Helen Bledsoe

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  • Sounds of Silence

    When a composer includes silence in a solo work, it cannot tossed off as a neutral medium for spacing out notes or phrases. One has to ask, is the silence an arrested motion, or is it a mere suspension of action? Determining the type of silence one wants to create is crucial.

    This is why I often think of silence in as colorfully characteristic terms as possible:

    • the very tense, pregnant “Japanese” silence, a sumo wrestler poised for the lunge
    • the brief, contemplative silence that can fall between a “question” phrase and its “answer”
    • a peaceful, empty silence
    • the silence that covers “hidden action”, as a stream disappearing beneath the earth, only to resurface elsewhere
    • the conscious, present silence, in which the music stops and one expressly becomes aware of extraneous noises

    The possibilities are numerous.

    Another interesting interpretation of silence is to see it as YOUR turn now to listen to the audience. I read about this but can’t remember to whom this idea should be credited!

    The type of silence you create will be determined not only by how you move, or how still you are, but how you breathe during the silence. It is interesting to see how Heinz Hollinger composed silences in his solo flute piece (t)aire(e) with specific durations and written directions such as “hold breath as long as possible”, “inhale slowly”, and “inhale imperceptibly”.

    This kind of choreography plays an important role in interpretation, and not only during the silent parts! Allow me to make a negative example: Peter Lloyd likes to tell of a student of his who played the Berio Sequenza beautifully. However, the constant languid, swaying movements of the student distracted him, especially since such movements are appropriate only momentarily (if at all) in the Sequenza. This is an important lesson. While you are busy giving an audience a well thought out interpretation, make sure your body does not betray you by telling a conflicting story!

  • Interpretation of Contemporary Music: Finding the Composer’s Voice

    Familiarity with a composer’s style and esthetics is essential in preparation of music from any period. How can we go about learning these essentials when faced with music of a composer who is new to us?

    First, research and familiarize yourself with the composer’s other works, and perhaps more interestingly, find his/her sources of inspiration. These sources may be musical (traditional Japanese music, in Toru Takemitsu’s case) or non-musical (Edgar Varèse and Iannis Xenakis were both inspired by architecture). Here are some specific suggestions:

    Luciano Berio, Sequenza no. 1: listen to the Sequenza no. 3 for voice (even though the vocal Sequenza post-dates that of the flute). Listen to a recording of Cathy Berberian for whom the piece was written (recorded on the Wergo label), or Luisa Castellani (Deutsche Gramophon). If you ever have a chance to hear Ms. Castellani perform this piece live, jump at it, she does a stunning job from memory.

    Edgar Varèse, Density 21.5: listen to the woodwind solos in the ensemble pieces: Intgrales, Hyperprism and Octandre. Poeme Electronique, his last finished work, I believe, shows how he realized his concept of blocks of sound electronically. This piece, architecturally inspired by LeCorbusier, seems to be a culmination of his ideals.

    Toru Takemitsu, Voice or Itinérant: Listen to some traditional shakuhachi playing as well as music from Noh theater, although Takemitsu only later in his career composed with traditional Japanese elements and for Japanese instruments. In November Steps, a concerto for solo biwa and shakuhachi, you can hear how he combines these traditional instruments with modern orchestration. The films for which he wrote music show how he valued the notion of timing and movement.

    Kazuo Fukushima, Mei, Shun-San, Requiem: Fukushima was not a terribly prolific composer. Although he is still alive at the time of this writing, he seems to have stopped composing at the end of the nineteen-sixties and devoted himself to full-time teaching. To understand the esthetic of his works, one should be familiar with the sounds of traditional Japanese Noh Theater, its flutes, drums and chorus, and the experimental style of Western music of the sixties with its early forays into the use of extended techniques and graphic notation.

    Salvatore Sciarrino, Opera per flauto vol. 1 & 2 : Each piece in this two volume set exists in its own sound universe through the exploitation of a particular set of extended effects. For me it was useful to hear how he translates some of the same effects to other instruments such as the clarinet solo Let me die before I wake. His ensemble pieces Esplorazione del Bianco and Introduzione all’oscuro are good examples of how he uses particular instrumental effects to create atmosphere.

    Find the composer’s sources of inspiration by reading biographical information or reading his/her own writings, often easily found in libraries or the internet. If the composer has little internet presence one can also try:
    • searching the directories of national composer’s unions (ASCAP in the US)
    • sending inquiries through the composer’s publisher
    • sending inquiries to the CD or record label on which that composer is recorded

    Information about lesser-known composers may be scant, or recordings of their works may not be available. In this case, don’t despair, ask around. Use your own resources, knowledge of different styles and the knowledge of colleagues or friends. Ask the advice of other composers. If they are amenable, offer to play for them. Sometimes it has helped me to play for someone who is trained to listen to form.

  • Extended Techniques: Benefits, Applications and Tips

    I’d like to open with some inspiring words by Sax player Jack Wright

    In the early decades of free improv, when new techniques were the mark of a fresh approach to traditional instruments, they were often considered the new standard to be displayed. But at this point I find players using a more integrated technique, where nothing is “extended” because no technique by itself connotes a radical departure. […] [N]ow every technique tends to be subordinate to the direction of the music, and pyrotechnics are not flashed as a distinctive badge of mastery. Of course, there are some in every audience who will be impressed by circular breathing, the kind of “look, ma, he ain’t breathing!” reaction, but if we want to stay on course we know we aren’t about impressing people but rather opening up our musical hearts. And for me, this opening calls for the hugest range of sound the imagination can wring out of body and instrument. [From an interview with John Berndt]

    The study of extended techniques as an extension of good traditional technique and good practice habits gives our imagination wide scope for expression. Studied carefully, they will help to strengthen many aspects of flute technique: embouchure, air flow and the cultivation of patience! Below are some of the benefits and applications that I have discovered myself and collected from others:

    • Harmonics. Benefits: embouchure strengthening and development, improvement of upper register, especially articulation of quiet attacks, familiarization of “natural” tuning, finding the correct angle of a note, and their use as “alternate” fingerings
        Applications:

      • to relieve stuffy notes – take a high note that tends to stuffiness such as G#3. Play it first mf sustained. Then play it as a harmonic of C#, then as a harmonic of middle G#, then as a harmonic of E, then as a harmonic of low C#. At each step, play the note sustained, then with repeated articulations: single, double tongued, and flutter tongued. Listen to the intonation as well. Note how much or how little you have to do to “correct” it.
      • for third-octave rapid passages, use harmonic fingerings for ease and improved intonation
      • when playing alto or bass flute in the third octave, I almost always use harmonic fingerings as the “traditional” ones are inevitably too sharp.
    • Singing while playing. Benefits: opening of the sound, improvement of the sense of pitch, control of air flow
        Applications:

      • as an exercise for hitting high notes: sing and play low C, then blow up through the harmonic series. To reach the highest C, notice how you needn’t sing louder. The speed of the air is what produces this sound. You can create that speed by moving the lips forward – like you would sqeeze the nozzle of a garden hose to get the water out in a faster stream. Find the correct angle, focus your energy at the pelvic floor (as if you are about to cough) and blow! But notice how you can keep your throat relaxed: keep singing.
      • throat tuning to help smooth out potentially “bumpy” intervals – such as (above the staff) E down to A.
    • Multiphonics. Benefits: embouchure refinement and strength, control of air pressure and speed, control and awareness of angle of air column
        Applications

      • as an exercise for refinement of quiet tones: push the flute in all the way and play multiphonics of very small intervals (see Exercise L: Robert Dick Tone Development through Extended Techniques). My method is to play the notes separately and refine the sound of the upper note first. Once you have refined it – remember the air speed, this is the one you will need. It can’t be weaker and still produce the upper note! Then by changing the angle of the airstream find the lower note. (This is Robert Dick’s advice, then he further suggests to tune your throat to the weaker pitch.)
      • as an exercise for opening up the sound – (pull the flute back out if you have pushed it in) – play muliphonics of large intervals (see Exercises D and Q: Robert Dick Tone Development through Extended Techniques). For these intervals it helps to think of having a “tall” embouchure, the upper lip controlling the upper note, the lower lip controlling the lower note.
        Tip

      • When you need to hit a stable multiphonic in an ensemble situation, it is often advisable to aim for the top note and don’t let it waver, otherwise it will sound like a mistake. (For example, the multiphonics in Xenakis’ Jalons.) Of course, make the sound as rich as you can by including as much of the lower tone(s) as possible
    • Whistle tones. Benefits: control and awareness of the lip’s aperture, control of very slow air-stream
        Applications:

      • as listening and refining exercise choose a low note such as low C, play whistle tones carefully seeing which notes of the harmonic series you can pick out. To find the proper resonance, whistle the normal way – this prepares your oral cavity for the right shape of the whistle tone.
      • as a relaxing/de-stressing exercise: work on controlling slow air streams by practising low whistle tones. Your embouchure has to be very steady because there is little air behind it to support it. (Patience: It took me a long time to get to low C!) This is another case where thinking “tall embouchure” helps. It also helps to think of having a cushion of air behind your lips (i.e., your lips are not too flat against your teeth) and to relax your jaw. Once you can do this reliably, it is a good de-stressor before going on stage.
      • if you have trouble producing a fourth octave note, find the correct angle by first finding the whistle tone (you may find yourself rolling out more than usual), then blow. It should help.
    • Circular breathing. Benefits: development of the larger muscles for embouchure flexibility and stamina, ability to play longer phrases in moving passages.
        Applications:

      • in classical repertoire, one can use this for rapid or trill passages. I like to use it for long cadential trills because you can give full power without fear of having not enough air for the final note.
      • as a checkpoint for resonance. When I am warming up or just about to go on stage, I check my circular breathing regardless if it is required in the piece I am about to play. This is a sure-fire test to see if either of my nostrils or the back of my throat is blocked. If I am clear enough to circular breathe then I should be able to play with maximum resonance!

    To approach a given technique musically, ask yourself (or by all means the composer):

    • is the technique used to create a certain atmosphere?
    • does it evoke something concrete?
    • does the technique play a role in the form of the piece?

  • Extended Techniques, Blessing or Abomination?

    I am astonished by the occasional vitriol I encounter from some prominent flutists when it comes to extended techniques such as multiphonics, circular breathing and so on. They chant the same nonsense: “bad for your embouchure”, “waste of time”, “don’t be one of those players”. After over 20 years of experience with these techniques as a player and teacher, I am convinced of their benefit to traditional playing. But that’s not what I want to post about. I would like to approach this question from another angle.

    Some years ago in an active network forum a very prominent flutist remarked that flutists who can circular breathe belong to a certain class of players whose time would have been better spent working on learning to play properly. I won’t delve into the implications here. It made me livid. I spent 11 weeks in 1992 learning to circular breathe, did that hinder me from playing properly? How idiotic! This person has somewhat recanted this initial statement, but the shadow of stigma still applies in some circles.

    Now I have 5 years experience teaching at the conservatory level, and I’ve begun to understand this attitude. I won’t say I sympathize, but I understand it enough to offer some insights which I hope will help students, teachers and composers. There are two issues, as I see it.

    The first is a basic misunderstanding. Here is an illustration – this semester I had a student who was swamped with student ensemble compositions and several 20th century repertoire pieces. After this period, she came to me with an 18th century work. The sound was bad, no focus, articulation stuck, breathing shallow. She had tied herself into knots because of the difficulty of the contemporary works, which included circular breathing, microtonality and switching to alto and bass flutes. A typical teacher’s reaction would be “OK, see what that stuff does to you? No more!” But folks, the music itself is not at fault, it was the student’s attitude toward it that stressed her and put her practice into panic mode, causing physical problems that set her way back.

    That can happen with any repertoire. It can happen when you first learn to play the piccolo. Good and balanced practice on the piccolo can help and enrich your flute playing, as can good and balanced practice of extended techniques. Managing the airstream and angle for piccolo playing is also an extention of flute technique. Exercising the same management for multiphonics is not such an “out-there” thing.

    It wasn’t for nothing that Aurèle Nicolet always said: “You must play Baroque music every day, you must play Bach every day!” If you practice extended techniques as a true extension of good practice out of good flute technique, you won’t fall back, or at least if you do, the recovery time will be very quick.

    However, there is another aggravating element, which leads me to the second point, the disparity between composing and performing. Student composers don’t necessarily need endless years of training to write very complicated music. Student instrumentalists and singers need decades of training before they acheive the level it takes to play a complicated piece it took a student composer only one semester to write. I’ve put this rather crudely but you get what I mean. Since being a composer-performer is not really encouraged by the conservatory system, this artistic link has been severed. Our only hope is diplomacy! Communication of the issues of difficulty is very important. Encouraging an us-versus-them attitude will make the situation for both worse.

    When a flute student is first exposed to contemporary techniques at the conservatory level, it is likely s/he will be overwhelmed because that first exposure may be a standard repertoire piece written for a professional [think of all the works written for Pierre-Yves Artaud, Robert Aitken, Roberto Fabricciani and so on], or written by a student or faculty composer who assumes that level as the norm. The student is frustrated, the teacher, if inexperienced, is also frustrated and there’s another black mark against contemporary music. The earlier good, measured, positive exposure to extended techniques, the better.

  • Why Augmented Scales Kick Butt

    Because of the seemingly innocuous combination of half-steps and minor thirds!
    It’s one of those symmetrical scales that I just love, although I know nature abhors perfect symmetry, and true beauty (like those lovely Japanese gardens) operates on the principle of slight asymmetry. But for composers, symmetry in the context of tonality is very useful when you don’t want the pull of a tonal center. It frees you up to think of other ways to pull in the audience.

    Most of us flutists know some symmetrical scales:
    1) Chromatic = half steps repeated
    2) Whole Tone = whole steps repeated

    Then you may know, especially if you have studied Jazz:
    3) Octatonic (a.k.a. Diminished) = either repeating half step/whole step or whole step/half step

    And the subject of this blog entry:
    4) Augmented scales = either repeating half step/minor third or minor third/half step

    You find these scales in music by Dutilleux, Gaubert and if I’m not mistaken Jolivet. That minor third makes things sound sort of “harmonic minor-ey”, pentatonic or bluesy, depending on the context.

    But my point is not that they just sound cool, they kick butt because they are seriously challenging to play smoothly! Why?
    1) The half steps go naturally quicker than the minor thirds
    2) The scales with A#/Bb also have F#/Gb, so you can’t use the Bb thumb with good conscience!

    Just try them out!
    (3 pages, pdf)

  • Nono: a Bass Flutist Prepares

    Working on Das atmende Klarsein has provoked a bit of a crisis. Not that I can’t handle a piece for solo bass flute, small choir and live electronics. I eat that stuff for breakfast. Well, ok, I usually wait until after breakfast….

    The crisis comes from several directions. One is historical. You wouldn’t think a contemporary music person like me would be faced with issues of historical performance practice, but it happens all the time. Styles change, techniques change, instruments are built differently, all with the rapidity of less than one generation. And I’m not even thinking about the electronic components!

    I did not really like the piece at first. Take the first movement for flute: at first listening it is nothing more than a grab-bag of (now cliché) flute sounds: airy, elephantine honks on a piece of metal plumbing along with the rattling of ill-fitted key work. A real 1980’s museum piece. How on earth does one mould these sounds into something that can say something today? Was there even a “something” that needed to be moulded? My guess was yes. I have noticed a direct correlation: the more obscure something sounds you can bet the more heavy the philosophical component lurking behind the work. And it turns out I was right. At least that is somewhere to start! Research!

    There is no lack of information regarding the background of this piece. The score is sold with a DVD for didactic purposes. OK. I’m undyingly grateful and informed. However, the audience will not have the benefit of this DVD, they may not even bother to read the program notes. I need to present something that sounds convincing without a brief lecture on the philosophical texts of Plato, Hölderlin, Walter Benjamin and Rilke. Is it just me, or am I strange in thinking one should be able to enjoy music on a purely sensual level?

    That is crisis No. 1 in a nutshell. Crisis No. 2 is this: I’m having to eat my words. All my composer spanking has, in a way, come back as a great kick in the behind. Ok, some of you may be sniggering about that. Go ahead. You see, Nono was one of those great composers who really, really worked closely with the performer. This is what I’m always encouraging composers to do, telling them not to do this, not to do that, to be precise in notating what the player can do. Well it seems to me in this respect Nono was so successful that I see in the score what Roberto Fabbriciani could play, and in fact, I don’t know really what Nono himself wanted. I can only infer it by gathering background information on this piece and working with those who knew him. (So you see, oral tradition still plays a great role!) That is a grey area I can deal with, as I am experienced in interpreting and improvising. But it is an example where I wish the notation were a little, hmm, less precise and more open to variations of articulation, dynamics and sound color. As a matter of fact, I don’t feel as if I am playing a piece by Nono at all sometimes. Of course the overall concept of the piece is his, but when it comes to the flute part I feel less like I’m crawling into the skin of the composer and more like I’m crawling into the skin of Roberto Fabbriciani. Please note, I mean absolutely no disrespect here for the man!

    However, Fabbriciani says in the DVD that the score is a point of departure for interpreters. Whew! The role of the bass flute is also explained: it represents a nostalgia for the future, as the choir represents a nostalgia for the past. I wonder if it is the same esthetic as his work for violin, tape and electronics, La Lontananza Nostalgica Utopica Futura? In any case I found this a useful concept. Nostalgia for the future also goes through it’s fashion, from Star Trek to Sun Ra’s cult film Space is the Place. The trick is to present sounds, phrasing and so on that sound fresh and forward-looking in today’s world.

    I was reminded of a passage from Stanislavski’s book An Actor Prepares. The actor was to interpret the role of the hero who was a misogynist. The difficulty was, the piece was a light comedy, not a tragedy. What is funny about a misogyny? Analysing the role, the actor discovers that the hero does not really hate women, he only wants to project that image. That gives lots of scope for irony and self-deprecation. The parallel here is that I am reminded again not to take the written score at face value, but to find in it the voice I want to project.

    Was I successful? Well, depends on who you ask. After the concert I was pleased to hear from some that they enjoyed the piece on a purely musical level, not knowing Nono’s music. Approval from the non-cognoscenti, so to speak. However, one Famous Flutist remarked that it was impressive, but had nothing to do with actual flute playing. I was disappointed that was how it came across, as if intonation, long-ass phrases and extreme control of the direction of air stream have nothing to do with flute playing. Although maybe it was a compliment in that the technical processes were well hidden enough so that at least something came out?

    (edit) Here is a read-only share link to a later formal article that I co-authored with Daniel Agi concerning Nono’s late flute works.

    https://soundcloud.com/sfem-1/luigi-nono-das-atmende

  • Flute Multiphonics – Q&A for composers

    Q: Should I write in the fingerings for multiphonics?
    A: Yes. It saves time. It saves misunderstandings. Books go out of print, so please avoid naming multiphonics by number. I know writing or drawing in multiphonics can be a pain. If you have many of them and want to save time and ink, you could write the multiphonics with fingerings in your performance instructions so you need not repeat the fingerings in the score.

    Q: How should I notate the fingering?
    A: Robert Dick has the most intuitive system, it is just a template of the layout of the flute’s keys. Carin Levine and Pierre Yves Artaud don’t draw the trill keys but refer to them with the letters “A” and “B”. A flutist unfamiliar with these books (esp. if they get out of print) won’t know what to do. If you need a template, you may use the jpg below (taken from Robert Dick’s Flying Lessons):

    There is also a cheap downloadable font for Sibelius, Finale and text editors available here. I haven’t tried this out myself, so I don’t know how easy it is to use, but I like the results.

    Q: Which multiphonic resource should I use?
    A: At the time of this writing, I would most highly recommend Robert Dick’s The Other Flute and Carin Levine’s The Techniques of Flute Playing. Do not use Bruno Bartolozzi’s New Sounds for Woodwinds.

    Unless you are a flutist yourself, I would not advise using The Virtual Flutist. When a resource shows every single pitch that can be produced by a certain fingering, it doesn’t necessarily follow that a multiphonic can be created from these pitches. Try it with a live player before trusting a theoretical projection of the flute’s acoustic response.

    Q: Can I just notate the main note and leave the multiphonic up to the player?
    A: Sure! Be aware though that on the lowest notes only harmonic multiphonics are possible. In layman’s terms, multiphonics are made possible by venting the tube at a certain location which causes the note to split. Low notes need the long tube of the flute. If we vent a key, we shorten the tube: therefore no low note. In short, the best range for “free” multiphonics is the middle register and up to the flute’s 3rd octave B-flat. At least that is the most comfortable for me.

    Q: Can you trill a multiphonic?
    A: Depends. Almost all have the possibility to do at least a timbral trill. Check with your local flutist.

    Q: Can you fluttertongue a multiphonic?
    A: Yes. Some very close multiphonics are actually easier with fluttertongue. This is assuming however, that the flutist can fluttertongue. It’s not always a given.

  • To Honk or Not to Honk: Low notes

    Some flutists have a naturally rich low register. For others, high notes come more naturally. Some are blessed with the ease of both. I was a weakey one in the low register for years. The flip side of that was that I could play high and quietly with more ease than many others.

    What to do about weakness in the low register? I’ve compiled some advice and exercises that I give to my students (and myself!) over the years.

    First of all, make sure your flute is not leaking.

    There are two aspects:
    1. General weakness = unwanted decrescendo as you descend
    2. Forte attacks. Sometimes you may have a good sound down low, but when you are asked to play a short loud note, or start a passage on a low loud note, it doesn’t respond.

    For no. 2, forte attacks, Michel Debost gives some great advice in his book The Simple Flute:
    *”Finger Tonguing” = a faint percussion of the finger closest to the desired note. Not to be confused with key slaps.
    *Play on the middle breath, not a big inhalation
    *Hold back and give the sound a very small amount of time so that you hear it
    *Let air come through the nose if necessary, so the air speed is not too fast out of the mouth. This will prevent the note from cracking

    And from Robert Dick:
    *Drop the belly. A trick from brass players, it keeps the center of gravity low

    From Peter Lloyd:
    *Blow towards the chest

    If you can bring all this advice into play, that will start you off. If you really want to generally strengthen your lower register and gain control over all dynamics, you have to make a serious commitment. Have patience, it may take time to develop. It might take months or years before you are really happy with it. But isn’t life a work in progress anyway?

    Exercises:
    Moyse, Moyse, Moyse, souplesse des sons graves from de la Sonorite (page 10 in my edition). It helps, but only if you really, really do it, and like physical exercise, it pays to play it every day instead of a lot one day and then nothing for a week.

    Another exercise I call “Swimming”. There’s almost nothing to it: just take a low note, say D. Take a good but not huge breath and play the note mezzo forte until the breath is done (but don’t squeeze out). Breath in normally, don’t hurry. Repeat this process about 10 times. Why is it swimming? While you are playing the note, you can imagine you are under water and moving forward through sound. You go where there is the most resonance. You really listen, small hisses in the sound, unevenness, a sudden opening, whatever. Let them happen. Just go forward, and when you need a breath, surface like a dolphin and get a breath, then go back in.
    You’ll notice by the 10th time probably that the sound has opened up.

    You can also make an exercise from the Berio Sequenza. Almost every lesson I give on this piece ends up being a lesson in articulation, especially for the low register. Take the opening gesture, or any low articulated passage in the piece and do the following.
    *play legato with focused, not forced, sound. The throat should be open, but not too stretched. Too stretched will interfere with articulation that’s coming up in the next step.
    *play with “Ha” articulation. Move the belly, but not too exaggerated. Think more of activating it (and dropping it) rather than jiggling it
    *now use the tongue, only as an opening valve, not a sledge hammer. Keep in mind Debost’s comments above.

    Then there is the phenomenon of the disappearing low register. Players who don’t normally have problems with low notes encounter this like a bad hair day, there seems to be no explanation. You can wake up and they’re just not there!
    *Check your flute, maybe it’s leaking. Maybe there’s a cigarette paper stuck on a pad.
    *Gently, gently wipe your lips with a clean tissue. There might be a build-up of dry skin on the lips.
    *Some people swear that this happens when there is a drop in atmospheric pressure. Is it about to rain? Maybe that’s your excuse.
    Any other advice or observations? I’d like to hear them.