tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3534568135940084548.post2463433864489012215..comments2024-02-26T01:48:07.140+01:00Comments on Flutin' High: Trouble-shooting problems between composers and performersFlutin' Highhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05247994800560776502noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3534568135940084548.post-49594033285547376672010-02-18T23:29:11.820+01:002010-02-18T23:29:11.820+01:00Hi Marc, what you describe really shows how far we...Hi Marc, what you describe really shows how far we have drifted apart since the pre WW 11 tradition of composer/performer. I really really wonder why composer/performers are not taken seriously in academic circles. Institutions offering degrees in Classical Music don't nurture this idea either in the students either, not suprisingly.<br />To answer you question about leaving the pitch content of a multiphonic up to the player, I think that is an individual thing. My guess for younger, more inexperienced players it is better to notate the actual multiphonic. There are some caveats though, please see my entry under the subject "multiphonics", and perhaps also my entry about composing for students:<br />http://bledsoe22.blogspot.com/2009/08/composing-for-students-conservatory.htmlFlutin' Highhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05247994800560776502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3534568135940084548.post-60100938824456164802010-02-18T10:50:28.956+01:002010-02-18T10:50:28.956+01:00I think that your last two points are not just for...I think that your last two points are not just for the flautists, but for the composers, too. <br />All too often composers take a hard stance with performers, thinking that they should know what to do, as it is their instrument. I think, as composers, we have a duty to know the instruments we are writing for, and if we want a particular sound, harmonic or effect, then HOW that effect is PHYSICALLY achieved. An example I can think is of a colleague of mine asking a violinist to play a 7th harmonic on the G string, which the player didn't know how to do. And when asked about it's whereabouts on the instruments, the composer replied, 'Well, how am I supposed to know?' Or when a professor of mine was asked to sing a rhythm, and replied, 'I can't do it, your the player!'<br />As a composer, a problem I have come across often is how to notate multiphonics. With the many variations between players (and probably instruments), how is one to know what to write? I tend to give the fundamental and a dynamic and leave the pitch content of the multiphonic up to the player, but I have yet to be told whether or not this is preferred by flautists rather than specifically notated pitches with fingerings. As a performer, do you have any thoughts or suggestions on this matter?Marc Tweediehttp://twitter.com/marctweeedienoreply@blogger.com