My creative work over the past several years has been in the area of progressive, or layered, improvisation. Some of the results of this work have been released recently on the O.O.Discs CD "Subterranea", recorded in an underground room in Roswell, New Mexico. This discussion concerns the development of the composition "Thoughts Unspoken" from that CD.
Improvisational music is music that is spontaneously composed in real-time by the improvisor. This spontaneous composition generally takes place in response to constrained musical forms or structures. In traditional jazz, these constraints are defined by the harmonic and/or rhythmic structure of an existing composition, against which a spontaneously-composed melody is applied.
In free improvisational styles, the spontaneous composition takes place in response not to pre-existing musical constraints, but rather to other spontaneously-created musical gestures, usually produced simultaneously by other musicians. While simultaneous improvisation is a common approach, it is not the only method for accomplishing multiple-voiced improvisational music. My recent work has been in the context of layered improvisation, where each voice is improvised by a single musician via multitracked recording technology. Each layer is a spontaneous response to the combined previously-recorded improvisations.
I am particularly attracted to the musical quality of multiple layers of a single instrument. For example, I tend to prefer the sound of four alto saxophones performing together, rather than the traditional saxophone quartet sound of soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone. In my recent work, I have extended this concept one step further by layering not only the same instrument, but the same instrument being played by the same musician. I believe that this gives the resulting music a unique quality, adding a certain ambiguity to the final blending of sounds.
The composition "Thoughts Unspoken" was created as a progressive set of four layered improvisations, all performed by myself on alto saxophone. If you have RealAudio capability, you can listen to the step-by-step creation of this piece of music. I apologize in advance for the less-than-perfect sound quality provided here, but constraints on storage space do not permit the use of higher-quality sound files.
The first layer of the composition was created as a three-minute solo improvisation, generally constrained to notes within the scale of B-flat major (concert). A simple initial motif (B-flat up to A, then falling to G and F) begins the improvised piece. Variations on this simple motif are then introduced, followed by additional melodic gestures. A section of more rapid upper octave passages appears about two minutes into the piece, and the improvisation closes with several restatements of the initial motif. Throughout, the improvisation is sparse and simple, leaving space for the additional layers that will follow.
The second layer responds to the initial improvisation with a canon-like repetition of the motif, followed by melodic passages that complement and harmonize the first layer. The rapid upper octave passages of the first layer are supported by additional similar motion in the second layer. The closing restatements of the motif are treated in canon-fashion, similar to the opening treatment.
The third layer introduces a lower part in answer to the statement of the motif in the first two layers. Held lower notes serve to anchor and connect the earlier higher melodies. At this point, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the voices, to tell which part is from which layer. Indeed, it is this very aspect that I find quite intriguing.
With the addition of the fourth/final layer, the piece is complete. Small bits are added in small quantities, filling out sections where necessary. Harmonies are added to the lower notes of the third layer. A high melody is added over the rapid upper octave bed of the earlier layers, giving that section further direction and definition. The closing section is completed with the addition of a final harmony part on the last note of the composition.
It should be noted that the music on the CD is refined by an additional mastering step that is not present here. If you listen to the CD, soon to be distributed in France by Musea, you may hear some differences from what you have heard on this page. Of course, the sound quality will also be significantly better!
Please contact me if you have any
comments about this document, or about my music. I also invite you to
visit my home page at http://www.saturn.net/~kfield.