keep the groove interesting and fun on the fly. 
I juxtaposed radically different rhythms together, divided by sections. The first split was into a slow jazz thang with swing, then I explored variations on a funky theme before coming back to the main melody. The next departure was into a tribal 6/8 PV groove, before dropping back into the 4/4 o...
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DailySing - 139 (6.18.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Tuesday, June 19, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
A funky beat is what came out tonight. As usual, I was thinking about the bass and the rest is history. Many a song or chant has begun with a slammin' bass riff.

As I listen to this, I am struck by how little is needed to make sounds, and by how much is needed to make the "right" sounds. This doesn't happen, unless there is some intense concentration involved.
I can feel and hear the wall that I'm hitting, when I concentrate.

You gotta know your scales... PERIOD!!!

 It's also time to start playin...

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DailySing - 136 (6.15.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Saturday, June 16, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I felt like Reggae tonight, but what came out, while funky, was a far cry from Reggae. The accented beat was all wrong for Reggae, but it was danceable and had a good breat.

I went through a few different ways to approach soloing, but what really stood out was the vocal percussion or VP! What started out as just a section in the improv, turned into a full scale study of how I make the various sounds, how they can be modified, how different time signatures can all hang on the same tempo.

For exa...
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DailySing - 128 (6.7.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, June 8, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I got lost in the improv and didn't realize that time was up for an extra 38 seconds.

It started as a slow, lazy riff and meandered through various musical landscapes before picking up speed at the bridge and becoming a raucous island jam for a few measures, before dropping back down into the funk of the slow, lazy riff.

I even went for lyrics and they weren't half bad, if I do say so myself.
 
There was a moment where I inserted VP into the melody, which led to focus on the rhythm section, which...
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DailySing - 114 (5.24.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, May 25, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Distant... is how I felt while singing tonight's DailySing. I was in a standard jazz headspace for the longest time, and explored all kinds of permutations for solos. 

I then felt the need to change everything and got into a quick highlife beat which devolved into a funk default that I often use. I followed that with a reggae groove which slid into a ballad-like solo. I wound up at another funky default that uses some vocal percussion then back to ballad-like solo, to funky groove, to Afro fun...
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DailySing - 112 (5.22.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Wednesday, May 23, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Tonight's DailySing felt like one long jam! It was fun from beginning to end! Even when I transitioned to different tempi, feel, or genre of music, I held it together.

I went to some "outside" places for tonight's session. I literally just held on for the ride. The all vocal percussion section near the ballad section, near the jazz section, etc...

To listen to DailySing - 112, click here.

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DailySing - 109 (5.19.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Sunday, May 20, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Tonight's DailySing was the expression of a satiated spirit, slow, loose, easy and relaxed. Maybe a little too relaxed as I dozed off five times.

I started in a slow ballad mode, and during the playback, I can hear myself sounding more and more tired, and less and less coherent musically. I was very content with what I was experiencing and stopped mid-phrase. A few seconds of dead air, then I come back in as if nothing had ever happened.

I even added some syncopation to the melody in lieu of a ...
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DailySing - 108 (5.18.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Saturday, May 19, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Surreal is how tonigh's DailySing felt. I came home at 11:30 pm and didn't have any time to waste, so I went down to the car. Sitting in a dark parking garage with only the glow of my iPod on the dashboard to see by. This time, none of my neighbors walked by the car while I was clapping, making weird percussive noises, and singing at the top my lungs.

I didn't sensor myself and allowed whatever came through, to come through unchecked. I explored the upper register of my voice while soloing, an...
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DailySing - 76 (4.16.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Tuesday, April 17, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Feeling run down and not like singing at all, but it' s turned out to be invigorating!

I do remember that at one point I fell asleep, but that comes later in the playback. So far I sound inspired. I'd listen to this if it were on a CD. That should be my project, to create a CD from all improvized pieces, then go back, overdub and flesh them all out. 

The way I'm singing tonight, it could work... Inspired creativity in the moment. I start with a riff and explore it, move away from it, come back ...
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DailySing - 72 (4.12.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, April 13, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
If I were in New York, I'd climb out onto the roof or the fire escape to do today's DailySing. But since I'm in LA, I climb into our Honda Element and rock out!

Basically, it's a funky repetitive groove that I can come back to after many a varied foray into solo-land. I begin boldly, probably because the car is a little chilly and I need to generate some heat. After playin' around a bit, I wind up with the f.r.g. (funky repetitive groove).

I'm shifting around and seeing where I can go when I st...
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DailySing - 65 (4.5.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, April 6, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
What an interesting journey this DailySing was...
 
Once again, I finished the day's duties around 11: 30 pm, and got to "sangin'"! When I was finally able to express/channel/flow it felt like a dam springing a leak, which slowly built until the pool of creative ideas broke free and I went from some funky little ditties to the land of jazz by way of Jethro Tull's Cross Eyed Mary through speed Ska around Island riffs over Nigerian rhythms which powered my  stream of consciousness soundings. Ther...
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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 - 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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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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