Emile

Showing Tag: "jam" (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 - 209 (8.30.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, August 31, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
As I listen to tonight's playback, I can hear the progress I've made in the choices I make in the recording.

I feel the vulnerability of coming up with a slammin' solo every single time the opportunity calls for it! I am too aware of every single flicker or lack of solidity in a note, to get cocky. That beautiful journey I've ensnared the audience to take with me can all come crashing down with the utterance of one single faltering note.

But I do have exhuberance, and I can feel it in all of th...
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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 - 207 (8.28.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Wednesday, August 29, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I tried singing without relying on the BP I usually use as rhythmic accompaniment and felt hamstrung the whole time. 

It was fun to give validity and gravitas to whatever came out of my mouth without my built in backbeat. The different sections within the jam were more varied as I looked for ways to fill out the bottom. I explored a rhythmically based variation on the melody, I changed the rhythm almost as often as I changed musical sections. Of course, there was no other choice but to explore...
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DailySing - 204 (8.23.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, August 24, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Free fall...! That's what tonight's session felt like

Once I had a theme, or recurring melodic pattern, it was off to the races. I spent all of my singing time playing with variations on the main theme, as well as ideas of a less traditional nature. 

Rhythm played a huge part in my creative process for this session. I used radically opposing rhythms to define different musical sections, as well as to change the mood and atmosphere of the ongoing jam.

Do yourself a favor, and listen to DailySing ...
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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 - 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 - 146 (6.25.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Tonight's DailySing finds me experimenting... as usual!

I started with a drone which slowly resolved into something with an inherent structure. I then added a beat on mychest, which further defined the structure and allowed for the creation of a melody.

I soloed over this creation and went off on tangents with different rhythms, and time signatures, berfore coming back to the main jam time and again. After a bit, the main jam morphed into a variation, but then went further and redefined itself....
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DailySing - 142 (6.21.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, June 22, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Tonight's DailySing felt like a jam straight through. Departing from and returning to the main melodic groove riff was fun, but I know that at some point early on, I came back to a slight variation and wasn't able to shake it to find the true original.

Oh well, I worked with that and it was all good.

The next sonic region I explored was VP-land. I went from straight beatboxing to different forms of stylized VP. I call stylized VP, any vocal percussion where the varied drum and percussive sounds...
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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 - 115 (5.25.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Saturday, May 26, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Tonight's DailySing had humor in it. While listening to the playback, I was pleased with the way I was building the jam around the main melody, then breaking everything up with two vp interludes followed by a solo exploration, into a rhythmic approach to the next solo exploration. And that's just the first third of the whole improv.

I seem to be breaking the longer jams into sections in my mind. This one started with a theme that I kept throughout the singing. It essentially has a beginning mi...
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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 - 106 (5.16.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, May 17, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
When I opened my mouth tonight, rhythms came out, and I went with it. I tried layering different parts until I couldn't handle singing so many parts at once. I came back to a simple groove.

The next phase was adding a bass line to the groove along with some body percussion. From there, it was time to add a little solo in my upper range, boucing back and forth between that and the bass line.

After exploring various permutations of the groove line, I went into Nantucket Sleighride by the band Mou...
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DailySing - 88 (4.28.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Sunday, April 29, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
This DailySing felt weird because of several reasons tonight.

First, I started what I thought was going to be a dynamite jam... I must've hit something because the recording "paused", and I only got 3 mns and 55 seconds of what I thought was some outstanding material. I AM BUMMED1!!!

So... I re-recorded, on a totally different theme. The problem was that I could'nt remember what I had just created, which was frustrating, but I had to let it go.

What I recreated was and is valid and has a certain...
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DailySing - 87 (4.27.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Saturday, April 28, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
It's good to be back and able to sing.

Tonight's DailySing felt effortless after being away from the singing universe for a few days. I did find myself drifting into patterns that seem to be my default. I was able to switch my mind and play with my defaults midstream.

At one point in the improv, I tried going into a Grateful Dead style jam which led me into deeper exploration. Toward the end, I even went into some spoken word.

It's easier to divide the 15 mns into three 5 mn sections, because ea...
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DailySing - 75 (4.15.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Monday, April 16, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I found tonight that one of the reasons I like doing the DailySing in the car is that I can really let go. Maybe one of these days I'll explore c-r-a-z-y and "go off", encased in my relatively soundproof silver box on wheels.

Again, I started with one basic riff, stayed with it, played with it, went away on multiple solos and came back to it each time, explored inserting vocal percussion into the melody and other parts of the jam. At one point, I adapted the Happy Birthday song to it and sang ...
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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 - 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 - 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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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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