Whenever he changes rhythm or starts wailing thought the sax I shake my head because this level of musical talent shouldn't be possible, like this man has to practice on rock lee levels to be able to play like this. I could only guess the countless hours colin stetson has spent in his forge, honing his craft and pushing his creativity beyond the next limit. Like no other!
He said in some interview that each new album/track he would not be capable of doing prior to that moment. He is always at the cutting edge of his own craft and has to keep his body perfectly disciplined to keep up with the rigor of his music. When I saw him play live (one of the best shows I've ever seen), he said toward the end, "This may or may not be my last song. Sometimes this song takes it entirely out of me, sometimes I can do another." That was his last song.
@@alexandergilman3394 that's absolutely incredible. Thanks for sharing that I appreciate it, colin has easily been my favorite solo musician ever since I discovered his music from the adult swim festival last year.
@@alexandergilman3394 it makes sense that the music he makes is only doable for so long, since it literally doesnt seem physically possible for him to do it in the first place.
This is technically so hard, but the technicality is really only a tool for the beauty of his music. He is very under valued. His musicianship and art is exceptional
@@kwesibruno Yes, it looks absolutely incredible imo. I'd recommend just searching it on RU-vid. It's going to be on Adult Swim, although the director just announced that it's going to take longer before it actually comes out because of COVID. I don't mind waiting though.
@@melt6479 A anime adaptation of a horror manga in the 90s that was made by junji ito. This is gonna be released by adult swim and the music of this anime adaptation is by colin stetson himself.
At 9:51 he literally sounds like a synthesizer lol, Stetson has such an insane amount of skill. I hope someday I'll be as adept at something as he is in governing his body in coordination with his instrument to make such incredible and haunting sounds.
@@bastion9429 don't forget he's also actively singing while limiting how much the horn produces multiphonics which is probably one of the hardest advanced techniques I can think of
His work on Hereditary was absolutely flawless. The snippets I've heard from Uzumaki make me so excited because it fits so well. I would love to hear a Lorn collab because it reminds me of Lorn so much in certain ways.
Dude they took a lot down and I was jamming to a lot of those sets. Do you by chance know who the country autotune guy was? He was so good and I cant find him anywhere. I googled the lyrics "I know you want more but it's hard to see what you want it for" I'm pretty sure he performed on the Saturday showing.
Like this set was the first time I heard colin Stetson play and realized what I was hearing was all on instrument. I saw the uzumaki toonami trailer but I didnt know that was all one saxophone. Shits wild. Adult swim hooked me up and then shut me down lol
I was playing RDR2 the other day on a sneaking mission and the music reminded me of Hereditary, the soundtrack of which I am obsessed with. Then looked it up and was so happy it was also Colin. Definitely gonna keep an eye on his works. Genius.
He was sent here by creation itself to create his own universe of sound. His coordination, his vocals, his complete control of his craft, I really can not describe how powerful and significative the sound that this man creates is.
I did a presentation for school on him. Everyone else was taking easy meat. Big name bands that have tons of easily obtainable information. Me: Let's do a guy that has very little info on the net, very few people have heard of, and a genre that's oftentimes ignored, also with very little info. Nailed a 95 on that presentation.
@@sharktamer The amount of information I needed for my presentation wasn't very easily found. And even then, I had to stretch some of the information in order to make my 95 on said presentation. Some of the info I struggled to find was what defines "avant garde" jazz since it's not easy to define entirely, but IS to a degree, and what elements of music correlated him to the genre along side other musicians that fall under the genre. (I had to compare the elements of the genre of his to another musician. (I chose John Coltrane)
Oh my god, I'm so glad I'm not alone. I was so sad, especially since my favorite song is the first, which is currently unreleased and doesn't have any other full version of it online. So glad it's back 😭💕
It’s amazing how much is going on here. From the circular breathing to the overtones, to the rhythm, to staying in time, to the voicing, to the screamed vocals, I mean it’s really something else. And it sounds amazing! Truly remarkable. It would be cool to see him come up with something with hans zimmer. A producer of his caliber and a musician with colin’s extreme talent (and creativity) would be something else.
Funnily enough, Hans Zimmer did the score for 12 Years a Slave, and instead of writing a piece himself, used Stetson's "Awake on Foreign Shores" for one of the film's most gut-wrenching scenes.
No need for Zimmerian shenanigans with a big corporate studio with heaps of uncredited musicians, Colin Stetson is already an accomplished soundtrack composer and dare I say better than Zimmer. Or at the very least, more boundary pushing in his niche. The Hereditary score was something! Colin can play metal (Ex Eye), Free jazz and avant garde improvisations (with Mats Gustafson at FIMAV or Vancouver Jazz Fest), contemporary classical (Gorecki with his partner Sarah Neufeld), neo-minimalism (like on spindrift) and guest work with the like of BBNG, Tom Waits, and many more. That makes an insane set of genres and techniques to use in soundtrack work.
Some of the things he's doing are things I've TRIED experimenting with... And found EXCRUCIATINGLY difficult. Like singing while playing. It's hard to describe the sort of discipline it takes to keep your mouth shape just right to stay in tune while also keeping your voice from wavering out of pitch to resolve inherent dissonance... While ALSO doing circular breathing to make sure there is ALWAYS sound and no pause... While ALSO manipulating the instrument to emphasize overtones... Sometimes independently of the notes you're actually playing on the instrument... It's mastery. There's no other way to put it.
Nice analysis. I've heard a lot of people talking about how difficult it is, but as a non-horn-player, this is the first that's really made me get why.
@@TheCSJones It really is just the sort of thing that looks and sounds ilke magic unless you've studied the techniques or tried them for yourself. I'm glad I could help you appreciate just how deeply incredible what he's doing is
Could you explain this more for me? Is that where the lower/longer/ghostly groans/moans are coming from in the first track? The ones that seem independent of his fingerings? Is he just humming while playing more or less? Now that the album is officially out I've been wondering how he achieves it entirely on his own with no overdubbing, this might be the explanation i was looking for lol
@@maxmalavenda You have it basically right, but generally the higher pitches you hear are his voice in a ghostly falsetto. For the most part, it's easier to sing higher than the instrument because the intervals between resonant pitches is smaller, so it's far easier to adjust while fighting against the dissonance inherent to harmonies. When you do it, you feel a physical "pull" towards certain pitches depending on the note, and it takes a ridiculous amount of practice to be able to exert control over that force compelling you to lock in to the closest consonant pitch. You can tell when those "lock in" pitches are met because there is a LOT less warbling in both the instrument and the singing, and that warbling is the dissonant force. Does that clarify?
@@Michael-wp2bp The 'raw', almost distorted sound that comes from the sax sometimes is created by going 'brrrrrr' with your vocal chords as you play. It's a really cool effect. Not sure if that's what you were refering to, but it's cool x3
Glass is minimalism, this is more of an expressionist thing (tho only heard 10 minutes, so the Glass-reference Smith still cut it for the rest of the vid).
@@ErikWouda the main comparison I'd draw between Stetson and glass would be their fondness for repeating ostinatos. They each seem to pick a phrase and build upon it as it repeats underneath.
My son told me to listen to this as I don't like Saxophones. "Sure, I will listen to this shit". It gave me goosebumps, tears and lots of ASMR. Colin is a legend in my books.
Even though I am a music peasant myself, I could try to explain. during the song with that big bass saxophone, he makes that one note last really long by using circular breathing, which is breathing in through your nose while you blow air stored in your cheeks into the instrument. You can kind of see how he puffs up his cheeks again and again throughout the song. He adds the percussion sounds by banging certain keys that do not change the pitch of the note. you can see his hands moving as he presses down on the keys really hard so you can hear it from the microphone. that screaming/humming sound you hear playing in unison with the saxophone is really just him humming and sometimes shouting into the instrument while he blows air through it, which gives it a really cool effect and makes it sound like he's playing two notes at the same time. Sorry for my ranting, but I hope I helped you out a bit.
@@mezmir It's no problem. I also just found out he wears that collar device on his neck as a sort of contact microphone that helps pick up the sounds he is vocalizing. Pretty cool stuff!
Thank you so much for your practice and dedication, Colin. Thank you. You've inspired me, given me chills, allowed me to feel and to weep. You've inspired me to pick up the saxophone again after quitting while in college 5 years ago because I couldn't take the pain. Thank you for expressing your soul through your instrument, for taking the long, hard, road to mastery. Thank you. Your music means the world to me
What a genius! To get those sounds and timbres out of a saxophone is just magical. Truly an innovator in sound. Even Trent Reznor has yet to make sax sound this cool.
It's hard to express in words what I feel about this. It's so beautiful. It's amazing. It's inspiring. It's psychedelic. It's spiritual. It makes me cry. You make me cry Colin. Thank you for making me cry like this.
This is the most spiritually enriching thing I've seen in a damn while. Bless him. Those cosmic heavenly hellish sounds. I think he rewrote some of my atoms.
This has to be the sound of the birth of a galaxy or the end of one... so many emotions in these sounds...I've been searching for you ever since I saw hereditary...life changing
i think few people realize if humans and our music survives another twenty years what he did with these saxophones will shape musicianship and the art form of learning an instrument, finding a new way to exploit it, and raising the bar to an abstract and unreachable; personal level, he elevated it, he is a grain of salt against an entire ocean. on top of that he’s so humble he’d probably deny all of this.
I went to see The Comet is Coming a few years back and I could've sworn Shabaka Hutchings was channeling Stetson in a solo near the end of their set. His circular breathing was nowhere near the level of Stetson, but I reckon Stetson's influence is already felt.
as someone who plays tenor sax i have no idea how the fuck he did that fuck all the famous jazz saxophonist they cant do this I'm having a brain aneurism trying to understand what I'm hearing
Listening to this sober gives me strong DMT vibes. Like if I shut my eyes and listen, it's like I'm there in that place you can't describe. Didn't mean to go full Rogan, it's just the first thought I had and I can't shake it.
I was just thinking the same! Especially the song strike your forge and grin, idk why but it just captures the spiritual intensity of the dmt experience😁
I've seen Stetson 4 times live (5th time coming up on the 25th of this month) - one of those times on LSD (150mics) - life-changing experience. A portal to a new dimension opened up that evening for me.
Was gonna practice my sax but now I’m gonna watch this lol I hope he works on the next DOOM game soundtrack or just works with Mick Gordon on something
Wow. I don't know what this feeling is called at the end of that first track. I don't know what this feeling is called and it feels novel and wonderful. Thank you for this
Colin's music is Zdzisław Beksiński artwork but in sound. They are stylistically the same painting and music. It seems like they would fit each other. I picture Beksiński's paintings when I hear his Colin's music, and I now hear Colin's music when I see a Beksiński painting.
That is far, far beyond impressive. I had no idea the saxophone could be anywhere near that expressive and, well, for lack of a better word, haunting. Truly beautiful work.
Man, things have really been on “wringer” mode for a minute now and somehow seeing you shred some woodwinds raises my spirits to a different, more visceral, extent than the other music that has helped recently. Found a new headspace during the second song. Thank you for doing what you do. I hope to see you live one day.
watching this actually made me figure out how to circular breathe (or at least how it's done as im still not very good at it) because i kept noticing him puffing his cheeks out and put it together
This is great! Especially love the sax percussion in the second and third songs! (edit: and the drones, and the nuance, and is that a throat piezo mic for some overmoans?? ... just all of it was great) P.S. Loved you with Bon Iver, where I could feel your breath in my ears. :-P
How can something feel as old as time itself yet have reached into the future.. Hmm perhaps the didgeridoo like elements explain the old... never mind, you, Mr Stetson are a genius 💜
