Blog for Flutists and Composers
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Our Mythical Past
Time to vent another pet peeve: “there are no great ____________ today”. Another take on the adage “kids these days….!” “The standard of flutists has declined. There are so many good flutists today, but none can compare to the giants of the past” is a statement I have actually heard in several contexts by flutists…
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New Work for Piccolo (or any instrument) with Video Score
Last April I had a chance play at the Flute Festival of Krakow’s Academy of Music, organized by the wonderful Wiesiek Suruło. There I premiered a piece of my own, and had the added bonus of sharing the stage with stellar flutists like Wiesiek, Anna Garzuly-Wahlgren and Sarah Louvion. I want to tell a little…
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Too Many Flutists
The phrases “there are too many flutists today”, and “conservatories are producing too many flutists for too few jobs” may be true in a certain respect, but they really sadden me. And piss me off, if I really admit. It has been hard to put my finger on exactly why, but when a friend posted…
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Contemporary Music Pedagogy, and Benefits of Teaching Extended Techniques
[This is an excerpt from a questionaire sent to me by Lorenzo Diaz for research purposes. The answers represent my opinions only.] Do you think conservatoires and schools of music really attach importance to contemporary music education? My short answer to your question is “not really” because I think a “Comtemporary Music Education” should require…
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Flute/Audio Geek Question
So, looking through spectral analysis of my different flutes, I notice a strange dip around 10K on my alto flute. It’s as if someone ran a notch filter right at that frequency. (It’s an alto with a straight headjoint, not a curved one.) Here are the examples. They are raw, not processed, all recorded on…
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More on Circular Breathing
On April 8th this year, I will be in Krakow giving a workshop on circular breathing and performing Robert Dick’s legendary Flames must not encircle sides. About seven years ago I made the tutorial video below, but have been considering a re-make of late. More for clarity, rather than content. And I have learned a…
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Glissandi and Quarter Tones on the Lowest Notes
I often get asked if (lipped) glissandi and quarter tones are possible on the lowest notes of the flute. Sure, I say, theoretically. Nine times out of ten, I regret this positive answer. Here are the notes in question: On these notes, glissandi and quarter tones are produced with the embouchure. There are no open…
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Electro-Flute
Lately I have been more interested in creating and producing sounds than words. It has been difficult to distill my experiences of the last season in to words, so I have not been blogging. Over this blastedly hot summer “vacation”, I decided to take only Anthony Braxton’s Composition no. 133 with me to practice. Having…