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In the Middle
Thoughts provoked by working on the middle section of a large piece. Today I focused on pages 14 – 16 (of 21) of Aperghis’ the Dong. What goes on in a composer’s mind at this point? Was it a middle point when it was conceived? How will I survive to the end? How do I […]
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Riches
Some musings on current and future collaborations: Yesterday I discovered a new sound on my bass flute. It is high-pitched and horrible and usually something that I try to avoid. But like some things, under magnification or extreme pressure, it can yield a diamond-like beauty. I discovered this sound during my first session with composer […]
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Style Guide for Composers
If you are a composer looking for general-purpose layout advice, or a performer/group looking for a single page reference guide to give to the people who write for you, here is a document my colleagues and I at Musikfabrik have come up with. It is by no means exhaustive. One could read the 704-page Behind […]
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Extended Techniques for Flute – Notation Cheat-Sheet
So here is my attempt to get a lot of information to you quickly and succinctly via Google spreadsheets. The photo quality is not so good, but this way I can make quick changes, and you are always viewing the latest version. This is not an exhaustive overview of all notation practices – it is […]
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Using Harmonics: Making Difficult Intervals Even Harder! Why?
If you have a difficult interval in any kind of musical passage, playing the second note as a harmonic makes it even more difficult. You have to put more effort into directing the air and controlling the air speed. Once you have done that though, going back to the original passage without the harmonic seems […]
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Gesang | Gesicht
Today is the long-awaited “premiere” (Corona-style – that is, online premiere) of a project that has been brewing for more than a year. Here is the video performance and the notes below. Many thanks to the Frauenkulturbüro, NRW for their generous support, and to the Altefeuerwache Cologne, who could have closed their doors on me […]
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Multiphonics for Saunders Bite
I am very pleased that a number of young flutists are learning Rebecca Saunder’s Bite for solo bass flute. However, I am a bit ashamed that I did not have a good look at the multiphonic table in the earliest versions and insist on alternatives and corrections. Better late than never! Here goes: I’ll address […]
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Getting Started with Multiphonics
I would like to share the following presentation: Getting Started with Harmonics and Multiphonics – with a deep dive into the harmonic structure of the flute sound. Why do I start this presentation with a discussion on harmonics? Because if you learn how to take out, put in, and isolate harmonics in your sound, harmonics […]