Here’s a link to a really cool video I just came across on youtube of Robert Dick and Greg Pattillo improvising. I thought it would be appropriate since we have Eric Lamb’s clinic on extended technique coming up. Check it out!
This video from 1949 shows Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra. The flutist playing is William Kincaid, who was my teacher’s teacher. Video here As I was watching the video, it struck me that Ormandy addressed the orchestra, saying “Gentlemen.” In 1949, there were no women in this orchestra. In fact, no woman held a principal position in a major orchestra until Doriot Anthony Dwyer in 1952. She won principal flute of the Boston Symphony and played with them 1952-1990. And Doriot studied with William Kincaid during WWII! Here is a link to a great article on Doriot.
One of our best selling products in the Flute Shop is the Thumbport. This device is meant to help with the balance and stability of the flute and therefore isn’t merely a training device for young students. It has become very popular with amateurs and professionals as well. As you can see from the above picture, the Thumbport can change your right hand position making it much easier to support the flute. It has a small lip on it that prevents the flute from rolling backwards. You can position it in several ways, but in the way I find the most comfortable, the Thumbport actually brings your thumb back a little from its traditional place directly underneath the flute. This allows you to better balance the flute. There are several schools of thought on the best way to hold your flute and I’m not going to delve into that debate, but for the purposes of this blog I will use the example that I was taught. Thinking of the flute as a lever and your left hand as the fulcrum (or pivot point), your right hand thumb pushes the flute forward when in playing position. The flute should pivot on the left hand fulcrum
When you are looking at buying a new flute, there are a couple of options that can help with the 3rd octave E. The first is the split E mechanism. The split E separates the action of the upper and lower G keys, allowing the lower G key to close when high E is played. (Here is a link to a great illustration on Miyazawa’s website.) This allows you to play the high E without worrying about intonation or cracking the note, especially when playing piano or softer. It can also make it much easier to slur between high A and E. The split E mechanism uses an extra rod, which can add a little bit of weight to the flute and it must be put on during the manufacturing of the instrument; it cannot be added later. Some find that the extra weight is cumbersome and the extra rod that is required hits the right hand 1st finger. Others notice that these issues go away after some time is taken to get used to the feel of it. The split E is mostly available on offset G flutes, but you can get it on some inline flutes, however, some report that the mechanism causes binding on
I have often had confused customers coming in to IFS looking for cork grease for their flute. And I end up confusing them even more when I tell them it isn’t recommended! Cork grease is meant for….you guessed it, corks! And modern flutes do not generally have corks. (We do carry it for piccolos, which often do have corks.) However, it seems logical to add lubricant when two metal pieces that are supposed to fit smoothly together no longer do so. In fact, this is the case for many brass instruments. But flutes are different. The reason cork grease isn’t recommended is because the tenons (joints) of the flute are very closely fitted by the manufacturer. Unless something causes the tenon to go out of round or it gets dirty, the tenons should fit together very well without any type of lubricant. Adding grease can actually hurt the flute over time. Grease can trap small particles that will grind into the metal every time you put together and take apart your flute. This can wear down and scratch the tenons, requiring repair. If the tenons are too tight, wipe them down using an untreated cleaning cloth. Be careful not to swipe the edge
I get a lot of questions about the C# trill key and what its uses are. I have heard varying opinions from teachers and players. Some say it’s not worth the extra weight it adds to the flute and it isn’t that helpful. Others say that if they could only have one option on their flute at all, it would be the C# trill. I fall into the latter of these two groups. Yes, it does add some weight to the instrument and it can take some getting used to so that you aren’t hitting the C# trill when you mean to hit the Bb lever. But it’s well worth the effort and the extra money you have to spend on a flute to get it. It’s often not available on some of the lower end models from a manufacturer, but it’s becoming more common on many intermediate flutes. For example, Yamaha is making it standard on their 500 and 600 series flutes. One resource regarding the C# trill that I have found incredibly valuable is from Larry Krantz’s website. This article explains the many uses for the C# trill. Many people think it’s only good for B to C#, but there are so many others that it’s helpful
One of my colleagues sent me the link to this report from NPR about flutes: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105823127&sc=fb&cc=fp. Archaeologists have found flutes made out of vulture bone and mammoth tusks that date back to the Ice Age, 35,000-40,000 years ago! I wonder what they sounded like…
I just discovered (via the Flute Listserv) this wonderful page on Larry Krantz’s website that has streaming audio of flute music. It is updated 3 or 4 times per month and the current broadcast lineup is over 4 hours long. What a great way to hear (and purchase) recordings you may not be familiar with! http://www.larrykrantz.com/radio/flute-radio.html
Thanks to the support of Yamaha, we were able to take Mimi Stillman to visit four local colleges and universities on March 18th and 19th. We visited Marian College for a clinic the morning of the 18th and then headed up to Ball State for a recital and masterclass that evening. The next day, we were up bright and early to head out to Indiana State for a masterclass and recital. Following lunch, we drove over to DePauw for a masterclass and recital in the evening. Each session included some group playing and discussion of warm-up techniques. Mimi recommends practicing your scales by starting on the lowest note on your flute and then adding in sharps and flats. This way you’re not always starting on the tonic. For example, start on a low B and (playing in the key of C) go up 2 octaves in groups of 7, then descend one octave in a septuplet and the last octave is a group of 8, turning around and ending on C. (See example below.) Repeat this all the way up to high C or even D. Then begin adding sharps and flats, still starting on B. Another warm-up she recommends
For those of you who don’t already subscribe, I highly recommend Flute Talk magazine. They print 10 issues per year and it’s only $13! There are so many great articles and tips in each issue. In fact, February’s issue features an article written by Mimi Stillman, who will be visiting us next week! As a subscriber you can also access articles online, which is extremely helpful. Check it out.
While looking for videos with contrabass flute on Youtube I stumbled across this flutist named Tilmann Dehnhard. I especially enjoy the piece for piccolo and alarm clock! Click on the links below to check them out. Flight Delayed Wake up! Check out his website for more: http://www.dehnhard.com/index.htm
The weekend of October 18-19th, we had our first Indy Flute Shop event, which was a big success! Powell Flutes helped us bring Paul Edmund-Davies in for the weekend. On Saturday, Paul held an interactive lecture on his new book The 28 Day Warm-up Book for All Flutists…Eventually, which has some new takes on popular warm-up exercises for flutists. On Sunday, Paul presided over a masterclass in which we had four undergraduate and graudate students perform. The students were selected through an audition process and ranged in age from a freshman in college to a second-year graduate student. Following the masterclass, Paul presented a wonderful recital full of some new, some tried and true, and some lesser well-known repertoire. I wanted to post some pictures of the weekend and hopefully soon I’ll have a more detailed summary of what he covered as well as some video! If you haven’t ever met Paul Edmund-Davies or heard him speak, I highly recommend watching for the videos to be posted! He is such a great speaker and also pretty hilarious! I think there were several people in attendance that were close to tears from laughing so hard. You can tell he loves what he does and all
When: Monday November 10, 2008 Location: Indy Flute Shop 5282 E. 65th Street Indianapolis, IN 46220 Time: 7:00pm Admission: FREE! Presented By: Indy Flute Shop and Brio! Flutes About Greg Pattillo: Recognized throughout the world for his redefinition of flute sound, Greg was lauded by The New York Times as “the best person in the world at what he does.” His ground-breaking performance videos on YouTube, showcasing “beatbox flute,” have been viewed more than 12 million times. Greg earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of Joshua Smith, The Principal Flutist of the Cleveland Orchestra. Greg enjoys freelancing as a soloist, and is the flautist of the group PROJECT and the Lalo Quintet. He is also a featured performer at The Box in New York City. Greg performs exclusively on BRIO! Flutes. Inspector Gadget Peter and the Wolf
A couple of weekends ago, the Greater Indianapolis Flute Club (GIFC) hosted a masterclass with Thomas Robertello at University of Indianapolis. I took notes that day and thought I would share some of them with you. I realized as I was typing up my notes that some of it would make more sense if you had been there, so please ask me if something isn’t clear! Student #1: Burton Sonatina With this student, he worked a lot on letting the emotion of the piece show through and taking risks with the music. “If your options are more grandiose, there’s an option for failure.” Basically he was saying that he doesn’t go to a performance to hear someone play something perfectly but without any feeling. If you really go for it, you might get out of your comfort zone and possibly make a mistake, but at the same time you will really speak to the audience. Use a “deeper, chewier” vibrato for this piece and use a “ha” sound instead of the tongue to start the note in the forte sections. Student #2: J.S. Bach Sonata in E-flat Major, BWV 1031 1st Movement: Pay close attention to the style of accompaniment, which is very light;
I was browsing the Brio flutes website today and came across the page with the results from their YouTube Flute Contest. If you have some time, check out the videos these flutists sent in, especially the ones for the “Alternative” Division. http://www.banddirector.com/contest/flute-competition
I just wanted to remind you that next Friday, September 26th is the deadline for applications for the Paul Edmund-Davies masterclass. For those of you or your students who may have applied for the Thomas Robertello masterclass, sponsored by the Indianapolis Flute Club, one of the required pieces is the same so the same tape can be used for Paul’s masterclass. Please let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to seeing you there!
