Emile

Showing Tag: "voice" (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 - 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 - 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 - 141 (6.20.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, June 21, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Tonight's DailySing started with confusion. My friend Will talks about a "sit up" place, which I think I've discovered quite by accident. As I understand it, it's a musical transitional moment of discomfort or "turbulence" , when we don't feel as confident. Maybe our voice wavers, we feel vulnerable, we back off instead of singing with confidence.

This is the place where the real work needs to be done. This is the place that calls for courage, the courage to feel the discomfort, the constricti...
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DailySing - 138 (6.17.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Monday, June 18, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I started tonight's DailySing with a blank slate, so that I could be true to whatever was coming through me.

While the BP helped ground the music with a mean backbeat, I left it out for long periods of time to explore my voice qualities when I solo, without the distraction of a groove. I never thought I'd ever say THAT!

Other times, I changed the beat from a straight 4/4 to a 6/8 feel to see where the different peception would take me. It made for a varied and entertaining creation.

To listen to...
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DailySing - 134 (6.13.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, June 14, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I did it again. Just as I was sitting down to sing, I had all of these musical ideas come into my head. It took a conscious will to ignore them and just open my mouth while keeping a blank mind.

The intros are rough with this method, because I'm trying to fit what I'm hearing into a pattern for something already established, yet I'm trying to do just that very thing while establishing a rhythm.

The solo exploration was revealing as usual, about where I put my voice in my throat and chest along ...
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DailySing - 116 (5.26.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Sunday, May 27, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
This session had a playful quality for me. After establishing the melodic phrase, for my first exploration, I went all VP on it.

My second exploration centered around the upper range of my voice, the precision and clarity of my tone when I jump from one octave to another.

My third exploration used lyrics on the fly, which wasn't as difficult as I expected, but I kept it short anyway. I then followed that up with different forays into the extremes of my range. Jumping from a bass groove to the s...
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DailySing - 113 (5.23.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, May 24, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I was struck by the disparity between what we "perform" and what we glean from the playback.

While I was singing, I felt on top of the world. When I listened to the playback, my perceptions were different and I could hear the flaws that had not been evident until after the adrenaline wore off. 

Many brilliant ideas remain, and when I started tonight's DailySing, I was inpired.
There are rhythmic grooves, long strains of solo voice, vocal percussion and a lot more in this session.

To listen to Dai...
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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 - 100 (5.10.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, May 11, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I was tired and sleepy when I started tonight's DailySing. As groggy and grumpy as I was, I've now been energized!

I began with an exploration of my voice in its middle range, then ventured into falsetto solo territory. I explored different avenues, but eventually found myself playing with a riff from Deep Purple's Sweet Child In Time. This allowed me to play with various rhythms on my chest while exploring how to sing best with fists and hands slapping my sternum.

Vocal percussion came to the ...
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DailySing - 99 (5.9.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, May 10, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Dynamic...! That's the best way to describe today's DailySing. I've been listening to Carlinhos Brown and Kurt Elling lately and I could feel the bits and pieces I've been picking up, start to gel and make sense inside me.

I started with a rhythm which I then layered (a la Carlinhos Brown) into polyrhythms using my hands and mouth. I then added my actual voice, played with made up language, and rhythmic counterpoint. Later on in the improv, I explore how I use my voice to solo with my falsetto...
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DailySing - 79 (4.19.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Friday, April 20, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Tonight's DailySing felt like it was all over the place. My improv wasn't exciting to me because I felt out of sorts. I felt out of sorts because I tried to record several times earlier in the day, but couldn't because of technical difficulties. I felt inspired then, but by the time I got it fixed, I wasn't in the mood to sing anything at all.

I did do some experimenting with whistling. I whistled the main melody I was working with, then added my voice at the same time. I sound like a "musical...
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DailySing - 78 (4.18.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Thursday, April 19, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Today is my birthday and I find myself waiting to be picked up to go on a birthday adventure. Since my ride is late, I wander over to the little park on the corner to wait and after reading a while, decide to do my DailySing.

The city sounds of traffic, of a nearby construction site, of birds in the park, all create a sonic wall in the background.
The sun on my face warms me and puts me in a grateful place, allowing me to bring my inner landscape to the fore. This means that I gave voice and so...
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DailySing - 73 (4.13.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Saturday, April 14, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Tonight's DailySing started off big and brassy and ended sweetly and quietly.
 
 The opening feels big brassy because of where I was putting my voice. I started by thinking of horns, how they sound, how melodic choices are made on a horn, and how their sound complements other instruments.

From there, I let my voice lead my choices. Sometimes high, sometimes rich, sometimes soft, sometimes loud, sometimes full voice, sometimes falsetto, my voice took me on a journey and I was happy to follow it i...
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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 - 69 (4.9.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Tuesday, April 10, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
My journey tonight feels non descript, or a bit bland. It feels like I am being safe. I set up a pattern and keep coming back to it after several excursions into soloing as a voice or being one of the instruments. It feels like I stay safe within the confines of my structure...

Now that I listen to the playback, it sounds richer and more dynamic than when I was actually doing it. Perceptions are everything, it seems. 

Using my chest to beat on while I sing is not technically VP, but it really h...
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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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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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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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DailySing - 18 (2.18.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Sunday, February 19, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
As I listen to this playback, I am filled with utter joy and fascination at the power, beauty and depth of expression in the human voice. It's a good thing to revisit, like Miles' quote from DailySing-17, it reconnects us to the basic truths we take for granted and eventually forget. I remember singing this... and at the time, my moving forward was powered by solid emotion!
I was singing  my emotions, even when I turned the tones into words, I was operating from a primarily emotionally charged...
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DailySing - 13 (2.13.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Tuesday, February 14, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
Started out with a plan... First mistake! If you're going to improvise, then improvise, don't plan! Planning is the opposite of improvisation!!!
Thought I'd begin with some vocal percussion (vp), and explore how to develop those ideas for the full 15 minutes... Hah!!!
First of all as soon as I had that great idea, I could no longer come up with any vp parts. My brain shut down and I had already begun the 15 mns of improv. I tried desperately to come up with parts in a vacuum, where there were a...
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DailySing - 11 (2.11.2012)

Posted by Emile Dyer on Sunday, February 12, 2012, In : Daily Sing 
I zoned out again, only this time, I didn't continue singing through it. There are 2 moments of silence on the playback. It felt the same to me as the other nights when I just woke up singing. The human mind is a marvel!
The rest of the 15 mns turned out to be a multi layered exploration of the textures of my mid range voice.
Enjoy!

To listen to DailySing - 11, 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.

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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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