Flutin' High

Polyrthythms IV - Practicing Tempo Modulation

2011-10-17T21:22:00.000+02:00

This is a continuation of my previous post, where I use Taffanel/Gaubert's Exercises Journaliers no. 1 to practice polyrhythms. Check that out before trying these! It will give you the correct placement in the measure for 4:3 and 4:5, which I have not notated here.

In these exercises, the metronome stays the same but the player has to change gears. I like to use this as an articulation exercise. You can shift from single tonguing to double tonguing as the tempo changes (but the metronome doesn't). It keeps you on your toes.

Set your metronome to a 3-beat pattern. The suggested tempo is a quarter note=45 but you can start slower if it helps. You'll need to start on the third beat for this to come out right. I love the fact that this pattern gives you an added rest for breathing!

The following variation puts the polyrhythm first. If you are doing this as an articulation exercise, it is good to start with double tonguing and then go to single tonging. I find this shift to slower tonguing more challenging.

Here is another variation going against a 5-beat pattern. Set your metronome to reflect that, at quarter note=75 (or slower if that helps). For this to come out right, start on the second beat. (This pattern gives you an eighth note for breathing, hooray!)

And here, a variation starting with the polyrhythm.

I hope these exercises will be of some use. Please post a comment if you have questions. I have had various comments regarding the notation of these exercises. There are more detailed ways of notating them but I find the notation above gets the concept across. In the end, you don't need the notes to perform the exercises. My goal in this was to use melodic material to develop a sense of rhythmic phrasing.

Polyrhythm III Exercise with Taffanel/Gaubert

2011-10-10T17:54:00.000+02:00

Here is the third of my posts on rhythm. You can read the first post here and the second here. I wouldn't proceed here unless you can perform the exercises of these previous posts.

What I like about using Taffanel/Gaubert no. 1 from Exercices Journaliers is that it is a melodic study. In my first post, I emphasize the need for rhythmical phrasing, and the goal of playing rhythmically and not mechanically. One way of developing this, I think, is to develop your own strong, steady sense of pulse. This is something different from practicing with a metronome. If you test and develop your sense of pulse against the metronome's ticking, it will grow stronger.

If you take the basic 4-beat pattern of TG no. 1 and set your metronome to a 3-beat pattern at tempo 45, it could fit together like this:

And if you take the basic 4-beat pattern and set your metronome to a 5-beat pattern at tempo 75, it could fit together like this:

You may have noticed that in both examples the 16ths are the same speed, only the metronome setting is different.

An interesting way to practice Taffanel Gaubert nos. 1 and 2 is to first play with the metronome at a quarter note = 120. Play a number of patterns until you feel comfortable with the speed, then continue but change the metronome to a quarter note = 45 and play the 4:3 pattern. When you feel comfortable with that, change the metronome to a quarter note = 75 and play the 4:5 pattern.
This is a wonderful way of practicing groove!

In my next post, I will use these same sort of exercises to practice tempo modulation.

Polyrhythm II

2011-10-09T22:34:00.001+02:00

To read my first post on how to figure out polyrhythms, click here.

To internalize an unfamilar polyrhythm, I suggest the following steps:
1) clap and tap the rhythm away from your instrument
2) play it on your instrument, using a single pitch (no moving notes yet)
3) if it's a difficult passage, play it using simplified material (a simple scale pattern)
4) play as written

Here is a written-out variation on how you can practice a scalar passage 5:4.
Your first step (not shown here) could be to play repeated sixteenths (here, it would be repeated F's) and accent every 5th one.
The first line shows how groups of 5 sixteenths fit into a 5/4 bar.
The second line fills in the ties with moving sixteenths.
The third and fourth lines are played the same but notated differently. It's good to practice both.

When you have an even number against 3, I find it easy to feel or visualize the second half of the second beat. It serves as a goal-post, or check-point. Here is an exercise similar to that above, but with 4:3.
Remember, your first step (not shown here) could be to play repeated sixteenth F's and accent every 3rd one.

Here are some further exercises with even numbers against 3. If it helps, focus on the back of the second beat.

In the next post, I will take the scale patterns from Taffanel/Gaubert and fit them into a polyrhythmic pattern.

Polyrhythms I

2011-10-08T23:26:00.000+02:00

This is the first of a series about practicing complex rhythms related to a pulse, a.k.a. polyrhythms.

Why bother practicing polyrhythms? Some of us have been taught that our metronome is our best friend, but how useful is it really? Do we bother to listen to it? If we do, does it ensure us a good sense of rhythm? If some of us were honest, we would admit that we do not want to listen too closely, for fear of being labeled mechanical. After all, we want to play rhythmically, not mechanically. How to do this?

What I suggest is a method to develop rhythmical phrasing through the study of Taffanel/Gaubert's study no. 1 from Exercices Journaliers. (I choose this because most of you reading this are flutists, and it is best to apply these ideas to something that is already familiar.). But this introduction will first cover the basics.

A well developed sense of rhythmical phrasing can help whether you want to become the next star beat-boxer or want to keep a steady Scherzo from Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

You will need a metronome that can be set to a simple beat pattern (2/4, 3/4, etc.), and a willingness to feel a bit clumsy at first.

The following examples use simple mathematics to see visually where your pulse is against the metronome's (or your partner's). It is a graphical guide to help develop a FEEL for the polyrhythm.

Given polyrhythm a:b, where b = metronome beats and a = your beats, there are two ways of figuring it out:

1) Take the b number of metronome beats and divide it into units of a, then clap or play every b number of these units. Let's take the example where a:b = 3:2 (three against two). In standard notation it looks like this:

Now take two (b) metronome beats, divide them into units of three (a),

Now clap or play every two (b) of these units as shown by a crossed note head:

_____________________________________________________________________________
2) The second way to figure a:b is to multiply a times b, in this case 3 times 2. This gives us six:

Now divide this 6 into a (3). That gives us two, so mark every two pulses with an O on top. Then divide 6 into b (2) . This gives us 3, so marks every 3 pulses with an X on the bottom.

The "O"s are the rhythm you play or clap, the "X"s are the metronome beats.

Here is a more complicated example: 5:7

Let's see how it looks using the first method: given a:b, divide b (7) into units of a (5) :

Now clap or play every b of these units (7) notated by a crossed note head:

Try writing this example using the second method. (Begin by multiplying 5 x 7.)

The next installation will give practical exercises on how to feel 5:4, and any even number against 3.

For more practice, see Peter Magadini's Polyrhythms, the Musician's Guide, Hal Leonard Publications, 1993

If you would like a pdf of this information in English or German, please leave a comment.

Read the next installation here.

Bass Flute ins and outs II - for composers

2011-09-30T22:50:00.001+02:00

Since my last post about composing for bass flute, I've taken note of other questions that pop up with regularity.

Q: Should I notate the pitches as sounding or transpose up an octave?
A: Please transpose them up an octave. Flutists are not used to reading ledger lines below the staff.

Q: Can a bass flute play glissandi?
A: Yes. There are two things to be aware of though.
1) Most bass flutes don't have open holes like normal C flutes, so research with your local flutist if you want a smooth glissando over an interval larger than a minor second. From a middle C to E-flat, and the C to E-flat an octave above, the flutist can use the trill keys to effect a good glissando.
2) A long tube means the pitch is more difficult to manipulate. Unlike the piccolo, which can go out of tune if you look at it the wrong way, a bass flute requires more effort to bend the pitch. In the lowest octave, where the tube is the longest, a lip glissando of a quarter tone is about the easiest one can do. A lip glissando of a larger interval can be done if you allow the dynamics to help you. To let the dynamics help: use decrescendo for a downward slide, and a crescendo for an upward slide.


A bass flute by Eva Kingma with open holes. Not every flutist is lucky enough to have one.

The third octave of the bass flute is easiest for glissandi. Here you can use a combination of lips, adding or lifting keys to get a good glissando. For the exact range of a glissando on a particular note, it's best to check with the flutist for whom you are writing.

Q: Can a bass flute play microtones?
A: Yes. Third tones, quarter tones, and sixth tones are all possible. (Actually, the smaller intervals are easier, for me at least.) Since most bass flutes don't have open holes, there are basically two ways to produce microtones:
1) De-tune a normally fingered pitch by turning the flute in or out and adjusting with the lips. The lowest notes from its lowest C to E-flat (an octave below middle C) have to be done this way (see question above as to why that could be problematic).
2) Using a special fingering, usually a "shaded fingering" or "forked fingering" that adds keys to a normal fingering. These fingerings tend to sound very unstable and diffuse (it's a cool sound, but not always what you need).

Q: What about fast passages with microtones?
A: Beware of writing fast passages with microtones. On any flute, not just bass, learning a fast passage with non-standard fingerings will take the flutist not only twice as long, but I'd say up to ten times as long. That's fine if you are investing time in a solo work that will get a number of performances and you are sure every note will be heard and count for something.

Q: What about playing fast microtones with just the lip or turning the flute in or out?
A: That's fine if you have only quarter-sharps or only quarter-flats. Otherwise, you will have a good laugh watching a flutist bob his head in two directions at once. If you are lucky, the flutist will not bang his headjoint against his front teeth and claim liability.

Newsflash for Teachers: Being an Asshole is Ineffective

2011-08-09T05:46:00.002+02:00

Every time I pick up a science news magazine or book I end up smacking my head in disbelief that science goes to such lengths to prove what everybody else knows already. So being an Asshole is an ineffective approach to teaching. Really, a Nobel Prizewinning scientist said so. I read it in a random book on randomness: The Drunkard's Walk by Leonard Mlodinow. The author tells the story of Daniel Kahneman, a psychologist who won the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics (!). I'll retell this because here is an interesting twist on "what everybody else knows already".

While working as a psychology professor at Hebrew University in the 1960s, Kahneman lectured a group of Israeli air force flight instructors on behavior modification. As a well-read mother of an almost-three year old, I know about behavior modification: rewarding positive behavior works but punishing mistakes does not. Almost every other parenting book will tell you this. My husband does not agree, but that is another story.

When I read the following passage though, my first connection was not to my son, dear as he is, but to teaching flute. I listen to some teachers brag about how tough they are and now believe they are driven by a misconception. Perhaps more importantly, this will give us a lesson on how not to talk to ourselves, as we practice for hours on end, give concerts, and play auditions. I'll begin quoting from page 7, just mentally replace the word "flight" with "flute":

Kahneman drove home the point that rewarding positive behavior works but punishing mistakes does not. One of [the pilot instructors] interrupted,..."I've often praised people warmly for beautifully executed maneuvers, and the next time they do worse," the flight instructor said. "And I've screamed at people for badly executed maneuvers, and by and large the next time they improve. Don't tell me that reward works and punishment doesn't work. My experience contradicts it." The other flight instructors agreed. To Kahneman the flight instructor's experiences rang true. On the other hand, Kahneman believed in the animal experiments that demonstrated that reward works better than punishment. [...] And then it struck him: the screaming preceded the improvement, but contrary to appearances it did not cause it.

How can that be? The answer lies in a phenomenon called regression toward the mean. That is, in any series of random events an extraordinary event is most likely to be followed, due purely to chance, by a more ordinary one. Here is how it works: The student pilots all had a certain personal ability to fly fighter planes. Raising their skill level involved many factors and required extensive practice, so although their skill was slowly improving through flight training, the change wouldn't be noticeable from one maneuver to the next. Any especially good or especially poor performance was thus mostly a matter of luck. So if a pilot made an exceptionally good landing - one far above his normal level of performance - then the odds would be good that he would perform closer to his norm - that is, worse - the next day. And if
his instructor had praised him, it would appear that the praise had done no good. But if a pilot
But I was going for that high D!
made an exceptionally bad landing - [...] then the odds would be good that the next day he would perform closer to his norm - that is, better. And if his instructor had a habit of screaming "you clumsy ape" when the student performed poorly, it would appear that his criticism did some good. In this way an apparent pattern would emerge: student performs well, praise does no good; student performs poorly, instructor compares student to lower primate at high volume, student improves. The instructors in Kahneman's class had concluded that their screaming was a powerful educational tool. In reality it made no difference at all.

So the next time you or anyone else crash and burn, it's fine to mull it over and figure out what went wrong, but it doesn't pay to be an asshole about it. And besides, aren't apes higher primates?

Circular Breathing on the Modern Flute

2011-06-28T19:47:00.000+02:00

This entry is cross posted on the musikFabrik blog

In 1992, while in residence at the Banff Centre, Canada, I spent eleven weeks learning to circular breathe so that I could perform Flames Must Not Encircle Sides by Robert Dick. I figured if I could do it at 1.500 meters (ca. 5000 feet) above sea level, in the dryness of the mountain air, I could do it anywhere. I won't forget that first performance so easily! Flutist Aurèle Nicolet was also performing in that concert, so the pressure to perform well was intense.

There is one correction to make on this video: at ca. 01:04 I say "beneath the tongue" when I should have said "towards the base of the tongue".

Michel Debost points out that Circular Breathing should be properly called Circular Blowing. I do believe he is right, but for the sake of consistency and electronic searches, I will keep the term Circular Breathing.

For more about the details and history of circular breathing I can recommend:

Robert Dick, Circular Breathing forFlutists

Michel Debost, The Simple Flute

Online

Artist House Interview with Robert Dick

Tongue Pizzicato

2011-06-27T22:19:00.000+02:00

A question came up on the Flute List about how to produce tongue pizzicato effectively. Here is a link to a video where I demonstrate this effect (along with other percussive effects and air sounds).

This is the notation I prefer for tongue pizzicato

To get a good POP, you have to close off your air passage from behind and in front, compress the trapped air, then release it. Perhaps a "bubble" image will help. That is what we are doing, popping air after all. It's a simple concept that each flutist can do differently. I'll now go into boring detail about what works for me.

To block the air from the back, raise the back of the tongue as if you are beginning to swallow. If you try to close your throat further down (as it is in the middle of a swallow), that won't work (for me).

For a tongue pizzicato, the release of of the air bubble can be varied, tongue on the lips, or tongue on the palate.

If on the palate, I find it more effective if the tongue is slightly retroflex. That's a fancy word, but actually it only means the tip of the tongue is behind the hard palate, pointing up but not pointed. There should be an air-tight chamber (bubble), with the hard palate as the roof and your tongue as the walls and floor. The pressure to create the pop is made by trying to push the air bubble forward. When you feel the pressure, you can release front of the tongue and let the jaw drop a tiny, tiny bit, that will help the air bubble go down into the flute.

In the pizzicato with tongue on the lips (behind or between the lips, both are possible), the bubble's roof is the roof of your mouth, the walls are the teeth and cheeks, and the floor is your tongue. The pressure is built up by squeezing whatever muscles you can (lips, cheek tongue, whatever works), then drawing the tongue quickly back. Letting the jaw drop here a tiny, tiny bit can also help here with resonance, getting the air bubble into the flute.

Hard to put into words what goes on inside us!

Air & Percussive Sounds for the Flute

2011-06-21T16:54:00.004+02:00

This entry is cross posted on the musikFabrik blog

This video gives a brief demonstration of some common air sounds and percussive effects on the flute.

Here are some further tips for players and composers:
For players, when doing air sounds, it is not always necessary to use as much air as possible. After a long, loud passage, you might find yourself passed out on the floor! The trick here is to make as sibilant a sound as possible. One way of doing this is to actually narrow the throat a little to make the air passage smaller (I know, just the opposite of what we all learned!), then raise the tongue a little, so that it disturbs the distribution of air wanting to escape from your mouth. These are subtle adjustments, you needn’t do too much. All you are doing is speeding up the air, as when you narrow the end of a garden hose to make it spray further. For loud passages, you will still need to give extra support from down below, putting your abdominal muscles into play.
The pizzicati sounds will be louder and more resonant if the flute is turned out a bit. The more you can make resonance in your own mouth, the better. For maximum resonance for key clicks, stay in playing position, open your throat as far as possible, and open your mouth just a bit more over the embouchure hole to create an extra resonance chamber.

I have posted some further information on the production of tongue pizzicato here.

For composers:
There is unfortunately no standarisation of notation for these effects. I have shown on the video those recommended by Pierre-Yves Artaud in his book Present Day Flutes. I find these to be quite intuitive, but maybe another flutist will have another opinion.
When notating air sounds for the flute, please avoid using empty note heads, unless an empty note head is rhythmically called for (a half note, dotted half note, or whole note). I know, Helmut Lachenmann, Isabel Mundry, and other well-known composers use open note heads, but it makes their music extremely frustrating to read. I am hoping that this tradition will die out. (For more about this and to see written musical examples, read my blog entry here.)
Key clicks on the flute fall into my “Why Bother?” category. Unless you carefully compose them in a solo work, or under amplification, you won’t hear them. 95 % of the time, I end up having to reinforce them with a tongue pizz. Helmut Lachenmann’s Mouvement is an exception, there are some passages with pure key clicks that can actually be heard! However, other passages in that piece that need the reinforcement of a tongue pizz.
Note that the difference between a tongue pizz produced on the palate and a tongue pizz produced on the lips is not very distinct. It may be best to let the player decide where to produce the pizz. Some can do it on the palate better, others more effectively on the lips. However there are circumstances, such as close amplification, where that small difference can be quite interesting.
Now, if only I could beatbox…..

Finger Exercises Based on Tai Chi

2011-06-16T13:04:00.001+02:00

This entry is cross posted on the musikFabrik blog

Anyone who works with their hands can benefit from the energy flow these exercises provide. I am no expert or student of Tai Chi, but I have had to work a lot at injury prevention. You can do them at the beginning of your warm up, then as necessary during the breaks. Breaks are very important in injury prevention. Any exercise that stretches or gets the energy flowing during your break will allow you to practice more in the long run, and keep your money in your own pocket and not the doctor’s.

I don’t mention the pacing of the exercises in the video. For me, they take four to five minutes to complete. This is a good investment of time when I have a long practice session, especially if there’s much to be done on alto or bass flute. Enjoy!

Bring in the Clones

2011-01-02T21:51:00.002+01:00

Read an article by almost any famous flute teacher today from North America or Western Europe and you will notice they share similar ideals. The development of a student's individuality is given high priority. Their students are encouraged to find their own musical identities; they don't want clones or sound-alikes.

Nor do I. But what I'm about to say will at first seem like a contradiction. I am aware that I am in a different position than the stellar players and teachers of our time. I don't have a bunch of sycophants and wannabees trailing in my wake. Therefore, I can enjoy a bit of skepticism in the face of this idealistic individualism.

Peter Lloyd, with whom I studied for 4 years, shared this ideal, and took it to an extreme. Even when he was still playing (as he was when I studied with him 1988 - 1992), he would not play for us in lessons. He didn't want us sounding like him. I asked him why not, since we came out of our lessons talking like him (joking, of course. He has a great posh accent.) His reply: "Good, you're finally learning to speak properly!" This humor as well as his patience saved me, nurturing and bringing back to life what was left of me after my dismal undergraduate years. I have much thank him for. However, since I was so good at hiding my real problems, my playing still left much to be desired when I left Indiana. And I still didn't have a clue who I was as a musician. I was too confused to even have a clear ideal of sound, I wanted to sound French, but with American verve, and English full-bodiedness. One thing was clear, I was sure I could find it by following the Contemporary Music path, not the Early Music or orchestral path. Perhaps I sympathized with late 20th century Modernism; it was striving to find itself as much as I was.

Harrie Starreveld

That path led to Amsterdam, where I studied flute with Harrie Starreveld and classical South Indian music with Rafael Reina and Jahnavi Jayaprakash. Harrie does not have any particular philosophy regarding playing in lessons, but most of what I learned came from listening to him and playing with him, often in an apprentice-type situation with the Nieuw Ensemble. That is what it took for me. No one would even say that I sound at all like Harrie: I don't, but I cannot stress how much this experience helped me to find my voice.

Four years after my studies with Harrie I went to India for two and a half weeks to work with Jahnavi Jayaprakash privately in Bangalore, and the scales seemed to fall from my eyes. I wondered if our Western musical education was not entirely bass-ackwards. Everything we learn seems to be from the top down, instead of the bottom up. In India, the idea that you can learn music by verbal explanation only and hope to develop a musical spirit in a vacum of abstract ideas is ludicrous. That one can study without the rote learning which frees one technically and enables inspiration to soar - also ridiculous!

But rote learning is BAD, a well-known European flute teacher told me recently. I'm tending to disagree. Rote learning without any understanding at all is bad, but I think we tend to throw the baby out with the bath water.

Jahnavi Jayaprakash

Indian classical music education does not eschew the technical, analytical or theoretical, but as I understand, it comes when one has already mastered one's voice or instrument. My teacher Jahnavi had her Doctorate from an Indian University in music and could explain the intricacies of each nuance of a Raga for Westerners like me. But that was not how she normally taught. Mastering music means learning the language of music and all its subtleties not through the intellect, but through the ear and the heart, by method of imitation. It is a somatic, not an intellectual process. But the diversity among South Indian flute players is a living testament to individuality "in spite of" this method.

This is not a "grass is greener" essay. I don't think if I had learned the Indian way from the beginning it would have completely solved all my problems. I do enjoy analysis, and was good at theory, and was glad to learn it young. But I do wish I had had someone to sonically follow in my earliest years. It would have avoided crisis and saved me a lot of time, but maybe I was destined to have such a long and hurdle-ridden path. For many young players today this from-the-top-down musical education is less of a problem, thanks to the proliferation of Suzuki teachers. I am speaking only on behalf of those like myself, who come from the traditional marching- or wind-band school education.

I do not want my students to slavishly follow me, and I certainly don't wish my bad habits on them. However, I do play for them whenever possible, and expect them to strive to my standards, and higher. There is of course the danger that my students might superficially sound like me, but I am fully convinced they will get over it.

photo credits:
Dolly: Stephen Ferry/Getty Images
Harrie Starreveld and Jahnavi Jayaprakash, unknown

Stockhausen in Adorjan's Lexicon

2010-12-28T12:21:00.002+01:00

When I came across the entry for Karlheinz Stockhausen in Andras Adorjan's Lexicon der Flöte (Page 754), the elements of this blog entry started brewing. Let's see if I can form a coherent thought or two. First of all, here is the German text:

Gegen Ende der 1970er Jahre wurden die Aufführungen mehr und mehr von seinem [Stockhausens] engsten Familien-und Freundeskreis gestaltet, die Flötenmusik vor allem von Kathinka Pasveer (*1959); eine weite Verbreitung seiner Musik wurde dadurch eher behindert. Es bleibt aber zu hoffen, dass solch wichtige Werke wie Amour, In Freundschaft oder Kathinkas Gesang noch die ihnen gebührende Würdigung und öffentliche Zuhörerschaft gewinnen werden.

This entry was probably written in English and translated to German. It may be that the author of this entry was misunderstood; perhaps an infelicity of translation into German rendered the words not exactly as he intended. If my observations are based on such a misunderstanding, I offer my apologies.

Since I have not come across the English original, I offer a crude translation of my own:

Towards the end of the 1970s his [Stockhausen's] music was performed more and more by his family and close friends, the flute music primarily by Kathinka Pasveer (*1959), which rather hindered the propagation, (or circulation, or diffusion) of his music. One hopes however, that such important works as [...] will receive their due appreciation and listeners.

For decades, many of Stockhausen's close family and friends have done their utmost to make Stockhausen's music accessible to the public and to performers. To blandly blame the music's lack of widespread circulation on the fact that it was performed by (and written for) them does them a huge disservice. The fact that it is accessible at all is thanks to the family and friends of Stockhausen. Since 1998, the Stockhausen Courses in Kürten have been run by Kathinka Pasveer and Susanne Stevens, in order to bring more musicians and public to Stockhausen's music. Furthermore, since his death, they run the Stockhausen Foundation, which puts its money where its mouth is, offering board and lodging for musicians and musicologists who are studying Stockhausen's works.

Who am I to comment on this? I am not a member of Stockhausen's circle, and although I have great respect for him as a composer, and have enjoyed working with him and Kathinka Pasveer, his late works are not exactly my cup of tea. However, as a member of a soloist ensemble which counts Stockhausen as one of its local composers, I am in a position to view this matter with, I hope, some objectivity.

Speaking of objectivity, I am surprised that this entry on Stockhausen was allowed to be printed in a lexicon. A lexicon, or dictionary, lists facts and lets the readers draw their own conclusions.

The author does make a true point about our repertoire. For flutists, none of Stockhausen's works are as prominent in the Contemporary repertoire as the Berio Sequenza, Density 21.5 by Varese, Debussy's Syrinx, Takemitsu's Voice or Carter's Scrivo in Vento. (This is my personal top 5 list of Contemporary works that every advanced student should know.) What is it about Stockhausen's music that keeps it from being at the top of repertoire lists?

The most obvious elements are the requirement of memorization and the theatrical elements that some works require. Amour, In Freundschaft, and Zungenspitzentanz are probably the least effort in this respect. Kathinka's Gesang on the other hand requires a huge commitment of time and energy.

Is the fact Stockhausen wrote these works for a member of his close circle that which hinders their circulation among the general public? Not as I see it. Here is not the place for a lengthy discourse on Stockhausen's aesthetics. But I can say this: his aesthetics are his very own, derived from his work with electronic music, ideas from the Urantia Book, and the concept of all music as "opera" (having an inescapable visual aspect). His aesthetic has been called Fremde Schönheit or Strange Beauty. These are the highest hurdles to Stockhausen's popularity among performers. His music is not for the faint of heart.

The family members and close friends with whom he worked saw to it that his music could be executed on their instruments, and did not make compositional or aesthetic decisions. They have done their jobs well; everything in a work by Stockhausen is playable and clearly notated. In contrast, how many of us contemporary flutists have scratched our heads nearly bald trying to work out a piece written for a famous flutist of our day who didn't sweat the details of clarity of notation? I certainly have had my share of them, that is why I take the trouble to write this blog in the first place.

Gaudeamus Interpreter's Competition

2010-11-28T22:21:00.002+01:00

Here are, I hope, some useful ideas for those wanting to make a program for the Gaudeamus Interpreter's Competition in Holland. Bear in mind I took part in 1996, and things may have changed.

This competition has a different jury every year. They usually select a combination of composers and instrumentalists (or singers).

When making a program, you don't need to make a concert program. Just pick pieces that can be mixed and matched well together. Include only pieces you love and can really pull off. Any piece on your program can end up as a selected piece for the final round. An interesting program shows a variety of styles, and a good mix of traditional and extended techniques. If you are going as a soloist, don't take an "accompanist". If you want to do flute and piano music, make it a real partnership. You may be judged along with ensembles of long standing. If you play with electronics make sure they are fool proof. Don't feel you have to have accompanied pieces, chamber music, or pieces with electronics on your program for it to be accepted. If you want to - that's great, but remember you are going to be judged as a whole, along with whomever or whatever is on stage with you.

Here is a list of solo pieces that use extended techniques. (unaccompanied works) It includes works for piccolo, alto and bass flutes. If you are looking for the latest pieces, I'd trawl the latest recordings of contemporary flute music on CD and mp3 on the net. I am aware of many works, but things proliferate so fast that I have no way of being in touch with ALL the cool stuff out there. Good Luck!

Piccolo Pickles

2010-11-05T23:38:00.002+01:00

Here's a comparison photo of three piccolos: (left) a Pearl Grenadite, (center) a Philipp Hammig with an August Richard Hammig headjoint, and (right) an Anton Braun.

The photo is pretty bad and overexposed, but you can see the difference in length and taper. Notice that although each piccolo was built to A= 442 specs, that the Braun is shorter and much more tapered at the end. Does anyone have an explanation for that?

I spent years trying to decide whether to spend over 5,000 Euros for a Braun piccolo. The Hammig hybrid I had been playing on is a very good instrument, but I often play in situations where I needed to play louder. People roll their eyes when I tell them that, but the piccolo is not always a deafening beast. In the low and middle registers, especially articulated passages, I was often struggling to project. It doesn't help that those registers are used often with E-flat clarinet, trumpet or percussion with hard mallets. Some composers seem to think that the piccolo will always dominate. However, it's only the third octave that really penetrates. (Then you get the composers who think you can match a pianissimo third octave note with a violin playing the same dynamic. NOT.)

I spoke about my dynamic and articulation problems in the middle and low register with Patricia Morris. She asked me what kind of piccolo I had. When I said Hammig, she said that's likely the problem. Then she allowed me to try her Braun piccolos and I could feel the difference. I could certainly have continued with my Hammig, but we now have a concert series in which our performances are recorded live for CD, warts and all. So I decided to take the plunge.

When my piccolo came from Herr Braun (photo left, with daughter Antonia), I asked him for some guidelines to break in, or rather play in the instrument. Everyone has their theory about new wooden instruments. He gives his general guidelines here but added the following information by telephone. He told me to give it a good 4 to 6 weeks to play in. I was bummed about that as I had a Xenakis program with Thallein and Jalons in 2 weeks, but I took his advice to heart. He said to start with the low register for the first week or so, then move to the middle and only then up to the high register. He said to not let anyone else play it (of course someone trying the piccolo for a few minutes is ok), that the instrument needed to get used to the way I blow on it. And most importantly he said, that I should try to blow more like on the flute than a typical piccolo, that he had made his instruments expressly so, that they could be played more flute-like. It should be a quite relaxed approach. By the way, if you can read German, here is his story, it is amazing!

Herr Braun's advice turns out to be crucial because the instrument can easily go sharp. I expected trouble as I played on my own with a tuner, but when I got with the ensemble, I was so happy that I could just blow and relax, and not have to reach up for any of the notes. I play pulled out a few millimeters. In short, this is a completely different animal from the Hammig! I am liking it very much, though.

I'll put in a good word also for the Hammig and the Pearl. For about 9 years I played on the Hammig with a Werner Fischer head. These are very colorful, flexible and light head joints. Easy to play and very dolce. They are good for non picc specialists or specialists for whom projection is not an issue. I then heard the A. R. Hammig was making very good heads, and ordered a grenadilla one. It gave me an improvement in depth for the middle and low register, and I really liked the overall sound. The Pearl grenadite is the best cheap piccolo on the market, in my opinion. I couldn't believe how well it played compared to Yamaha and the others. For me, anyway.

Non vibrato and the Book of Disquiet

2010-08-10T21:37:00.009+02:00

Still from the film projection "Book of Disquiet"
Michel van der Aa

On the first of August this year (2010) I had the privilege of performing Michel van der Aa's "Book of Disquiet" , a multi-media work based on texts of Fernando Pessoa's "factless autobiography". We even shared the stage with Klaus-Maria Brandauer , who gave a powerful if impulsive performance. In addition, since this was a film festival and not a hole-in-the-wall contemporary music festival, we were put up in a 5 star hotel and had our concert in the stunning opera house in Wroclaw. Every once in a while, the perks percolate to our level!

I wanted to use this as a platform for my thoughts about non vibrato, because, well, playing without vibrato for many flutists is a disquieting prospect. It is no longer a novel concept - the Early Music movement has seen to that. However, I've run across a number of contemporary composers who use it as their esthetic, not only for flutists, but for the whole ensemble. It was also the contemporary music trend for ensembles in the 20th century, especially in the Netherlands. I'm not sure if Michel van der Aa is an heir to this tradition, or if his non-vibrato esthetic stems from the sound world of electronically produced sounds.

In any case, the challenge for me was to blend with three violins (also playing non vibrato) and with the other winds (clarinet, bassoon and trumpet). The violins and the flute are often in unison in the high register. No place to hide. The other challenge was the transparency of texture - this is music that has to sound, hmm, nice, for lack of a better word. Not pretty or sugary, but clear and listen-to-able. When a flutist thinks of sounding nice, they will add a shimmer or shine to the sound (i.e. vibrato), just as a person naturally smiles when trying to be nice. Vibrato is our smile, so to say. Without it, we are in danger of a death-like grimace.

I encounter this mortal danger in my studio, too. My students are pretty well behaved when it comes to preparing Baroque pieces. They do their homework, listen to traverso recordings, read Quantz, and sometimes dutifully stifle their vibrato. Stifle. That is the initial reaction to non vibrato. The sound is dead and flat, not only in intonation but in color. What is the trick to playing with a good, healthy, in-tune sound without vibrato? The dilemma of disquiet.

Now, the question of whether one should play Baroque music without vibrato on modern flute is a separate one. My answer to that is: one should played with a modified vibrato (which includes the possibility of non vibrato). If one is performing with a modern piano, I downright discourage complete non vibrato. (read why here)

To avoid death and poor intonation while playing non vibrato

practice Moyse's de la Sonorite first with vibrato, then repeat non vibrato (B-A# with vibrato; B-A# without vibrato; etc...). The exercises "pour les sons graves" can be practiced in the same way. Make sure the tone quality and intonation of the non vibrato sound matches the sound with vibrato.
anything that helps you to build support, such as harmonic exercises (those by Trevor Wye, Robert Dick, Peter Lukas Graf, and many more), or using the "Ha Ha Ha" (abdominal accents without tongue) articulation on scales or arpeggios.
anything that will improve the resonance of your sound, such as singing and playing. The reason behind this: if you can manage to get all overtones of a note lined up, in tune and ringing freely, you should have a nice sound without having to add any wobble.

Easier said than done. I'm all ears for other ideas.

Small-Interval Multiphonics

2010-06-28T06:48:00.014+02:00

On the occasion of the publication of my article on Kazuo Fukushima's Shun-San in Flute Talk May/June 2010 and Robert Dick's upcoming masterclass in Bremen (July 6, 2010), I'd like to elucidate some ideas about multiphonics.

Working on Shun-San got me thinking about small-interval multiphonics (those with an interval of an augmented second or less). The first line of advice on how to produce these comes from Robert himself, and can be viewed here. His advice is fantastic, spot-on and humorful, I recommend viewing it.*
*Although I don't agree with what Robert says in regard to offset G flutes or doing sit-ups, but that's another story.

In my Flute Talk article, I touch on the subject of small-interval multiphonics. This passage has elicited some raised eyebrows and questions. To begin, I'll site the passage:

Flutists often encounter difficulty with small-interval multiphonics because they are hung up on trying to produce a focus immediately. That is difficult to do when you are blowing in two directions at once. The irony of these small-interval multiphonics is, at first, you have to unfocus to get the sense of focus. Open up the embouchure hole and let both notes in. Initially there will be a lot of air, but with practice you can refine them. They will sound focused and rich because of the very low difference tone caused by a close interval. When you get the hang of playing these small intervals, it may help to focus on producing this difference tone rather than the individual notes themselves. That may seem strange but sometimes it works.

The first point of confusion may arise in that I assume the reader is already familiar with Robert Dick's advice: get to know the dynamic range of each note first. Then, keeping a constant airspeed, use the angle of the air to find both notes. If you don't research the gamut of air speed for each note, you'll never find the small range of speed that overlaps and works for both.

This is what I meant by having to unfocus to get the sense of focus. You need a constant airspeed and a wide angle at first that will let both notes in. Please forgive my artistic crudeness, but here hopefully you can see where the angles overlap. If your focus is too narrow at first, you may miss the range where the angles overlap.

Now, to explain that bit about the low difference tone. An explanation of difference tones can be found in Wiki. Often is is not an actual, distinct tone that I hear. Rather, it is just a low sort of humming sound, or it's as if something opens acoustically at the bottom - a feeling rather than a sound.

I hope this has been of help. Some of those multiphonics in Shun-San are hair-raising! Even someone like me who has been familiar with them for years needs to put in serious practice time on them. It is a good refresher!

Paradies Remembered

2010-06-15T21:42:00.009+02:00

It's been over a month since the marathon premiere of Karlheinz Stockhausen's Klang cycle. I have been wanting to share the experience here, but I survived the project with too many mixed feelings. However if I don't get it out, my blogging energy may get permanently clogged. Also, Robert Bigio, the editor of Flute (the journal of the British Flute Society) has entrusted me with another project: a feature on Kathinka Pasveer. So it's time to get my thoughts in order.

Paradies is an 18-minute work for solo flute with electronics (8-channel tape). It must be played eyes closed, from memory, while wearing a specific shade of pink (HKS31, it's called in the German textile industry). A shirt in this color, worn with white pants and shoes, is also acceptable. The piece does not require movement on stage or any sort of choreography.

I have performed this piece 12 times between April 24 and May 29, 2010, and will perform it again in November in England.

Most of the questions that come my way have to do with how I managed to memorize the work. It is nowhere near as daunting as one might think because:
1) The piece uses the same series of 24 pitches over and over, mostly in sequence and only occasionally in easily recognizable variations. Analysis of this work is a no-brainer.
2) The player is involved in the compositional process.

To begin, I must explain that the work has 24 strophes. Each of these strophes has two parts:
1) a ritornello in which a melody is given but the dynamics, speed and articulation are decided by the player (this is the "involved in the compositional process" part)
2) a composed insert. The composed parts are called inserts because they may be inserted at any point during the ritornello. (Theoretically. This piece is fraught with unwritten rules, and the insertion of the composed insert must follow certain guidelines not given in the score.)

I began work on the piece after New Year's 2010, so had just over 4 months preparation time. There was no way for me to memorize the piece from the outset, since the ritornelli needed to be worked out and played for Kathinka. I didn't want to write anything onto hard disk only to have to erase it later. What I did memorize from the beginning was the structure of the piece. That in retrospect was a good idea. By the way, the ritornelli's dynamics, speed and articulation should be worked out rather than improvized. Whether you write them out or not is up to you. If your memory is at all visual or photographic, as mine partially is, I recommend writing.

I also realized the sooner I had a good version of the ritornelli, the sooner I could begin memorizing them. So my first order of business was writing the ritornelli. During the first rehearsal with Kathinka (January 25th), I ended up having to erase about two-thirds of what I had written, having trespassed many of the unwritten rules. By the time of the next rehearsal with Kathinka, on April 1st, we had a version that we could both be happy with and I could start the memory work in ernest. At that point it was not difficult. The ritornelli had been worked on for so long that memorizing them came easily, and the structure and the composed inserts had already been memorized.

I hope readers were not expecting a full discorse on how one memorizes music. For most of us it is an individual combination of visual, analytical and kinesthetic elements. For me, it is perhaps
Visual = 10%
Analytical = 10%
Kinesthetic (muscle memory)= 80%

Some of my tricks included
1) Setting a time schedule by working backwards from the date of the performance. Divide and conquer. Don't try to memorize all at once but set a certain amount for a certain time period.
2) Going through the piece without the flute in hand or the music in front of me. This I often did in the dark before going to sleep.
3) Procrastinating as much as legally possible in order to have the peace of mind required for clear intellectual work. This means taxes didn't get filed, Spring cleaning waited until Summer. Sort of the buy now, pay later strategy. If you can afford it, it does work.

Photos: Melvyn Poore and Liz Hirst

Low Register: Descending to Paradise

2010-04-11T21:46:00.006+02:00

Countdown: just about one month before my performances (8 in two days!) of Karlheinz Stockhausen's PARADIES for flute and electronic music. Am I panicking? No. But I have been soundly kicked in the butt. This piece allows for absolutely no technical weaknesses. In addition, I've been challenged to really expand my stability, dynamics, and coloristic range of the low register.

PARADIES is composed of 24 stanzas. Each stanza has a group of notes (ritornelli) that may be played freely and repeated, and a composed insert which can be played at any time within the stanza. Each ritornello has a fermata on a low note - that makes a lot of long low notes that need to be varied in terms of length, dynamic, vibrato, or even air sounds, fluttertongue or singing and playing.

Soft, quiet dynamics are not acoustically viable in PARADIES (even though the flute is miked). They appear at strategic moments when the electronics are not sounding full blip, but these are rare moments. I think this is too bad, but hey, Mr. S didn't ask my opinion. A quiet dynamic may be played within the ritornelli, but there needs to be a crescendo after it. Therefore, my expansion has been in the direction of forte.

So I'm finally getting to the point about what I've learned about the low register. [By the way, the following can also help with bass flute playing.]
The number one killer of the low register (for me at this time) is pressing of the flute into the chin. This makes the distance from the exit of the air stream to the edge of the embouchure hole too short. The "air reed" needs space for that register, especially if you want to use a heavy vibrato!

The whole challenge in playing loud and low is to be able to give more air but to make sure the air is not too fast. Aim it down, move the flute away. These are not original ideas, but just something we all need to be reminded about from time to time. Also, there are two pieces of advice from Michel Debost (The Simple Flute) that I find really work for me:
1) Play on the middle breath. That sounds strange because if you have a long low note marked ff, the instinct is to take a huge breath and blast away. But if you have a very full tank in your lungs your airstream will me more difficult to manage, it just may come out too fast and crack that low note. I've found that with practice, I can play a long, loud, low note without having to take a HUGE breath.
2) Release a bit of air through the nose a fraction of a second before you play. That also sounds strange, but makes sense if you think of your airstream as a violin bow that is being set in motion before the attack.

Now to see if this all works even if I'm wearing pink! That's right, the score specifies what color you have to wear for this piece, regardless of your chromosonal situation. The color for the 21st hour of the KLANG cycle that PARADIES represents falls in the pink spectrum. (If you play Harmonien, you wear blue, Balance, you wear green.) Dynamic expansion and wardrobe expansion, all-in-one!
Photo: Disney clip-art

Just Intonation: Thirds and Sixths, an exercise

2010-03-31T14:14:00.009+02:00

I'd like to take the opportunity to write about the benefits of doing intonation exercises with 3rds and 6ths using just intonation.

To refine the ear. These are simple intervals, and the difference tone (or combination tone) is strong enough to easily adjust.
Flexibility. To make these adjustments, a flutist must be willing to make minute changes of the angle of the air by manipulating any three points: lips, jaw, or rotating the flute in or out.
Accuracy. The theoretical knowledge that, from the bass note, major thirds are 14 cents flatter and minor thirds 16 cents sharper will cut out some of the fishing around for the right direction. (That's thinking like a flutist. Objectively stated: major thirds are narrower, minor thirds are wider.)
Grasp of microtonality. Seriously. Take the second bar of the exercise below. The G is first played as a just major third to an E-flat (=14 cents flat). Then the bass note changes and it becomes the just minor third to E-natural (=16 cents sharp). The difference you have traveled is 30 cents, almost a sixth-tone! You get a feel for these sixth tones, double that, you've got third tones and you're off!

But why do these exercises? After all, I do not propose that thirds and sixths should always be tuned justly! There are many times when it makes sense to tune these intervals using equal temperment, such as when playing with any fixed pitch instrument. (I wish conductors would also take this seriously. How many times have you worked on intonation during a wind sectional rehearsal, when your ears will naturally drift to just intonation, only to have it completely different when you add the strings, harp, percussion or piano!)

Another place to avoid just intonation in real life is when tuning minor thirds in minor chords (See Claudio's comment below). Here, the equally-tempered minor third works better. Here's why: remember, if you tune an interval justly, the difference/combination tone you should hear will belong to (or complete) the implied major chord. For example, let's take the minor chord:
C
E-flat
G

A justly-played C and E-flat will give you a difference tone A-flat, because A-flat is the major chord that the interval C - E-flat implies. That sounds very nice! But add the G and it's no longer nice because G and A-flat are causing dissonance. This may be why, historically, those beautiful mediaeval works in minor keys always ended on major chords. See what you can learn about Early Music by delving into the details of intonation! The practices were, well, practical, not academic.

While playing this exercise it will also become apparent why, historically, notes with flats were generally played sharper and notes with sharps were generally played flatter.

Directions for playing with a tuner: during the fermatas, change the pitch of the tuner with the right hand while holding the flute (or piccolo) with the left hand only (use B-flat thumb for Bb and A#). Try not to interrupt playing during this process so you can make the adjustment as finely as possible.

Click here for the exercise (this is the same one that was previously on my website).

Tips for Complex Rhythms a la Ferneyhough's Superscriptio

2010-02-18T20:14:00.006+01:00

Below is some advice for works by composers (such as Brian Ferneyhough) who use complex rhythms not based on pulse-centered activity. I spoke with Mr. Ferneyhough about this subject and he was very clear that in his music, the measure is a "domain of a certain energy quotient" not related to a pulse.

In other words, a measure can be interpreted as an "area of activity". The level of activity can easily be reckoned using the starting tempo. From there we can calculate the length of any measure or individual note through simple mathematics.

So if the rhythm cannot be felt as a pulse, one can at least memorize the speed in which it is supposed to happen. Surprisingly, it's sometimes much slower than one thinks!

Ferneyhough's Superscriptio for solo piccolo is a good example. The basic tempo is an eighth-note at 56. This means a whole note in 4/4 equals 7, because there are 8 eighth notes in a 4/4 bar, and 8 divided by 56 = 7.

From this number 7 you can deduce all the "odd" time signatures that are not based on divisions of the eighth note. An eighth note quintuplet (or a "1/10" bar) will equal 70 because there are 10 quintuplets in a 4/4 bar (7 x 10 = 70). To find the length of a 3/10 bar you would divide 70 by 3. If you have a 5/10 bar you would divide 70 by 5. An eighth note triplet (or a "1/12" bar) will equal 84 because there are 12 triplets in a 4/4 bar (7 x 12 = 84). To find the length of a 3/12 bar you would divide 84 by 3, and to find the length of a 5/12 bar you would divide 84 by 5.

What if the compound rhythms are stacked on top of each other, as in Ferneyhough's other works? This is an imaginary example:
Let's imagine as in Superscriptio the starting tempo is an eighth-note at 56. The last six 16ths (at the end of the bar) roughly equal two 16th-note triplets at 64. The nine 32nds under the 9:5 are roughly equal to three sets of 32nd triplets going at 116.

It could have been notated thus (among other possibilities):

Here's the math:
From above we know that a 1/10 bar equals 70.
A 4/10 bar will equal 17.5 (70 divided by 4 = 17.5).
Each 11-tuplet will be 192.5 (17.5 x 11 = 192.5).
There are 6 of these 11-tuplets at the end. If we think of them as two 16th-note triplets, divide 192.5 by 3 = ca. 64

5 of those 11-tuplets equals 38.5 (192.5 divided by 5 = 38.5).
In the 9:5, if you think of the 9-tuplets as 3 sets of 32nd triplets, those triplets go at ca. 116 (38.5 x 3 = 115.5)

A click track will ensure accuracy without a doubt. However, if you opt for another approach, try the following: memorize the speed of each bar by practicing related bars together. Keeping Superscriptio as an example, you can practice all the bars based on "1/12" while keeping the metronome at tempo 84. (Yes, you will be jumping from measure to measure, or page to page.) Then do the same for all the "1/10" bars, then "1/8" etc. You are not trying to achieve musical continuity yet, this is just an exercise to help relate all the bars with this tempo, and to keep them consistent. When you finally put the piece together, your "internal conductor" will hopefully have a kinesthetic memory of the pulse of each measure and make the tempo changes accordingly.

Also see my post Seminar with Brian Ferneyhough.
Other thoughts?

Trouble-shooting problems between composers and performers

2010-02-17T22:00:00.006+01:00

There are several categories of potential trouble areas between composers and intstrumentalists:
1) Basic orchstration mistakes
2) Unfamiliarity (on either side) with a particular extended technique or effect
3) Unclear notation

What I am about to say may seem a bit didactic and Miss Mannerish, but really, it's common sense. And as you may gather, I've had enough bad experiences to know what works and what doesn't. I'm all ears for other ideas though.

Flutists, unless you are dealing with a composer/performer, you are the expert of your instrument and in a possible position to educate the composer. See your role as that of an educator, but use it with care because no one likes to feel patronised. To say simply "this is impossible" is very unproductive, even when it comes to a simple mistake such as a low C on the piccolo.

When faced with difficulty, the first step is to find an alternative. It is sometimes useful to take the initiative and suggest one yourself. As in all possible conflict situations, it is better to retain the "I" message rather than the "you" message. For example: I naively expect composers to know basic orchestration rules for flute and piccolo; therefore I am constantly disappointed. What to do? Some example suggestions: "could I take this low C up an octave? My standard piccolo only plays to low D." or "given the (lack of) time we have, I would much prefer to play this rapid 4th octave passage on the piccolo rather than on the flute." or "on this high C, I can achieve a much nicer pianissimo on the piccolo rather than on the flute." The composer will most likely get the idea.

Articulation of staccato notes is another difficulty I run into with composers (and even conductors). On the lowest notes, the flute has a long resonating tube, and this takes time to speak. Some head joint cuts are designed so this register speaks loudly and easily. One can always strive to do better, and there are many exercises for the improvement of this technique. However, if you run into serious trouble trying to match the length of notes with string instruments or electronic sounds, you do have an acoustical excuse. If you see an alternative, suggest it. If not, express your willingness to work on improvement, but show the composer the length of tube required to resonate (and thus the physical limitations).

Often, when puzzling over an extended technique, rather than say "this is impossible" or "I can't do this", it helps to ask what the composer actually wants acoustically. Is there another technique which you can do which would be just as or more effective? Or ask where s/he got the technique from. Was it from another player whom you could simply contact for advice? Was it from a book? Were acoustical considerations overlooked such as the difference between a B foot and a C foot, or the difference between any two flutes or flutists?

Most composers I have worked with are very open and eager to look for solutions together. I once experienced a misunderstanding in an ensemble piece where I was faced with a passage of rapid, high whistle tones (notated exactly so: "whistle tone") marked forte. The composer, Beat Furrer, actually wanted these sounds loud, which is an acoustical impossibility. He insisted, however, that the previous player had achieved this. I asked him what the previous player had actually done, then tried out a few things according to his description. It turned out that what he wanted were overblown harmonics with a lot of air, which in the context of this ensemble piece did give a whistling effect. So these effects were not whistle tones as I had learned them, nor as they appear in textbooks. I pointed this out to the composer, who did not take my point or make any "correction" in the part. As long as we had found the acoustic solution together, he was satisfied his notation had produced the results he wanted. What to do? In this case, I decided I had done my "duty" by pointing out a possible misunderstanding for the next flutist. To have taken "educator" role too far would have just meant getting into an argument (which I would have undertaken had this been a solo piece).

This is perhaps a long way of saying to my fellow flutists: let's work together with composers to encourage the following:

a more standardized notation for extended techniques
a good working score for the next performer who comes along!

Tips for composing and notating aeolian (air) sounds

2010-02-17T21:29:00.008+01:00

Here are some tips on the use of air or aeolian sounds:
Be sure to specify if you want these sounds:
A. produced in playing position (so the air goes across the flute and produces a pitch that corresponds with the fingers), or
B. produced inside the flute: i.e., if you want the flutist to cover the embouchure hole and produce a kind of unpitched "white noise".

Sometimes I am asked to produce type "A" with the specification "no discernible pitch". This is nonsense: if a flutist blows across the flute they will always produce some sort of pitch. Even with no fingers down, you will get something in the neighborhood of C#. If you want unpitched noise, ask to flutist to blow into or inside the flute (cover the embouchure hole). In this position, the flutist can produce a range of unpitched sounds from bright (higher sounding white noise) to dark (lower sounding white noise) by changing the position of the tongue.

This leads to my next point: the use of different vowel sounds for color effects. This is most effective with the embouchure hole covered (type "B"). A good example is Hans Zender's Lo-Shu II. Vowel sounds are much less marked in normal playing position (type "A"), so be sure to take care in ensemble situations.

Some general thoughts about notation:
There are several notational traditions from the Artaud and Levine books concerning the notation of "aeolian" or "air" sounds which I would like to ask composers to avoid. When composing these sounds especially in a situation where rhythm is crucial (especially in an ensemble situation) please avoid the notation that uses empty note-heads:

This notation makes the distinction between a quarter note and a half note difficult. When a player is reading, this can be very annoying. It's good to have a different note shape, but be sure to fill in the note head in when needed so the player can read the rhythms easily:

An easy way to indicate a gradual change from normal sound to air is by using text with a dotted line:

or simply with a filled circle connected to an open circle by a dotted line:

Tips for composing singing and playing techniques

2010-02-17T21:17:00.002+01:00

When writing for the flute and voice there are several things to take into consideration.

The first may be: where to notate the voice line?
For solo pieces: if you have an extended or complicated voice line it is customary and practical to use a separate staff below that of the flute line. On the other hand, for short simple passages, I prefer to have the voice pitches on the same line as the flute.

In the context of an ensemble piece, I would use the same guidelines as above, and please be sure to notate the voice line below the flute. As a general rule, it is best to leave free space above the staff for an ensemble player to mark in beats, que notes, or remarks from the conductor.

Another consideration is the distortion produced by the simultaneous use of the voice and flute. The use of the voice (as most of you know, I am sure) in conjunction with the flute greatly distorts not only the flute sound, but the voice line and any text that you may want to set. Because of this distortion, getting a true polyphony going can also be tricky if you have a complicated passage. In this case, if you want true polyphony, use two instruments. I prefer the use of the voice and flute as a coloristic element, rather than using it as an attempt to create polyphony.

If you want to set text that is understandable to the audience, it is not advisable to ask the flutist to play at the same time as speaking. A better technique would be to have the flutist speak or sing the words using the resonance of the flute only. Beware of text with nasal vowels, these produce no resonance on the flute.

Speaking or singing directly into the flute (with the embouchure hole completely closed) is another option. This of course produces a muffled effect; however, rapid key action will interrupt the muffling and create an acoustic "panning". This effect can be heard at the beginning of George Crumb's Voice of the Whale

Some examples of the most effective uses of flute and voice are Noa Noa by Kaija Saariaho for flute and live electronics, and Toru Takemitsu's Voice .

When using a vocal line with the alto flute, there is the option of transposing the vocal line or writing it at pitch. Personally, I prefer having the voice line transposed with the alto flute. Since I have only a relative sense of pitch, it makes sense for me to have the voice always referring to the alto flute pitch; although, if the flutist for whom you are writing has a strong sense of perfect pitch, it would be better to write the voice part at pitch.

Composers, Common Mistakes When Writing for Flute

2010-02-17T21:09:00.002+01:00

Some common mistakes are:

Low C# to D# trill on flute
Harmonics in the first octave
Low C and C# on piccolo
Percussive effects in the second and third octave: key clicks, tongue or lip pizzicati, tongue ram. While these are not mistakes per se, they are not very effective outside the flute's first octave.

see also:
Writing for Students
Pet Peeves

All music is an articulation exercise (or could be made into one)

2010-02-13T15:38:00.007+01:00

In response to the question "How should I practice articulation?", I always answer "everything is an articulation exercise, or can be adapted into one". Spending more money on expensive Leduc editions will not help your tongue. Reading theories about where the optimal point of articulation is (behind the teeth, on the palate, between the lips) can give you ideas but not answers, since nobody seems to be in 100% agreement.

Since nobody can look into your mouth and tell you where to put your tongue, I'll repeat another truism: all articulation practice is tone practice. Your ears will tell you what works. Good articulation requires just as much awakening of the ears as the tongue.

"But I have an OK tone, it's just when I use my tongue for any amount of time it starts to sound bad!", you may answer.

"Good!" I say, "So the ears are switched on."
The short answer to this problem is that when you engage the tongue, the air behind it has to keep going despite a short interruption. Many players forget this and instead of increasing abdominal support to keep the energy behind the air stream they tighten the embouchure, or even worse, use the jaw to help the tongue! This is what causes fatigue and lack of control in long articulated passages.

It could also be the tongue is working too hard. My former teacher Bernard Goldberg used to admonish me be saying "you are only slicing air, not last week's bagels".

There are a few checkpoints: maybe the distance between the Du and Gu of double tonguing is too great. Some find it useful to shorten this distance by thinking the Du Gu action as having a vertical (up and down) dimension to it as opposed to just a back-and-forth motion.

How to establish efficiency? There are no shortcuts. I'll go out on a limb and say that if you seriously, seriously devote time to this aspect of playing, your body can't help but adopt the most efficient means possible - if you include your ears and brain in the process. The ears tell you when it's good and your brain tells you to stop, re-investigate when it's not good or when you're fatiguing yourself. This process will repeat itself a zillion times. Like any muscular activity we need diligent, consequent practice and patience to establish new habits.

Try the following with Mendelssohn's Scherzo, it's an adaptation of Aurèle Nicolet's method:

Break the solo into manageable passages (for example, the first passage could be the first 13 complete bars)
Play the passage slowly legato - each note focused and resonant
Play the passage slowly with ha ha articulation (no tongue!)
Play the passage with flutter tongue (either kind, throat or tongue)
Play the passage double tonguing every single written note (g,g,b-flat, b-flat,c,c,d,d,etc...)
Play the passage as written

You notice I try to avoid advice on placement and mechanics of the tongue, and mention of particular "schools" like the French School, which is supposedly the ace of articulation. That may well be, but listen to old recordings from the early 20th century English virtuosi, holy smokes, they could hold their own! Also, South Indian musicians, whose native Dravidian languages use retroflex sounds, where the tongue is actually pointed backwards, can move their tongues at lightning speed. Just listen to any mrdangam player doing the rhythmic solmization of konnakkol (that ta-ki-di-mi stuff)!

In a nutshell:
Ears are just as important as the tongue.
Remember the air produces the sound, not the tongue.
Invest wisely, get more on your return! In this case it means a long-term committment to intelligent practice.

Fourth Octave: How to not kill yourself and not be killed by your neighbors

2010-01-17T12:10:00.005+01:00

Twentieth Century pioneers in the realms of composition and performance have set the standard for us in terms of how high we are expected to play. For better or worse, we need to have fluency at least up to high D. Hmm, gee, thanks guys, I guess.......

Just do it. Play your normal scale and arpeggio routine up to high D. And the younger you start the better. That means now. Tomorrow you will be older. (If you need an online guide to possible fingerings for the flute, try here.)

Before launching please consider these tips. They will save you time and prevent injury. If you have any more to share, I am all ears (while I can still hear!).

• Wear earplugs during practice sessions including 4th octave. Loud noises can tire you just like muscular activity. Protect yourself from them, you will have more energy and be able to practice longer. The ordinary wax kind will do the job and are better than the foam ones because they nestle in your ear more snugly.
• Robert Dick's initial advice: get the angle of the air correct first by finding the whistle tone. Usually we need to be rolled out a bit more that we are used to. Then blow!
• Think of putting energy into your airstream, not your lips. The lips have to be firm to withstand the onslaught of air, but that's all. Don't try to create the sound with them, the source is down below. A quick focus on the muscles of your pelvic floor before you blow will help. They should move down a bit in contrary motion to the upward energy that comes with the air (as happens naturally when you cough).
• At first practice the fourth octave in your own dynamic, don't try to do extremes of loud or soft. What comes will come.
• Come down again! Don't spend too many consecutive minutes in your practice in the fourth octave without playing some in the first octave, or even just resting and not playing at all.
• And while you are resting: if the fourth octave passage is technically difficult and requires a lot of technical repetition to learn, finger the passage silently with the flute comfortably in your lap. Watch your fingers, concentrate on relaxed breathing, inhaling as well as exhaling, without any unnecessary stress or tension in your shoulders or hands. Combine this practice with actual playing.
• Watch intonation. In a repertoire passage, if tempo allows, choose fingerings that are as in tune as possible. If the passage is microtonal, I often use standard fingerings for notes that should be up to a quarter tone sharper in this octave, then play the "normal" notes with flattened fingerings.
• With a difficult repertoire passage, make a short exercise based on the 4th octave notes and include it in your daily scale and arpeggio practice. Then while practicing the piece, you will have time to work on musical aspects.

Some general remarks about dynamics:
Sometimes composers are kind and allow for the natural dynamic of the fourth octave (fff). Sometimes not. This is where you can go "virtual", that is, create the impression of a real piano even though the sound may be quite present. In some cases the struggle to play quietly is part of the composer's esthetic, or sometimes the composer just wants a diminishing of energy and will allow for a "relative" piano. Always ask if possible, don't knock yourself out trying to achieve perfection if the composer doesn't want it in the first place. If the composer really wants a true piano at that octave, do your best to keep the air up and not pinch, let go and allow a little airiness in the sound, it may still sound loud up close but it will carry less.

Photo: EPA stock photo

Contemporary Music : Express!

2010-01-15T09:33:00.005+01:00

Classical Contemporary Music which is abstract, atonal or just plain impenetrable may demand something beyond the traditional idea of instrumantal expression we are taught as flutists (the use of vibrato, tonal colors, dynamics and so on). Here are some random tips on how to tap into other sources for musical ideas.

Studying works that are outside the tradition of virtuosity can help you to focus on producing expression and dramatic impact. Extreme minimalist music or graphically notated music, for example, is divorced from ideas of technical wizardry; therefore one has to concentrate on aspects of timing, bodily movement, manner of breathing, and concentration. The difficulty is to find a way of generating intensity and maintaining interest throughout a work that may be nothing but a series of bizarre noises. Some examples of this type of music are certain works by John Cage (solos from Song Books, the flute part to Concert for Piano, which can be played as a solo or in conjunction with other works by Cage), Earle Brown (December 1958) or Cornelius Cardew (Treatise). Finding expressive solutions to these scores is a good exercise for stretching your musical imagination. Having travelled to this strange land of extremes can give you great perspective upon return.

To capture the particular expressive and dramatic style of the composer, I often rely on a practice idea that I picked up from Robert Dick: Play a passage of the piece you are working on, then turn the music away from you and improvise a passage in the same style, using the same range, dynamic inflections, length of phrases, etc. Once you've put yourself through this creative process, go back to the written passage. I always find something fresh to consider - perhaps a new inflection, a different color progression, or maybe a new sense of rhythmic clarity.

When searching for expressive solutions, the world of the visual arts can sometimes provide interesting insights. Here is one example of how visits to museums helped me to solve an expressive problem: While working on the Berio Sequenza from memory I started to wonder, what does one actually do with the mind while performing? Some performers may have a photographic memory and are able to visualize the score during performance. Not having this ability, I needed something to focus on, to keep my visual area from being distracted by the audience. (Playing with your eyes closed is not a good option when trying to communicate).

I do see this as a problem of expression: from the point of stage choreography, playing solos from memory is a challenge for flutists. Pianists are in profile, violinists are also a bit angled so their f-holes are facing the audience. Even clarinetists can pretend to look down at their fingers. And unlike singers, we do not have total facial freedom, nor can we hide behind a mask of facial expression (the bottom half of our face being otherwise engaged). We also do not have the words to carry the expression. Since we face the audience directly, we need a special courage and a strong method of focus. Of course, you can focus on the "exit" sign at the back of the hall, but still, what are you doing with your mind? I don't want to be thinking of the "exit" sign!

One tells children to "think up a story" as an aid to performance. However, that hardly seemed appropriate for a work such as the Sequenza, and could prove even more distracting than the audience. What helped in the end was to allow abstract images to form on their own, inspired and dependent on the sounds I produced during performance. This allowed me to concentrate on the actual sounds I was producing and not be distracted by any preconceived, representational, artificially imposed images or thoughts.

These images that I formed were inspired by visits to the Stedelijk and Van Gogh museums in Amsterdam, where I was living at the time. I was also able to think of a color scheme and progression that helped me through the opening of Franco Donatoni's Midi, which can otherwise seem like a salad of endless noodles.

In yoga, the focus of your eyes is called drishti. Sometimes it is straight ahead, sometimes the tip of your nose, sometimes your belly button (not recommended for flutists!). Do whatever it takes to develop your own drishti. Be relaxed in the focus of your eyes, this will help you to concentrate.

Microtonality: some basic tips

2010-01-11T22:26:00.009+01:00

Microtonality is the use of intervals smaller than a half-step such as quarter tones, sixth tones, eighth tones and so on.

There are several standard ways in which microtones are used (which may be interconnected):
• As part of a "just" intonation scheme (based on pure intervals instead of equal [keyboard] temperment). Used in a simple way (also known as mean-tone tuning), one plays perfectly in tune in a given key, less so in related keys and totally "out there" in remote keys. So far I have come across no better explanation and description for just intonation than David Doty's Just Intonation Primer. Or click here for an on-line explanation of just intonation.
• As part of a "spectral" scheme where the notes are not tuned according to equal [keyboard] temperment, but according to the intonation of upper partials of a given overtone sequence. This is related to just intonation (and again David Doty's book explains this wonderfully), however in a "just"intonation environment there may be a tonality implied, whereas in "spectral" music a tonality is rarely implied (although there may be a tonal center). Here is an example of how the overtone sequence on our low C is naturally (purely) tuned. The deviation from equal temperment is measured in cents. (Cents are measured by dividing an equal tempered half tone into 100 units. These are marked on most tuners to indicate the degree to which one is sharp or flat.)
◦ 1st harmonic (fundamental): C (no change)
◦ 2nd harmonic C (no change)
◦ 3rd harmonic G: (2 cents sharp)
◦ 4th harmonic C: (no change)
◦ 5th harmonic E: (14 cents flat)
◦ 6th harmonic G: (2 cents sharp)
◦ 7th harmonic Bb (31 cents flat)
◦ 8th harmonic C (no change)
◦ 9th harmonic D (4 cents sharp)
For the deviation up to the 31st harmonic, see Wikipedia's entry on the Harmonic Spectrum.
For tips on how to get these partials in tune without having to resort to watching the cent meter on your tuner (i.e. by ear) read my entry on spectralism.

• Sometimes a composer may invent a tuning system, then it is up to you to determine: a) why/how the composer uses microtones and b) how you should approach them. These questions will help to determine whether or not the composer has included microtones as special "effect"; i.e., should the "de-tuned" notes be given special colors to contrast the "normal" notes, or does the composer want consistency of timbre? This is an important factor in determining fingering (if not already prescribed by the composer).

Once the interpretive questions have been addressed, there comes the time to actually play them. There are several fingering charts available such as Matts Möller's quarter-tone chart. They are good resources but think of them as starting points. My personal advice is to know as many fingerings as possible for a particular note. Be flexible in the choice of fingering because there are several factors to consider when making your choice:
• the speed of the gesture
• the intervallic relationship to its neighboring notes
• the dynamic and tone color
Although each of these is an important consideration, it is crucial to know your end tempo and always have it in mind. I have made the mistake of carefully going through a score and writing in all the "correct" fingerings for microtones, only to have to change them later as I got the piece up to tempo. Practice the notes in tempo, if only two or three at a time to get a feel for this.

Sometimes the solution can be simpler than you think. Turning the flute in or out to "de-tune" a note can work just as well as a really complicated fingering. For example: on a standard flute there is no stable fingering for F 3/4 sharp. If you need a loud, stable tone just play F# and lip up. If you need a quiet clear tone, finger G and lip down. (Of course if you want that hollow, bamboo sound, use low B and half hole the F-key [index finger right hand].)

A note on different flute models: I play on a quarter-tone Kingma System (produced by Osten-Brannen). This is a really great system, and I can recommend it for anyone who wants to play a lot of contemporary music. These flutes are also suitable for all repertoire. However, every flute has the capacity to play microtonally (as we all know, sometimes inadvertently!). Please don't be discouraged from playing the modern repertoire if you have a standard flute, even if you only have a student model with closed holes. There is still repertoire that can be played on student models such as the flute solos by Karlheinz Stockhausen. See my repertoire list for more suggestions.

Sounds of Silence

2010-01-11T21:46:00.007+01:00

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

2010-01-08T21:13:00.004+01:00

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

2010-01-06T22:08:00.008+01:00

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
- 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
- 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
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
- 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?

2009-12-17T20:42:00.006+01:00

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

2009-12-17T20:08:00.008+01:00

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

2009-12-06T15:56:00.005+01:00

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 cliche) flute sounds: airy, elephantine honks on a piece of metal plumbing along with the rattling of ill-fitted keywork. 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 philisophical 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 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 in close tandem with the performer. This is what I'm always encouraging composers to do while 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 of 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 Nostalgica-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 dissapointed that was how it came across, as if intonation, long-ass phrases and extreme control of the direction of airstream 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?

Flute Multiphonics - Q&A for composers

2009-11-05T21:22:00.008+01:00

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

2009-09-27T14:23:00.008+02:00

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.

Composing for Students (Conservatory Level)

2009-08-17T21:55:00.004+02:00

I was asked by a composer what pitfalls there might be for writing an ensemble piece for a local conservatory. Since we both had copies Carin Levine's Techniques of Flute Playing, I took that as my basis and made the following remarks.

I will preface these remarks with an important note. If you are composing for students or young people, please go easy on the extended techniques: use them sparingly! Some rough guidelines: stick to one technique per musical phrase, and give the player enough time to set up an unusual fingering or to move the flute to a covered embouchure position.

2.1 The fourth octave
for a student piece, please don't use extended passages above D4. Non-harmful 4th octave technique takes time to develop. Isolated notes up to E4 are OK for students.

2.2 Fluttertongue
seems like a normal technique but watch out - many Asian students can't do it. And the distinction between glottal and tongue production - *in an ensemble situation* - falls into the category of DON'T BOTHER. You won't necessarily hear the distinction if there are others playing, and most young players can only do either one or the other anyway.

2.3 Harmonics
Very good for students!
2.3.1 Double Harmonics
Also good. It's good to have the fundamental note (fingered one) notated as in the Pagh-Paan and Richard examples. Beware that higher partials are difficult to produce and control dynamically.

2.4 Whistle Tones
Good for students, but may be difficult for them at first. Easiest to use them in an atmospheric, undefined way, with the fundamental tone notated, as in Carin's examples. As you probably know, these are very quiet sounds.

2.4.1 Special Whistle Tones
Difficult for most beginners. These are the ones with the teeth and covered embouchure hole that need time to set up. Just for the record, Sciarrino notates them incorrectly. When you cover the embouchure hole, the pitch you produce is a m. 7th below. The Sciarrino example p. 17 does not produce the pitches notated.

2.5 Jet Whistle
OK for students - give them time to set up the embouchure; inexperienced/uncoordinated players can chip their teeth if they try to get into covered embouchure position too fast. Once in this position though, you can write quick passages. Please also give time for getting back into normal playing position. As a general rule, when writing for inexperienced players, set up all "covered embouchure" techniques as if they were actual instrument changes - leaving a bit of time on either side.

2.6 Trumpet Embouchure
I'd avoid in student pieces, although I personally am fond of this technique. It does mess with the circulation in your lips and you can't get back to normal playing right away, and if you are too eager, it can cause temporary damage.

2.7 Singing and Playing
Good for students. But as you may already know, produces more of an "effect" than a true polyphony. As to where to notate the voice line: if it is simple, use the same staff as the flute - if more complicated (or separate dynamics) - use two lines (vocal line on bottom).

2.8 Multiphonics
Good for students - there are a whole bunch of "beginner" ones that are not too difficult. I'd check with a real flutist for these, or maybe you know them already. Otherwise, follow Carin's chart with regards to stability and dynamics, but take away a few degrees of stability and mentally take the dynamic notch down too - an inexperienced player may not have as much success as notated in the chart. Also take care of the surrounding dynamics in an ensemble situation. The flutist has to be able to hear his/herself well enough to produce these sounds accurately. Also since the student has to learn new fingerings, it is better to use them in slower passages.

3.1 Pizzicato
Good for students to learn. Beware that in an ensemble situation, the difference between a tongue pizz produced on the lips and a tongue pizz produced on the palate is negligable. Most students will be able to do one better than the other anyway. Therefore, in order for them to be heard, it's good to give them freedom to do what they can produce most effectively.

3.2 Key Clicks
In an ensemble situation, these fall into the DON'T BOTHER category. I almost always have to end up adding a tongue or lip pizz to make them effective (this is a good combination anyway, more percussive). In ascending first octave passages, one lifts up keys instead of putting them down so there is no natural percussive effect. You can hit an auxilliary key - but in a rapid passage this is awkward.

3.3 Tongue Ram
Ok for students. Give them lots of time to set up, although once set up, you can write fast passages. See comments to Jet Whistle 2.5

4. Vibratos
All ok - beware the different kinds can be very subtle - you may not hear the differences between them (for example, normal heavy vibrato and smorzato) if there's other stuff going on.

5. Air sounds
OK for students. Although it seems like an airy sound would be the easiest thing in the world to produce, it takes time to control a mix of sound and air that will project. Not all young players can do loud air sounds immediately.

Also, please note the following since I don't think Carin makes the distinction:
Be sure to specify if you want these sounds:

* produced in playing position (so the air goes across the flute and produces a pitch that corresponds with the fingers), or
* produced inside the flute: i.e., if you want the flutist to cover the embouchure hole and produce a kind of unpitched "white noise". Here the pitch will not *necessarily* correspond with the fingers. However, if you change fingerings, you will get color and vague pitch changes. This technique is also effective when changing vowel sounds in the mouth.

In an ensemble situation, please avoid the notational use of empty note heads, especially if rhythm is important. This makes it difficult to distinguish quarter notes from half notes.

6. Circular breathing
It takes a long time to master - would avoid in a student piece unless the student is already learning it.

7. Trills
all Ok, I'd just follow what Carin says.

8. Glissandi
Beware with embouchure glissando: the lowest notes have less flexibility. You can get better results from about E1 and upwards.
Otherwise, follow Carin's guidelines.

9. Microtonality
OK - rapid passages will take lots of time to learn though.

Bass Flute ins and outs - for composers

2009-08-17T13:47:00.008+02:00

Here's some collected advice on how to compose for the bass flute.

For both composers and performers:
To check out solo repertoire you can refer to my repertoire list - scroll to the list of works with piccolo/alto and bass flute. You can also listen to my playing Boulez' Dialogue de l'Ombre Double arranged for bass flute.

Composers:
Please realize that the bass flute is not a true bass instrument. It won't honk unless you amplify it or use its third octave. Both can be very effective, but I often wonder why composers don't take advantage of the beautiful acoustic sound of the instrument's first octave more often. What it lacks in carrying power, it makes up for in soulfulness.

When composing extended techniques - some are very effective! All the percussive tricks like tongue or lip pizzicati and tongue rams work very well in the first octave. Be aware though that they too can get lost in an ensemble situation, especially if you have percussion or bass clarinet also doing slaps. It's difficult to match the dynamic impact of a good bass clarinetist doing slaps.

Key clicks - as with the C flute - fall under my category of "why bother" techniques. I almost always find I need to supplement the key sound with a tongue or lip pizz. They can be effective though if not much else is going on. And please (this is almost a no-brainer, but I have to repeat it all the time) when you write a fast passage, bear in mind that you'll only get key noises on the notes that require you to ADD a finger. Logically, descending passages work better than ascending.

Multiphonics work on the bass flute - fingering charts can be found in Carin Levine's book The Techniques of Flute Playing vol. 2. Basically, you can use most C-flute multiphonics that don't require half-holes. Again, though, there are acoustical considerations. Quiet dynamics, please! with the exception of high overblown harmonics. Multiphonics can be tricky on the bass flute, so don't be disapointed with an airy, unstable result. If that's the effect you wish to create - all the better! To seek a stable, dynamically viable multiphonic, work with the individual player. Each player will have his/her own set of multiphonics which come easier.
It's less of an issue nowadays, but beware that some cheap instruments are still being made without trill keys - so multiphonics using trill keys will not work on them.

Whistle tones work well but are difficult to control. Sweeping through the overtone spectrum on a fingered low note can be effective. Again - as you all probably know - this is easier for the player when it's just an atmospheric effect. Longer notes please! Or if they need to be short, it's best to have a free or undefined rhythm as the response time may vary.

Air/aeolian sounds. This is a great, if perhaps overdone, effect on the bass flute. Toshio Hosokawa uses it often in his ensemble works to good effect. Beware though that young or inexperienced players will need some time to develop when it comes to producing louder dynamics.

Attention All Radiohead Fans: Here's a music video

2009-07-13T15:40:00.005+02:00

This is my oldest friend singing and playing Exit Music. The video is his too.
Get your hankies out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tDj_VanH3g

p.s. not flute related. whew :-)

Early Summer

2009-07-13T13:22:00.015+02:00

Hey Folks,
it's been awhile, but now that I have re-couped from early summer projects it's time for a retrospective.

June 18th was a busy day. In preparation for an article for Pan, I visited the Hochschule here in Cologne. What a creepy place! Lovely naked concrete 80's architecture. Anyway, that aside, had a very interesting 3 hours with Prof. Robert Winn and his students. He gave many salient points that I will need to sift through before airing them to the British flute-loving public. And sorry, I'm not at liberty to give anything away before publication!

Later that day I pedaled over to Cologne's Loft - which as some of you may know is the venue for improvised music. God Bless Hans-Martin Müller for founding it!

My duo partner Alexei Lapin (Lyosha) from St. Petersburg had just arrived and we were ready for his German debut. For the concert I rounded
up Melvyn Poore, tuba -

Matthias Schubert, sax
-

and at the last minute Roger Turner, drums.

I got roped into playing as well for the second set. We had a small audience, but all in all it wasn't bad. There were also some good moments. And if we get the recording mastered well, we just might be able to put it out on CD.

June 20 I arranged for Llyosha to do a jam/recording session at the musikFabrik with Frank Gratkowski sax/clarinet and Sebastian Gramss bass. I think those guys played very well together, and I learned a lot.

June 26-27 I headed up to Hannover to record at the EMI Emil Berliner Studios. Jüri Reinvere had arranged for us to record his Requiem for flute, 4 male voices and female voice-over. We met the singers who flew straight in from Tallinn to the rehearsal. I was treated with a flood of Estonian words, and temporarily even learned to count in Estonian. It's all long-gone the way all my short-term learning goes.

June 29 I went north again, this time to Münster to do the German premiere of this Requiem. This was shown with film footage of Estonia from before the wars. We played in the Apostelkirche, quite nice but with acoustics too-churchy for this piece. It went OK, but the audience (a bigger turnout than I expected) response was underwhelming. Too bad, I like this piece. One we got the notation sorted out (subject for another blog entry) it went very fine - excellent writing for flute. The combination with male voices is very soulful.

July 2-3 was busy with rehearsals for Royaumont with musikFabrik. Also with film. Very tricky stuff that needs to be coordinated with click-track. These are all new works by Michael Jarrell, Martin Matalon and Paul Cendo. Am looking forward to August in Royamount with lovely food and the beautiful Cistercian chapel where we will play. These Cistercian cathedrals and churches are my absolute favorite, no peeing putties or horrible bleeding cross paintings, just light, light, more light and beautiful stonework.

July 5 was my solo concert which took place in an absolute sauna of light, speaking of.....
After the first two works it didn't go too badly. The concert got off to such a bad start - and I think I have the answer (also another blog subject). In short, I ignored my physical well-being again. On the whole, the turnout was better than I expected, the organizer was happy, and the whole thing will be available for purchase/download in the Fall. More on that later.

Now coming up:
July 15 in St. Petersburg at the GEZ with Llosha and Nikolai Rubanov, sax. I've been humbled though and am a bit shy now of this improv stuff. I've heard so many really good people recently that I'm inspired and ashamed (of my own piddling attempts) at the same time.

Then it's family time! There will be 2 sets of grandparents for my little boy to drool on. We are all looking forward to it. Maybe I'll even have time to blog.....

Double Double Tongue

2009-06-15T07:25:00.004+02:00

Working on the Berio Sequenza, I've been trying to figure out ways to double tongue faster. Theoretically, I presume, one should be able to double tongue exactly twice as fast as one can single tongue. [1x ST = 2x DT] So if I can single tongue 16th notes at mm.=120, why can't I double tongue 32nd notes at the same speed? It works sometimes, but only for a short burst of time.

Here's how I'm working to prolong it: practice double tonguing as fast as possible independent from the beat - not trying to fit two or for or however many on a certain note. It's kind of like how you try to get vibrato to sound smooth, not sounding like 4 or 5 to a beat but just natural. Try it with the tongue!

Take Taffanel/Gaubert e.j. no. 4
I'll play the ascending line slurred, then descending with double tonguing as fast as possible independent of the beat, but keeping the fingers in time. Usually I start with tempo mm.=100 then work up. Then I will switch, ascend with double tonguing, then descend legato.

Going back and forth between fast articulation and legato gives a good rest for the tongue, and it's a good way to focus on the tempo again. (For some reason, my brain can turn off when articulating fast!) When I feel confident, I will try articulating ascending and descending.

One thing that helps: with the tongue moving so fast, it really does interfere with the airstream. Therefore, you really need a steady support from the abdominal muscles - it actually helps when keep them firm and moving in and up when exhaling.

Berio uses this technique of double tonguing as fast as possible in his woodwind quintet also - so it's good preparation for his other works!

Photo: Arthur Sassa/AFP-Getty Images File

Thought for the Day

2009-06-04T22:09:00.002+02:00

Here's the caption in bigger letters:
The planet is asleep and it's the fault of musicians
who are untrue to themselves. - Sun Ra

Preview of Solo Concerts June 29th and July 5th

2009-05-28T16:43:00.006+02:00

Here I am just keeping tabs on myself again. I'm into the home stretch of preparations for my first solo concerts (not solo appearances, by the way) after the birth of Nikolai, Sept. 14, 2008.

Now is the time to appreciate all the energy that goes into the preparation of a solo flute concert. Just being able to play the pieces is enough work (could spend a lifetime on that....). But I need to get in physical shape. I know the pieces, and my lips are in shape but as I ran through a few pieces today I realized I need more strength. That is going to be the hard work. Then there is the publicity, photos, program notes.... (sigh...)

Lactation takes some of your energy away. And recovery from a c-section, major abdominal surgery, takes its time. (I don't know why anyone would elect to have one, if not medically necessary. You are in pain for much longer than a normal labor - not at the time perhaps, but afterwards when you need to be working and up and about. No fun for flutists!) So in addition to my lackadaisical yoga routine, my occasional walking and biking I need to get my butt moving.

So enough whinging. Here's what's on:

June 29th, the German premiere of Jüri Reinvere's Requiem for solo flute, 6 voices and video. This 50 - minute work will be performed during the week celebrating Estonian Culture in Münster, Germany.
The concert will be at 20.00 hours at the Apostelkirche. The work is, how shall I describe, "post Sciarrino". Many lovely quiet sounds, very poetic. I really enjoyed working with the composer, making some discoveries and clarifying some elements of extended techniques. However, the composer, and Richard Craig (who did the World Premiere) and I are still scratching our heads over how to notate the last movement. Notation remains the bug-bear and bane of contemporary music.

next, July 5th in Cologne at the Altes Pfandhaus at 19.15
Program will be moderated by local radio celebrity Michael Struck-Schloen, and is the final in the series "unvorhergehört" - a soloist series initiated by local composer Marcus Antonius Wesselmann. Actually, this program will be more of a mix of "unvorhergehört" (not heard before) and "1000 Mal vorhergehört" (heard 1000 times before). I think that will make it fun, though:

Debussy - Syrinx
Varese - Density 21.5
Jüri Reinvere - opposite of thought from Requiem
Marcus Antonius Wesselmann - Solo no. 1
Toru Takemitsu - Voice
Robert Dick - "Electric Blues" from Flying Lessons
Improvisation - title will either be für Enno or That Cat Don't Sit

Fast or Schnell

2009-05-18T22:26:00.003+02:00

On May 9th 2009 I gave a small workshop in Wulfrath, Germany for amateurs on finger technique. I thought I'd put the link to the PDF hand-out here, although it is also on my website.

Have a look, in English or auf deutsch, and let me know what you think!

Syrinx - who is playing whom?

2009-05-10T12:24:00.011+02:00

Peter Paul Rubens- Pan & Syrinx (Staatliche Museum, Kassel)

A thought occurred to me today while playing and listening to several recordings of Debussy's Syrinx. Most likely, it was not an original thought. We all learn the story this of piece: its role as incidental music in Gabriel Mourey's Psyche, and the story of Pan. This half-goat, half-man pursues the nymph Syrinx, who, at the water's edge, in order to escape her pursuer, is transformed into a water-reed. Pan then transforms a bundle of these reeds into a flute, whereupon he plays his dying lament.

Mostly I hear flutists (and program-note writers) describe this piece in terms of Pan. It's Pan's song, Pan's longing, and Pan's dying. But is it really? Is Syrinx only a bundle of reeds? Does she have a voice of her own, and if so, what does she sing?

A short digression:
Please understand I am not trying to interpret this piece in terms of sexual politics or present some sort of feminist's viewpoint. I got to thinking about Syrinx when trying out different spectrums of sound in order to produce color changes. Why did I get hung up on this? Well, I'll divulge another pet peeve I have: flutists who make "color changes" only by adding air to the sound, thinking that an airy, unfocused sound is sufficient for a difference in color. Sometimes it is. I've heard it in Debussy, I've heard it in slow movements of Bach, and on many other occasions. It is soo boring if one only uses this trick. Sometimes some air in the sound (or complete air) is musically appropriate. But if that is your only choice of "color change" then please try out something else: work with different harmonic components in the sound. One way this can be done is by changing the vowel sound inside the mouth.

Anyway, back on topic - experimenting with color changes led to thoughts of transformation. Then I thought "hey!, that's not Pan, that's Syrinx!" She's the one who morphs.

That led to other aspects of Syrinx' role: flight, and, like Pan, longing. Not the sexual longing which is associated with Pan, but perhaps a longing for freedom of corporal constraints, or longing for unity with the elements. You can add on your own interpretation here. Please note I am not denying the element of sexual longing in this work - it is certainly there.

There are probably other elements of Syrinx' role I've not thought of yet.

When I thought about the subject of flight, that led me to think about the rhythm. Peter Lloyd tells of his lessons with Caratge in Paris on this piece. After Lloyd's first run-through of Syrinx, Caratge sent him home with his tail between his legs, admonishing him to "play with a metronome!" When Lloyd came back having done so, only then was Caratge ready to begin working on the piece musically. Peter-Lukas Graf also lays emphasis on attention to the rhythm. He points out that this is not "free music" it is "freely-composed music" (having neither conventional form nor tonality). Because the rhythms for that time-period were rather complex, it is all the more necessary to make clear contrasts of duplets (16th or 8th notes) and triplets.

And what about rubato? Absolutely! It's part of the fright and flight that I imagine the nymph Syrinx experienced. Fleeing, then slowing down to peek from behind a tree to see if Pan has lost her trail, then fleeing again. Much of this yearning forward and holding back is already composed into the piece, so if one adds to it, one must understand the framework wherein it occurs.

Intonation IV: Our Partner in Crime

2009-04-26T08:28:00.008+02:00

By Partner in Crime I mean our most common collaborator in the traditional repertoire: the piano (or harpsichord). Here is some information I've gleaned from reading Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics by Arthur H. Benade (standing left in photo, playing homemade flute). To know the acoustical properties of the piano is to be able to deal with its intonational quirks. The burden of this lies with us, the flutists. The piano is not able to adjust to our intonational quirks.

Pianos and harpsichords have what are called inharmonic partials as opposed to a flute's regular harmonic partials.

A flute sound will be comprised of its fundamental and its more weakly-heard upper partials: an octave (2 x the frequency of the fundamental), 12th (3 x the frequency of the fundamental), octave again (4 x the frequency), and so on. Everything is all laid out and predictable. What an orderly instrument!

Pianos and harpsichords have inharmonic partials due to string stiffness and effects of the sound board. Their partials are spread, that is, the first partial will be slightly more than 2 x the fundamental. This is important for us to know: given the same note, the upper partials of a piano have a higher frequency (are sharper) than the flute's. Just how sharp these partials are will depend on the quality of piano: an expensive concert grand will have less deviation - an upright with a too-short sound board will have more deviation.

Here is an example of a typical deviation for a decent instrument, based on the frequency of C4=261.63hz
Fundamental Flute:261.63 Piano:261.63
2nd partial Flute: 523.26 Piano:523.51
3rd partial Flute:784.89 Piano:785.91
etc. You can see that the higher you go, the farther apart the frequencies will be between the two instruments.

The piano's "spread" inharmonic spectrum explains why its attack sounds sharper (higher in pitch) than its immediate decay. Initially a great number of partials are excited, including the higher ones that display spread inharmonicity. As the sound dies away, we are left with the lower few partials, which are more or less "normal", that is, less inharmonic.

What else does this inharmonicity mean for us flutists?

I need to back up and explain another acoustical lesson from Benade. Sometimes, there is a difference between matching a pitch between alternately presented sounds and simultaneous sounds (p. 268). Why? Because sometimes the ear is matching overall pitch rather than frequency. What?

Overall pitch is what the ears interpret, given any sound with a harmonic spectrum. We infer the fundamental from that sound. That fundamental, which we infer from its upper partials, may not actually match the frequency of the fundamental. (Really! It's a case of the mind inferring its own reality. Maybe like an optical illusion?)

How does that affect a flutist who plays the same note in alteration with a piano? Given the example above for C=261.63 hz, and "assuming the first six partials [only the first 3 listed here] to be equally important in determining the pitch, one finds that the normal [flute] tone must have its pitch raised about 4 cents...if the two are to agree when presented alternately." (p. 318)

He gives a further example on page 323:

"Suppose for example that a flutist plays a mezzo-forte G4, maintaining it accurately in tune with the G4 produced by a single harpsichord string (whose inharmonicity is very similar to that of the strings we have been discussing all along). The flute is sounded steadily, and the corresponding harpsichord key is struck repetitively at the rate of about 2 per second, so that the tone is restored quickly after each dying away. (...)If, however, the harpsichordist sounds one more note after the flutist has shut off his well-tuned tone, this last note sounds a trifle sharp to our ears..."

Well, I beg to differ... the harpsichordist will not sound sharp: the flutist will sound flat!

There are a couple of other things that are interesting to know about the piano.
On page 319 Benade describes what he calls "the piano tuner's octave". Octaves on the piano are not completely pure, it seems. They are also tuned a few cents too wide. Funny, I would have thought that would be the one interval that could have a 2/1 ratio (the upper note having exactly 2 x the frequency of the lower). But, if you think about that spread inharmonicity, it does make sense.

Furthermore, not even unisons are pure on pianos! (p. 334) This is what blew me away. Most piano notes are produced by multiple strings, which may have as many as 1 - 8 cents difference between them. This is deliberately done to enhance the decay time.

Given the shimmering effect of de-tuned unisons, together with the spread inharmonicity of each individual string, the piano creates a vibrant, pulsing sound. This is one reason I think it doesn't make sense to play non-vibrato with piano. Of course, there are musical contexts where non-vibrato is appropriate. However, as a general rule, I think the flute should go with the piano's flow of vibrations!

Photo credit: AIP Emilio Segre Visual Archives

Practice Motto: Amongst Our Weaponry Are....

2009-04-15T15:33:00.003+02:00

Surprise, fear, ruthless efficiency and a fanatical devotion to the--- wait a minute ----- that's not my practice motto, that's The Spanish Inquisition skit from Monty Python!

Hmm, well, surprise and fear do come into play now and then. It's the term ruthless efficiency that's been running through my head recently. Ruthlessness seems to be the rule, given minimal practice time these days in which to prepare for May's difficult ensemble concert and July's solo concert. It's a tough juggle, my husband is working almost round-the-clock to make a deadline, and my 7-month-old son could care less about my piddling artistic/flutey problems. So practice moments need to be cunningly snatched. Linked with my policy of brutal honesty, which involves keeping the tuner by my side, I seem to have a very pugnacious attitude in the practice room these days. It's a place where "no one expects the Spanish Inquisition!" But guess what? It's paying off!

I will share some of my weaponry that inflicts ruthless efficiency:

a daily task list and
a projected schedule of when I will practice each piece

Since it is impossible to practice every piece every day, I take what is difficult from each piece and work it into my daily practice. Some things on my list now are: the multiphonics found in Berio Sequenza and Takemitsu Voice, double tonguing as fast as possible....

The projected schedule is something I make when it seems there are too many pieces and too little time. I start from the first day and project up to the concert day(s). I figure out how much practice each piece will need, and assign one or more pieces to practice in detail each day. That way, I don't have to worry about practicing each piece every day. It keeps me from panicking, and importantly, from procrastinating. If it's my day to practice that difficult trio I was dreading, just do it. Put the other pieces aside - the items on the daily task list will keep me up-to-date, in shape and on top of them.

I do seem to be making headway, and watching Monty Python for a laugh now and then does help!

Intonation I : Flutonation

2009-04-12T20:11:00.008+02:00

Practicing intonation, I've noticed a few funny quirks of mine which I know are shared by many other flutists, so I think it is worthwhile confessing and hanging them out to dry.
(By the way, barring any live musicians I can scare up to do my nerdy exercises, my partner in intonation practice is my Korg OT-12. It's a bit chunky and pricey, but it offers decent range of sound output. It is also recommended by orchestral piccoloists for its good registration of high pitches.)

But first I need to get another pet peeve off my chest: flutonation. It's the natural intonation of the flute. I often hear it when a flutist is playing a solo piece without accompaniment, esp. a contemporary (atonal) piece that they think doesn't need to be in tune. Oh boy....eyes rolling.....
I admit that I have flutonation in spades: C# too sharp, low and mid Eb too flat, but the high Eb too sharp. This is why I hate hearing it in other players :-)

Now for those other quirks:
When tuning unisons, I notice I tend to tune just a few cents sharp. I realized why after awhile: when perfectly in tune with my OT-12, the sound of the OT-12 disappears completely! The harmonic structures are so interlocked that they are indistinguishable. If I'm a little sharp though, I can still hear the tuner. And in my quest to always listen, to play so I can hear my partner (even if mechanical), I play so that both can be heard. Funny, huh? A case where overdoing one aspect can mess you up in another area. Sort of opposite the way pitch rises in orchestra - where you play sharp so you can hear yourself.

Another thing is octaves. I can tune vertical octaves without any silliness, but melodic (horizontal) octaves are another story. They are almost always too wide. I don't know why, maybe I have played the flute too long and have a severe case of octave flutonation. Then there is picctonation. I hear octaves on the piccolo too narrow. That's probably because I like to play with the cork rather close to the embouchure hole - but still, I should know better. I really have to re-train my ears with a fixed pitch instrument or my korg. I've developed some exercises for octaves with my korg that involve listening, not looking at the blinking lights.

In general, I've got several exercises for tuning with a tuner that involve listening to combination tones, complete with explanations. They are no longer publicly on my site because I am considering publication, but- if someone is really interested I can send them pdf.

Intonation II: "Gimme That Ol' Time Religion"

2009-04-12T19:13:00.010+02:00

Here's a still from the TV broadcast of us playing Henza's Requiem
in the Cathedral of Cologne, April 2009

Our latest concert presented quite a challenge! The Cathedral of Cologne has an evening temperature (this time of year) of 15.3˚ C (59.4˚ F). That was with spotlights and extra spots from the television crew.

As we bundled up to play Hans Werner Henza's Requiem, we took great care in tuning. Actually, it wasn't too bad, all things considered.

Here's what we had to consider:

From one equal-tempered semitone to the next there is a 6% increase in frequency.

A 10˚C change in temperature is equal to a 2% change in pitch frequency. That's a whole third of a semitone!
[From "The Musician's Guide to Acoustics" by Murray Campbell, p. 201]

The Cathedral air was not a whole 10 degrees below room temperature (22˚C) but it was enough to make things really tricky.

So what was it like playing in one of the world's tallest cathedrals? The acoustics of the choir area (on the east end, behind the altar) are not bad. The choir of Cologne Cathedral, measured between the piers, holds the distinction of having the largest height to width ratio of any Medieval church, 3.6:1. [info from Wiki] The whole cathedral is so large and so high that it is almost like playing outdoors, you don't get that "churchy" acoustic. The nave is 43.35 meters high (144.22 feet) - the 4th highest in the world. Only when you stop playing, do you hear a long, long, decay of the sound.

When I stepped into the interior of the Cathedral for the first time in the summer of 1995 I almost cried, it was that moving and impressive. I am used to tall buildings, I've even been up the Sears tower in Chicago, but being inside such a vast structure is awe-inspiring. Imagine the impression it made on the pre-modern psyche!

Back to our intonation question:
How to stay on top of these extreme situations, hot or cold?
*keep flexible by practicing note bends - both ways. I find this absolutely crucial in piccolo playing.
*know alternate fingerings
*know the tendencies of other instruments under these extremes (strings go sharp in the cold, not like us!)

Intonation III : the Spectre of Spectralism

2009-04-01T16:45:00.018+02:00

Some days ago I got the score for G. F. Haas' new work „ … wie Stille brannte das Licht“. (What is it with German-speaking composers and their titles with elipses?). It got me thinking about how different composers notate microtonality. I like what Haas has done, it is explicit in placing the note within a frame of reference.

The notated C quarter-sharp in bar 241 is the 11th partial of G, and the A-flat in bar 245 is the 21st partial of E-flat (along with the indication that you are in a perfect fifth with the clarinet). I like having this kind of information in the score, but if he had notated the exact deviation in cents, that would have been even more helpful. This is easy enough to find out in Wiki

That 11th partial should a C# 49 cents flat, and the 21st partial should be an A-flat 29 cents flat. Like I said, easy enough for find out, but it would have been nice if the composer had provided this information.

We haven't had rehearsal yet, so I can't say how this will sound or how easy this will be to hear. [ed. read my follow up at the bottom of this post]
So now the question arises: How does one practice this stuff?

First of all, I get my tuner. Trying the A-flat first, I make sure that our Eb's are in tune. Then I play an A-flat ca. 29 cents flat. Then I keep that tone while putting the sound on to Eb and I hear a Bb combination tone. This is a clue that I am on the right track, or within the correct overtone spectrum. Your combination tone (it may be a true difference tone or not, depending on the timbre and register of instrument) should lie in close relationship to the fundamental - say an octave, fifth or major third (which is the 5th partial, you don't want to go much farther than that). Put in simpler terms, it should be part of the major triad formed by the fundamental.

Now to try the C# against the G. Again I tune the G's, then test my C3 so the needle goes about 49 cents flat, then put the sound on G. My difference tone is B natural this time, still close enough (a major third - the 5th partial) in relation to G to be correct.

Again, I have no idea how this will work in the context of the piece, or if it will be heard. But now I know, theoretically, how much adjustment is "correct".

Whether this works in context or not, I love working with combination tones. Scientists are still not in agreement as to what they are - but it is a wonderful example of how our brains work - how they "fill in the blanks" of the overtone spectrum. I wonder if this is the same phenomenon that allows transistor radios to work? Only the upper partials are projected, the brain fills in the rest.

Also, I've noticed that I'm one of those people who can read things like this, hence my spelling problems, most likely. (Thanks to my like-minded Uncle T for this text):
fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too
Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervti sy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

[Follow-up added May 5, 2009]
The passage in question was acually not so difficult to hear! You are a part of this "lump" of sounds that are related to the fundamental. It is tricky that he has two harmonic spectrums going at once: those of G and E-flat.

When considering dynamics in this piece we realized that there was a lot more going on than just playing loudly or softly. It helped to think of crescendo/decrescendo passages as adding/subtracting harmonics to your individual sound rather than just making the sound louder or softer. This made for a much more interesting color. Also, the very quiet passages must be played with focus and good attack. Even the quietest notes need some harmonics in the sound, none of this fluffy airy stuff! It just didn't match the color system.

I do admit the 11th partial gave me the most trouble in this piece. Tricky to hear! It must be 49 cents flat. I must make some exercises.

Speaking of which, I asked the composer and my colleagues how one can study and practice this music. The answer is always the same, learn the overtone series, horizontally, note by note, by ear. How can one do this? Programming a synthesizer seems to be the most popular idea. However you do it, once the sounds are in your head, you have to find a way to play them (of course, in a comfortable range of your instrument. I'm thinking middle octave) by using a combination of alternate fingerings and lip bending. Another project for me!

Seminar with Brian Ferneyhough 25 March, 2009

2009-03-26T14:29:00.010+01:00

Almost didn't get out of bed that day. I was under the weather, and a warm blanket, but I managed to hop on the train to Amsterdam in time for Ferneyhough's seminar on his flute pieces, which was organized by Joel Bons (artistic director of the Nieuw Ensemble) and Harrie Starreveld.

Harrie kicked off by playing a bit of Mnemosyne for bass flute and tape (or- and this I'd forgotten - 9 live players. I'd just love to be part of that someday!). He discussed how he learned and practiced the piece. Nowadays, you can put the notes into the computer and play them back, at all speeds. This would function as a kind of mnemonic learning device for the rhythm, but only an additional device, you would still need a click track to stay together with the tape. Ferneyhough highly recommends using a click track. Some players have tried without and not succeeded. The problem with getting out of sync with the tape is that the harmonies, which play a crucial role, will be all wrong.

Harrie played a recording of a computer realization of one bar to show how one could slow it down to learn the rhythms mnemonically

BUT...

....a computer-like rendering with literal-minded exactitude is not the point of this piece (or any of Ferneyhough's music). Each of the three lines of the solo part has its own character. Indeed, that is one reason they are notated on separate staves. There is a play of interruptive polyphony between them. He also went on to say that his music is considered complex because conservatory training in rhythm is only basic. The focus in ear training is on interval recognition, rather than rhythmic recognition.

How does the human element come into play in this piece? One way: the performer is observing him/herself learn. There are the 3 textures/voices, the performer has to choose which one is primary at a given time. However, he cautioned against mere approximation: approximation is the negative side of interpretation.

Harrie remarked that the end result sounds very flexible. This led Ferneyhough to remark that when you hear a performance of Beethoven, you don't hear a reading of the score: you hear a translation of tradition. The vernacular of music is evident in Beethoven, it is not in contemporary music.

To me, personally, this is an added human element to a performance of his music. This contemporary vernacular is yet-to-be defined, and seeking it is part of the creative process. Maybe this is also what he means by the performer observing his/herself learn?

Next our student Daisuke played Cassandra's Dream Song. One part of the opening passage was the best Ferneyhough had heard it to date. Way to go Daisuke! The opening strophe Ferneyhough described thus: the first half is "effort rhythm" then "precise rhythm". It is a building up of energies, a somatic crescendo, then releasing. This is to engage the body from the very first moment of the piece. The flute as an extension of the body is how he thinks of this piece.

I didn't know that the original idea was to improvise the order of the strophes during performance. However, Ferneyhough has gotten away from this idea. One has to find a way to intersect the two pages and create chains of continuity.

He touched on several of the techniques, the different vibrati/smorzato, and the section with voice. A male flutist should, ideally, sing falsetto. If not possible, you need to add the beating effect, as this passage should sound like two weaving sine waves. He is not sure if the fingering of the multiphonic with the high F# is a good one. He didn't have an open-holed flute to work with, so was wondering if someone would come up with a better fingering.
While discussing notation at one point he said: you don't choose notation, it chooses you.

Then a brave lady [must find out name, anyone?] played Superscriptio. This turns out to be not the first piece with irrational meters (1/10, 3/12). It was first done by Henry Cowell, then by Dieter Schnebel in the 1950's.

He admits that the opening page and a half is cruel. However, that is not the intention. This piece opens his entire Carceri cycle: a single instrument - high and very light. The opening section is not meant to be "musical" - rather, it is coming to terms with ways of contrapuntal thinking. Later on, the material becomes "musical". Harrie commented that the opening is however quite melodic, like a children's ditty. He even performed it as such for a radio broadcast.

The next section needs attention to the speed of articulated passages. They are at uncomfortable speeds, sometimes slower than expected. This is important, otherwise one can get carried away and go with the vertige, but then it ends up sounding like any other contemporary piccolo piece.

There is a famous passage in this piece with repeated C's that are notated differently, but performed at the same speed. This is because he has several systems running simultaneously. When things like this happen, OK. Even if his system comes up with something tonal like a reference to a major triad: so be it. The performer needs to be aware when this happening, but doesn't need to show it to the audience.

Further, he explained the meaning of the title "Superscriptio". It's part of an emblem (usually found in collections called emblem books). This was a 16th century form of learned entertainment - a combination of texts and images . Above the image a short motto (lemma, inscriptio [superscriptio - because it is above] ) is scratched or handwritten introducing the theme or subject, which is symbolically bodied in the picture itself (icon, pictura); the picture is then described and elucidated by an epigram ( subscriptio ) or short prose text.

Here is an example of two French emblems

This is not a complete reporting of my notes from the seminar, only some of the things I was able to jot down while also taking photos!

Robert Dick, 22 March 2009

2009-03-24T12:18:00.010+01:00

Left to right: Charlotte, Johanna, Nozomi, Robert, Wan, Kanae

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending, albeit briefly, Robert's masterclass in Wuppertal, Germany. It was great to see him! The last time I saw him, he was walking out on a concert I gave at the BAM in New York! Not because of me though. Our group was playing very loud minimalistic music, not his (or my) cup of tea. At least I got to wear earplugs. Since then, we've both become parents, so we had a good exchange on the joys and difficulties of juggling children and career. We're both "older" parents, and are on our own as far as having no near relatives or live-in help to give us a hand.

Be that as it may, I got a good dose of inspiration. He began Sunday morning chatting about singing and playing, and the importance of singing in general. There's nothing like it to get you listening. He said that if he were to teach a beginner, he would start with singing. This resonates with what I have been thinking these years, esp. after having studied in India. There, one learns to sing or use the voice first, even in training to be a percussionist! I think we are a strange musical culture, that puts some object into a kid's hand and says, now make music out of it! Someday, I must put my India notes on blog.
Anyhow, back to Robert.

5 of our (Harrie Starreveld's and my) students, past and present, took part. I was very impressed with what Robert had to say about Mozart and Kuhlau. This was the first time I had heard him coach the classical and romantic repertoire; his keen musicality and vivid imagination made for very good lessons.

We did touch on learning harmonic multiphonics, in the context of Fukushima's Mei. This applies to Berio Sequenza as well. [The 1st days of the masterclass went into extended techniques in detail - I unfortunately missed them.] When it comes to the harmonic multiphonics that are found in these two pieces, it pays to put in some serious time in studying them before learning the piece. You don't learn the sonority in the piece, just like you don't learn the D major scale by playing Mozart!

He described it thus: by not practicing the sonorities first and just hoping they come in the concert - it is as if you walk down to the sea and just happen to reach in the water and pick out the exact fish you wanted!

How to go about preparing harmonic multiphonics:
Practice octaves, fifths, and fourths - in that order.
With octaves, it is easiest to begin where the flute has a short tube: C2 - C3. then work your way down.
With fifths and fourths, begin where the flute is longest, low C or B and work your way up.
Suggested practice time devoted to this: 15 min each day.

The benefit of this is not only to learn these sonorities, but to make the lips fit. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well. This is the practice pathway up the mountain!

How To Get Pregnant - Even If....

2009-03-21T17:15:00.005+01:00

Even if you are a man! There's a man behind this idea - sax player Ned Rothenberg, to be exact. He described his practicing as "getting pregnant" creatively. Here is the article where he mentions it.

I really admire his improvisations. He must spend a lot of the time pregnant! His CD "Amulet" with Tuvan singer Sainkho Namchulak is something else.

I drew great inspiration from it when preparing for my trip to Tuva in 2004. It was my first solo appearance only improvising, and I was happy that it was in a far and distant land. Although I don't think the concert went well, it was a very fruitful time for me - I really practiced a lot to prepare for it and took some practice notes which I use to this day. Someday I'll post about my adventures in Tuva!

Although from time to time it is part of my job, I just hate being an assembly - line flutist. Piece gets on the stand, practiced, performed, basta. Next. And so on. Although I learn pieces fairly quickly, I really don't like to. It's one thing I really can't stand about the contemporary music business. I'm also at a point in my life where I really enjoy contemplation, it would be great to spend time on my instrument pondering different interpretations of Bach, or any great composer for that matter. Or deepening my understanding of tone production and discovering new sounds. But often it's monkey-work. By that, I mean spending time churning through pages littered with excessive black dots, my trusty metronome by my side, starting half-speed and inching ever upwards.

My ideal is that I have enough time to live with a piece of music, or for it to become a part of me. This is also why I like practicing. I remember my school days in Amsterdam, practicing in my then-boyfriend's attic. He would tell me: why do you practice so much? you don't really need to! Well, I was getting pregnant. I get full of the music and then and only then am I ready to fling it out.

Lucky for us (flutists)! We now have modern "classics". I have lived with the Berio Sequenza ca. 15 years, Ferneyhough's Carceri for 12 years, Varese Density 21.5 for 10 (learned that one late!). My next solo concert (5 July) I hope to make a mostly "classical" one, along with two new pieces by younger composers. What luxury! Now to juggle time for practice, rehearsals, teaching, cuddling (baby and husband), household stuff and blogging. Dang it, I wish I had a maid, now that would really be luxury....

Wannabe Yogi - and some breathing ideas

2009-03-17T22:01:00.006+01:00

I am writing this in honor of my lapse in yoga practice. Once I confess this sin, I can go and sin no more - that is, get back into my practice. Don't know what happened, I was ill at the end of Feb. and since then the dark, grey days of late winter have left me unmotivated for movement.

Why is yoga practice so important? I have enough to do, cuddling my boy, practicing flute, teaching and rehearsing. Why? Because I feel like a dog's breakfast if I don't. Or like a rusted-out car.

I have a great teacher, we've been working privately for the past 6 years. At first we did Ashtanga, then more mixed with Hatha and Universal Yoga. I think she deserves a separate blog entry for the future.

When I was in school, I had wonderful flute teachers. Since graduating, I joked that my Alexander Technique teacher was my best flute teacher, and she was for those three years after school. Now, I think my yoga teacher is my best flute teacher, although she says for my Ayurvedic type (Vata), flute playing is not the healthiest activity for me.

After all these years, I should know something by now about my body and how to use it to breathe and play the flute. Abdominal breathing helps - pranayama (breathing exercise) helps too. These are calming, expanding concepts. I also love Michel Debost's ideas from The Simple Flute about expansion and retention.

Sometimes, however, I find that Uddiyana Bhanda works. That's what all flute teachers tell you never to do! It's the diaphragm lock - you inhale while drawing the abdomen in and expanding the ribcage. This gives you a rush of energy in your upper body. No, I don't play like that, but if I need a kick, this is what I do. Peter Lukas Graf's 2nd breathing exercise in Check Up for Flutists partially uses this concept - although he doesn't use the yogic terms.

Speaking of diaphragm! I learned through Lea Pearson's book Body Mapping for Flutists that the concept of breathing through, or using, the diaphragm is pointless. You cannot control it or feel it directly, as its movement is regulated by the abdominal muscles.

These are the muscles you need to control: these in turn are connected to the long, long muscles psoas major, (if I remember correctly), which are connected to the outer edge of the diaphragm and run all the way down to the legs! That's why it's important to keep excess tension out of the legs, it really can inhibit the movement of the diaphragm.
More research is needed on my part, so I'll stop here. I thought I'd pass this on though, because it really makes sense to me anatomically.

The Value of Time II

2009-03-09T22:47:00.007+01:00

Here's a run-down of what I'm up to practice-wise. Not interesting reading for sensation seekers. Sorry. But now and then I need to keep tabs on the household stuff.
Yes, having a 6-month-old bundle of joy does compromise one's practice time, especially if one is also working. So I've been very vigilant about keeping time and here's what it comes out to:

4 min. Tai Chi hand exercises
8 min. Harmonic and Trill warm up
8 min. Scales/ Taffanel Gaubert
10 min. Scales with articulation and excerpts with articulation*
8 min. Tone, dynamic and vibrato exercises from PL Graf's Check Up
4 min. movement of Bach Sonata

That's a total of 42 min. just basic maintenance! Plus goofing around, sipping tea, messing with the tuner/metronome, stretching, looking for pencil = 8 min. So the whole " maintenance and warm up" lasts 50 min.! Hmmm. Well, I think I'll stick with this for now, plus I plan on adding 15 min. of Moyse next week when I have fewer rehearsals. To explain: I am having to build up after a hiatus since September. I have been playing regularly since October; however, need to be in Solo Recital Form within a couple of months, and the above regime with added Moyse is what it will take. Then there are the pieces to practice.....

* I include some repertoire in my warm up - esp. with articulation. There was a time (1996, to be exact) that I warmed up on Berio's Sequenza. Yes, I was that fit (and nuts!). Otherwise, it could be Mendelssohn's Scherzo or Carnival of the Animals. Today it was Zappa's Echidna's Arf (for the 5-tuplets) and Black Page no. 1 (for the 11-tuplets)!

It seems I can't leave the house until I'm sure my tongue is in working order, and that my articulation is clean. Sort of like having clean socks and underwear, you should always be prepared! There are people who won't leave the house unless their shirt is ironed, or their shoes are spiffy, I'm not that picky.....

Some of you may also wonder why I do scales before tone studies. That was Peter Lloyd's idea and I find it really works for me. Get playing first, get things working first, then to concentrated exercise on tone.

Bottom of the Food Chain

2009-02-28T19:50:00.010+01:00

Wondering why I haven't posted recently? This is where I have been all week! At the bottom of the food chain! OK, maybe I exaggerate. Maybe more like a pawn on the chessboard of pieces where composers, conductors, organizers, managers are the big players. We play what sells, and ideas sell, beautiful packaging sells, regardless of the quality that is inside.

I've worked with more living composers than you can shake a stick at. In today's European Contemporary Music Scene, a handful of lucky composers are the stars, not the ensemble or orchestral musicians who play their music. These chosen few (composers) are promoted by organizers of festivals and the big publishing companies (who act as their agents as well). If you have a performance scheduled and receive a dud or embarrassing piece from one of them, or a piece that comes too late and is impossible to play: tough luck. It is your job to get it done and make it sound good. Cancelling a piece is politically incorrect, or would cause a scandal. The programs have been printed. The VIPs have been invited. The deals have been made. Money has changed hands. You are the sissy if you complain or can't pull it off. Besides, you have a family to feed, and can't afford to forgo your share of the money (minuscule as it may be).

A question was posed recently on the Flute List: does one have a moral obligation to fulfill a composer's intentions? I'd like to turn it around. Does a composer have similar moral obligations? Heck, does he even have a professional obligation when it comes to fulfilling a commission? It would seem not. More often than not, we find ourselves in a situation where a quality rendering of the premiere piece is severely compromised: too late, not for the instrumentation specified, unreadable manuscript, or unexplained, unclear notation. [I'm not talking about student workshops, I'm talking about well known composers who (even sadder) have teaching positions and are influencing the young generation.] Do we still pay the commission fee under such circumstances? Yes. We're nice, we're professionals, we're capable. We're pioneers, we can take anything anyone throws at us. Ahem.

Still, I'm a big fan of composers, even tardy ones. I support contemporary music and all its endeavours: big, small, loud, quiet, beautiful, ugly, complex, minimalistic. For all my b--ing I am happy to be doing what I am. So now I will speak of me/us/performers and our obligations, moral or otherwise to the composer's intentions.

I'll confine myself to 20th century and later composers - earlier music is another whole can of worms. I'll be honest. There are a few composers whom I dread to play. I see them coming up on a program and think: "well, I'll just go get my strait-jacket." These are the ones that require slavish following of their notation, no deviations allowed. Dang. I got into contemporary music because I consider myself a bit of a deviant. If I wanted to slavishly follow someone I could make a heck of a lot more money in an orchestra somewhere. [OK, I know it's not that bad in most orchestras! But you have to be darned lucky.]

Here's an example, though, of where this somewhat adolescent attitude of mine proved to be misplaced. I used to consider Karlheinz Stockhausen one of these dreaded composers. Working with him closely on the premiere of his Rotary Quintet gave me another perspective.

For the premiere of this work he wanted to underscore the difference between male and female (This quintet is part of his Licht cycle). So he asked us to reflect this gender difference in our concert-wear. With some trepidation, and gentle respect, I objected on the grounds that as a musician, I don't consider my gender, and my native English also reflects no differences of gender. To my utter astonishment, he readily conceded, in a very gentlemanly fashion.

Rehearsal, 1997. Left to right: A. Wesly, K. Stockhausen, me,
J. Babinec, P. Veale, N. Janssen (sitting)

Now I am starting preparations for the flute solo Paradies from Klang, which we plan to premiere in its (all 21 hours) entirety. This has me looking back on those days 12 years ago. Stockhausen is no longer around to gently concede to my cultural baggage, so I will not have the chance to thwart his intentions in person, but would I want to? It would just seem disrespectful at this point. Besides, I look back on my objections of 12 years ago and find them a bit silly. Americans are so gung-ho gender blind, but I don't think females do any better there than in Europe. In Europe it feels more realistic: nobody tries to pretend that men and women are alike.

My point is: I'd think twice now before trying to turn a composer's intention around. My objections may be parochial and egocentric, and have nothing to do with the real quality of the music. The composer's intentions might also be parochial and egocentric, but, well, it's their piece. If I want to express something else, I'll write my own piece.

Notes from Patricia Morris, Oxford '06

2009-02-28T15:58:00.004+01:00

A few posts back, I suggested the guideline "the ears are more intelligent than the lips". Now I'm reading my masterclass notes from Patricia Morris (Oxford, 2006). I noticed one of her points: "Your lips learn from your ears". Exactly! She put it more succinctly.

Her class on piccolo playing was full of these great ideas. Her experience with Feldenkreis made things all the more intereting. The piccolo can be hard on the body!

In general, try placing the piccolo higher on the lower lip than the flute, and keep it turned out.
Tensing your shoulders is like jumping in water and hoping you'll swim! If you untense your shoulders, you will improve without having practiced.
The key to playing piccolo in the top register: increase the air speed without blowing more. You can keep the air speed fast by: 1) making the embouchure hole smaller and 2)putting more pressure behind the embouchure.
You don't need to practice hours and hours on the piccolo. Thoughtful, sensible transferrence of flute technique to piccolo every day regularly instead.
Ascending crescendos: build sound up at bottom, then let it alone. High notes are naturally loud.
For low notes, you need to be able to lift the top of the lip. It helps to use the inside of the top lip, instead of having the top lip always rammed down. Don't let bottom lip drop. To apply this to the low register: think of starting low notes from lifted upper lip.
Practice Moyse Tone Development through Interpretation on the piccolo.

Her recommendations about taking the repeats in the Vivaldi Concerto at auditions:
You may ask if they want the repeats. If you are shy about asking, repeat the 1st section, then immediately play the ornamented version of the 2nd half.

I wish I could attend more of her classes! Years ago I bought her Piccolo Practice Book, but gave it away. Pretty silly, but I hope whoever has it is getting a lot of use.

Peter-Lukas Graf on Articulation

2009-02-17T17:07:00.009+01:00

A few days ago I received my quarterly publication from the German Flute Society that featured a tribute to Peter-Lukas Graf, on the occasion of his 80th birthday.

I thought I would use this occasion as well. Last May I attended his masterclass at the Conservatory in Amsterdam. What he had to say, especially about articulation, bears repeating. I find myself using these ideas with my students all the time.

Here goes:
Articulation is a matter of embouchure and air = quality of sound. During articulated passages, keep the tongue as if saying the "y" in "year". The tongue is always piano.

There are 4 kinds of articulation:

Portato. Sustained articulation, using only enough of the tongue in order to repeat the note. There is a tiny little diminuendo at the end of each note.
Detache. Here there is also a little diminuendo at the end of each note, and a little interruption between each note.
Staccato. A short note with a big interruption. Personally, I like to keep the idea of the diminuendo - even if it is a nano second. That way, it gives each note a kind of "lift".
Marcato/Martellato. Strong accent. The accent can't be done with the tongue (tongue must always be piano!), it must come from the air. You can practice it without the tongue by saying "ha-ha-ha-", moving the abdominal muscles. This articulation can't be done very fast.

I love the idea of staccato as something that you can practice in slow motion (i.e. detache and portato are slowed down staccati!)

There is also the Langue Sorte as Moyse describes in de la Sonorite - this is used for special notes and is also not a quick-type of articulation.

In Graf's Check-Up; 20 Basic Studies for Flutists you can find articulation exercises in ex. no. 15.

Are we confused now?

2009-02-15T10:27:00.004+01:00

Here is a long, rambling flute entry based on last week's teaching: helping "older" students who still have basic problems. Because we're talking about professional training, "older" means mid-twenties - usually - but there are notable exceptions. However, by age 21-22, most young flutists have done their 4-year degree and are looking for a Masters or Artist Diploma program.

I remember reading Trevor Wye's take on entrance auditions. Many aspirants are weeded out: "too many problems". I can understand that totally. Not that teachers are lazy, exactly.... It's just that time (and a short time - graduate programs are normally 2 years only) will be spent fixing (rather than developing, which is what teachers love to do) stuff before the music can be addressed. Sure, you can nurture the musician in parallel, all technical problems can be musically addressed, but, ...but..., still, it's just easier, and a hell of a lot more fun, to take someone who has already got the "flute"stuff (embouchure, fingers, articulation, breathing) figured out.

So how many times have I had a student in front of me, coming to me at the last minute for tomorrow's audition/competition, but with a lifetime of either bad habits, or a baggage of confusion? Mostly it's the latter. I am usually blessed with intelligent and diligent students. But whether their intelligence is a blessing, well, it's a two-sided coin. They've taken lots of lessons, looked for answers from many teachers, read a lot, looked in front of a mirror a lot, listened to many recordings and youtube vids. Hence the confusion.

Here are some examples: I'll focus on the basic problem of embouchure/sound production
"I was practicing fine, but then I looked in the mirror and noticed my embouchure was crooked"
"People tell me I'm not flexible enough - I have to do (fill in the blank) with the corners of my mouth, or (fill in the blank) with my jaw"
And the list goes on . "People have told" the poor student so many things, what can come out of it?
Well for students of the age group I'm talking about, who have played for 10-15 years already - I've devised some guidelines for embouchure/sound production:

Your ears are more intelligent than your eyes. Use the mirror only to make sure the hole in your lips is lined up with the hole of the flute. All else is vanity.
Barring a serious medical problem, there is no such thing as an inflexible lip. If your lips were inflexible, you couldn't talk! Again, your ears are more intelligent than your eyes. Give the center of the lips room to manoeuvre (Spielraum - great, succinct word in German!).
What you do with the corners of your lips is sausage (another great saying in German - meaning: it just doesn't matter). I asked William Bennett about this when I was about 15 years old and obsessed with the corner question. He put it in plain English: it doesn't matter a damn what the corners do as long as the center can do its job!

You may have guessed by now that I know from where I speak, first hand. Yes, I have been down this path. I had the advantage though of graduating university early, at age 20. I had serious playing problems. It took 2 years to get shaped up, and then I was able to start a Masters program at the "normal" age of 22.

Why was I such a mess at age 20? Well, with all due respect for my then teacher in Pittsburgh, Mr. Goldberg, the one thing I never developed was the trust of, or reliance on, my own ears. We always started with long tones. I tried to produce my sound according to what he said and what I heard him do. Since what I did was always wrong, I developed a mistrust of my ears and relied only on what he told me, which was usually that it sounded bad. By the time I finished my 3 years with him, I couldn't produce a reliable sound below low G.

I can't put all the blame on him, though. What 19-20 year-old girl has the presence of mind to question someone whom the local newspaper critics say "plays like a God"? And someone who was "sans doubt" Moyse's successor? This is why I encourage my students to give feedback. And you as a teacher have to ask hard questions like, did this exercise not work because you didn't practice it, didn't understand it, or because it just didn't help you? Otherwise, everything is a waste of time.

I want to end on a positive note about Mr. Goldberg though, since I don't consider my time with him wasted. He did his duty, I came out with a technical solidity and knowledge of the French repertoire and style.

When Inspiration Knocks

2009-02-07T18:35:00.003+01:00

I had this conversation with a student of mine who just graduated. It's a tough situation for her: suddenly no stimulus of fellow students, no schedule to follow, lack of money, and pressure of entrance auditions for the next degree. As a foreigner, she has no support system and must provide her own stability and motivation. The result of this is mild depression and reculsiveness. So my pep talk to her included the phrase:"Inspiration doesn't come knocking at the door, you have to get out and find it"!

I don't know to what extent this is true. And I don't think it helped, but we'll see how she does this month with the auditions.

It is however good that I remember these words for myself. As I mentioned in my last post, my husband needed to kick me out the door to attend a concert of "Plush Music Festival" at the Loft. I've been house bound except for the necessary teaching, meetings etc. Missing many good concerts. It was time for some inspiration and I found it! Last night's concert opened with Simon Nabatov (piano) playing Herbie Nichols. Boy does he rock! And I am sad I don't play a harmony instrument - what lushness.... And power - the sheer volume of it, but never harsh or grating. On the flip side, the second set featured Hayden Chisholm and his quartet playing original works. I've never heard a sax player play so sustainedly quiet. What subtlety and color!

When you leave a concert thinking: "oh dear, I've got a lot to learn", I think you can say it was worthwhile.

Too Many Hats

2009-02-05T18:11:00.003+01:00

This image was taken during a rehearsal of my "Pan" Project. What a trip that was! I was wearing the hat of soloist, arranger and organizer all at once! In the end, I was quite happy with the arrangements I did of Debussy's Bilitis for 2 flutes and piano, and several movements of Bach's secular cantata "Der Streit zwichen Phoebus und Pan" BWV 201 that I arranged for flute, alto flute, oboe/oboe d'amore, cello and cembalo.

I was thinking about this project recently because of the many non-playing projects I am involved in now, and the different hats I have to wear. February was supposed to be a slow month - no actual concerts or tours. But it is full of rehearsals, teaching, meetings, and proposals, proposals, proposals! And all that in German too, so everything takes longer and every written document I feel obliged to send to a proof-reader. So I feel a bit like a snake, hidden under a rock, waiting to spring. It seems as though it is lying inert and inactive, but that is only the surface. (It fits my Chinese astological sign, this image...) I've been terribly reclusive, not venturing out at all some days. Very bad, I know! But tomorrow my husband is tossing me out the door to a concert at the Loft, where a friend of ours is playing. Will report on that to be sure.

The most pressing thing on my plate is to organize a mini-tour for my duo partner who is coming in June from St. Petersburg. We've already got a concert at the Loft, and lots of leads for other venues. So it looks promising!

Recording session 25 Dec

2009-02-02T17:23:00.007+01:00

I like this blog venue, I can publish those funny pictures that are kinda cool, but you just don't know where to put them. They're not "official" enough for the website, and certainly don't belong hanging on my wall.

My piano partner Lyosha just sent me the best of our session from 25 Dec. 2008. It turned out to be a really mellow session, almost minimalistic. I was in a strange frame of mind. In the western world, it was Christmas Day. In Russia, which goes by the old calendar, it was just a working day. Not that it makes much difference to me. There are basically no holidays for musicians anyway.

So it was a steeley gray and very cold day in St. Petersburg. We'd just arrived at Babushka and Dedushka's two days ago, with our 4-month-old in tow, and I was still recovering from the trip. One of those "vacations" which is not a vacation. Family trip, plus had a difficult program to learn for a concert on Jan 9th in Cologne so no time to really slack off.
But I always find time to play with Lyosha. He'd just bought his new grand piano, and his new at-home studio was now set up and ready to go. So armed with extra woolen socks, my husband and I set out to the session.

Here's a take from the session, Lyosha titled it "House on the Lake". Quite minimal but it has something, I think:

House on the Lake

Here is a photo of our concert that we played at the GEZ a few days later. Don't have the recording of that yet, am curious! That's Vladimir Shostak on bass and Nikolai Rubanov on bass clarinet.

Stook, stook

2009-02-01T17:47:00.003+01:00

Can't resist this one. His lower incisors have been visible as little white dots just below the surface. Today, for the first time, they made a click, click sound when we tapped with a spoon. Ground-breaking (or gum-breaking!). We just love him!

Sexism; what, me, bitter?!

2009-01-30T21:00:00.003+01:00

Here I am about 5 months pregnant!

About 20 years ago I ran into a male flute friend of mine who had just finished studying with a majorly famous European teacher (no longer among the living). I don't know what posessed my friend to make the following confidence, but the shadow it cast has been long and tenuous.
He told me that this teacher openly favored his male students, told him that he tries to help them along more than the women in his studio. Needless to say I was pretty shocked.

I am trying to speculate in a kind way as to why this might have been. (And I'm sure this old-school, Old World guy was not alone in his practices.) Maybe he saw the practicality of his investment in male students: they would be bread-winners, the women would get married, live off their husbands and spend their time and energies having babies.

As a student, I had my share of old-school teachers. And looking back, I think I was definitely a victim of this sort of treatment. Honestly, I don't think it was all intentional either. I would like to think that nobody treats anybody this way in order to be mean: it's just programmed behavior of a certain generation and culture. And what 19-year-old female student has the presence of mind to say:"hey, pay attention to me, make your investment in me! In 20 years I will be the bread-winner of my family, supporting my spouse and child on my fluting skills!"
Would they have believed me? Would I have believed me? That's the trouble, I think. I didn't believe in myself then. I think young boys/men are more used to believing in themselves.

But here I am, the man of the house (for now at least), relying heavily on my basic skills, since I have little time to actually practice. Thank goodness for the training I do have, and for those who believed in, or at least did their duty by me.

But I have to ask myself, am I completely gender-blind when it comes to my own students:? a gaggle of beautiful, poised, talented young women, and at the most one or two young men. There, you see, even the language I use: gaggle. It's a collective word, not geared to viewing the individual.

We all need a kick in the butt sometimes.

Real-Life Professional

2009-01-26T20:00:00.004+01:00

It's the first day of a project and you have that tell-tale itchyness in you chest: you know for sure that some damned flu bug has found a temporary home in your warm, moist bronchial passages, just the very ones you rely on to play the flute. My body temp. went down to below 35 C that night and I called in sick the next day with a fever of 38 C. But then the dilema: do you find a replacement for the gig NOW, or do you take the positive attitude "I'll be better for a day of rest". Stupid me, I'm always the optimist. After the free day, still ill , too late to find a replacement and a concert on the morrow, I just had to do it no matter what. And relatively drug free since I am still breast feeding.

So Saturday morning, still feverish, I boarded the train for Berlin. Just a dress rehearsal, concert, and night train home. Do-able. Even with a coughing fit that delayed the second half of the concert.

But my sorry story is not the highlight of this memorable evening of Berlin's Ultraschall Festival. The night before the concert, our wonderful soloist of the evening, soprano R. Hardy stepped out of the airport in Berlin and broke her leg in two places below the knee. She came to dress rehearsal, casted up and sitting in a wheelchair, ready to throw in the towel. Or not quite just yet.... it actually went well! There aren't many singers who could manage K. Ospald's "und es regnet" even with their legs in one piece! But she is amazing. So we decided to go ahead with the piece - we even discussed and arranged that our conductor would wheel her out on stage and how we would all "bow".

After much ado - we are more than a little nervous and tossing around the phrase "Break a leg" - the big moment arrives. The lights dim, the festival director himself goes on stage to explain the accident, we enter and await the conductor and soloist. Thunderous applause as she is wheeled carefully in, right leg immobilized, sticking out straight in front. The conductor manages to park her, but while looking for the brake lever, accidently loosens the lever that held her right leg up. The leg takes a dive, we all let out a gasp***. But it seems no harm done - Ms. Hardy even made the joke "I wanted to write on the bottom of my foot (which the audience could see, as her right leg was extended pointing at them) "YES WE CAN" " The audience loved it.

Afterwards, we asked if it had hurt, when the lever was released and her leg fell down. She just replied "Oh never mind".

I could only gape in wonder.

The Value of Time

2009-01-20T21:27:00.006+01:00

I'd like to keep a running blog, something I can keep coming back to, on just how long it takes to do stuff. Especially practice things. We are all told - do your Moyse long tones! do your scales! etc. However, I notice that with my students and myself, under the gun and with a stack of notes to learn, basics fall way by the wayside. "I have so many notes to learn I just don't have time for the basics!!"

Well, here is a starter:
breathing exercise = 2 min.
finger tai-chi exercise 2 min.
a movement from a Bach or Telemann Sonata (an everyday absolute for me!) = under 5 min.
Moyse "pour les tons graves" = 11 min.
my scale exercises = ca. 4 min.
my harmonic trill exercise = 3 min

I'll get back to this as time goes on!

Corners of the Mind

2009-01-20T21:08:00.005+01:00

I wonder what paths my head would take if it were not filled with juggling three languages, all the music that is going through it and all the "normal" things that go with working, playing and caring for a baby. When I was 11 I had my IQ tested, and my guess would be I'm a lot dumber now, in spite of all I know. What happened? Have I been a victim of dumbing-down?

There is the theory of "Mommy Brain", which women are prone to it seems. It's the ability to multitask on a huge level: have a pot on the stove and answer the phone while changing the diapers with your hair in curlers and a wrinkle-reducing masque on your face for tonight's romantic evening - you get the idea. I'm not that good at multitasking and hate being interrupted while practicing (or blogging). So why, when I try to read anything academic or that requires concentration, I find myself shaking my head and asking: is this even English? How come I don't understand a thing?

I have been wondering what to do with our son - he will be raised tri-lingually. All the advice points to keeping the paths straight: one parent adheres to one language, the other parent to the other language, no seeping allowed. Then the third language comes "on the street" or in school. Any advice?

Also, we have been wondering about Waldorf education, starting with kindergarten. The fact that they don't do reading or math until age 7 is OK with me. If he is like either of his parents, he will learn by himself by about age 3. We also have tons of books at home so he will be in no way deprived.

Thoughts on Prokofiev Flute Sonata

2009-01-19T19:40:00.005+01:00

Several times I've been asked by students "so how do I play Russian music?"
This is always within the context of the Prokofiev Sonata. The history of this piece is quite well known now, especially since Patricia Harper's article (DFG 4/2008) has been published in the US and Germany (and elsewhere, for all I know). I had learned this history while teaching a private masterclass to students from Moscow. However, Ms. Harper brought some interesting facts to light which I did not know, and which vindicate a suspicion I've always had about Prokofiev's music, and particularly about the flute sonata.

I've always been suspicious about a heavy, brutal, rough, even crass interpretation of this piece. Some flutists, even famous ones perform it this way: overblowing the low register, ignoring the refinements of articulation, heavily accenting where no accents are written. Why? I guess they think it's more authentic. After all - it is Russian Music - whatever that means. Gypsy influences? Peasants stomping heavily in their rough white shirts, kicking up their heels in a macho display? Stereotypical BS, if you ask me. The piece - the music - just doesn't seem to warrant it. Think about the Russian players of the time, especially the ones Prokofiev admired, like David Oistrakh (yes, I know the Flute Sonata was not written for him!). Oistrakh played with passion and verve, but I suspect the guy did not have a crass bone in his body. Full blooded and full bodied, but never out of control. Why should we not play the Flute Sonata with the finesse of the great players of Prokofiev's day?

Today we seek "authenticity"; we ask ourselves what was the flute sound he had in mind? Who were the flutists of his day? It turns out, as I learned from Ms. Harper's article, that the flutist that most impressed him was Georges Barrere! The Oistrakh of flutists! And not a Russian, but a Frenchman exported to America.

I don't have a clear point in this post, I realize. Maybe only this: we can go overboard with interpretation. Prokofiev was a cosmopolitan figure, and a lover of the Classics. He carefully notated exactly what he wanted and all we have to do is go for it with our minds and hearts open to the music.

Pet Peeves for composers

2009-01-18T17:24:00.007+01:00

This is going to be a work in progress.

To all composers - here is one musician's (of the flutist persuasion) list of pet peeves:
There is a compositional tradition which I would like to ask composers to please avoid, especially when writing for wind players. This is using a comma (which looks to a wind player like a breath mark) at the end of a note to indicate that the player should maintain the intensity of the dynamic and end the note abruptly, without tapering:

A wind player's instinct on seeing this mark is to make a quick inhalation - not the effect desired. A preferable solution would be to make a stylistic indication at the beginning of the work, or to indicate the dynamic graphically:

A short list of other pet peeves:

Using empty note heads to indicate air or aeolian sounds. Please see my tips on this subject.
Bass flute together with bass clarinet. Neither their ranges nor sonorities match. IMO the bass flute is better paired with the A-clarinet. The bass clarinet is a different animal altogether, with a much broader range, more scope for dynamics, than the bass flute. Just because they are both labeled "bass" (incorrectly, as it turns out for the bass flute, but that's another story altogether) doesn't mean they belong together.
piccolo and E-flat clarinet ditto. Cliche. Why bother? Unless you want to sound like a screeching street band. Maurico Kagel was able to get away with it.
Fluttertongue. It's also cliche. Give it a rest please. (And it's not a given that every flutist can do it - Asian flutists have a more difficult time. I myself cannot do the forward version, but have to resort to the Parisian Gargle) And it's often imprecisely notated, esp. when it comes to mixing the flute and voice. When written together, why are they sometimes written differently? If one does a fluttertongue, the other will automatically do it too - it would be nice to have it reflected in the notation.
Extended techniques stacked up on top of one another. This is something some resort to thinking that it will make the sound more interesting and intense. Well, some techniques cancel each other out and just muddy the waters. Better to pick a few that work acoustically well together.
Difficulty for difficulty's sake. OK, Ferneyhough made it part of the esthetic of Cassandra's Dream Song - to make the struggle an intrinsic part of the music. But this is a rare case of it actually working (IMHO), I do love this piece but I haven't come across another that successfully uses this scheme.

Stolen Moments: What Makes a Composition Difficult?

2009-01-18T17:16:00.007+01:00

This has got to be the worst time to start something you want to keep up. Blogging, now, with work and a 4 month old baby? Are you nuts? Well, silly question.I figure this stuff is in my head anyway, might as well get it out and get on with my life.

A composer asked me the other day what is it that makes a piece really difficult? Here's what I came up with. Please bear in mind, these are not mistakes or pet peeves. For a list of frequent mistakes, please click here.

rapid microtonal (or quartertone) passages
anything that requires doing two techniques in different rhythms (i.e. key click and voice in different tempi or polyrthythm)
no place to breathe
extended passages outside the "normal" range of the flute

I'm sure I'll add to this list as time goes on. Please note that this is not a list of things to avoid, I list them only to create an awareness of potential difficulty. It's great to work with someone who cares to ask the question! Now for the next step, to list my pet peeves! Hee Hee