Esther at Obohemia explains how to tell the flute, the clarinet, and the oboe apart [update: link dead].
And this one is from me: some holiday fun with one of Butch Hall‘s amazing Native American flutes. One of the loveliest instruments I own. Merry Christmas to those who are celebrating it.
Oboist Christa Garvey shares a breathing exercise for quieting performance nerves.
Saxophonist Ben Britton experiments with some improved altissimo fingerings. And of course I would be remiss not to mention his very attractive saxophone fingering diagrams.
In what is turning out to be an approximately biannual roundup, I present the third installment of woodwind-related blogs that I’m enjoying, and you will too. If you’re late to the party, check out episodes 1and 2. (In each case I picked at least one excellent blog that shortly thereafter stopped publishing new content, so take a look at today’s picks and see if you can guess which is getting the “Bret Pimentel, woodwinds” curse. Bwahahahaha.)
Tammy is a former classmate of mine (go ‘Dawgs), and a flutist and educator to keep an eye on. Her blog, just a few months old, is outstandingly good: important topics, carefully thought out, and clearly and elegantly written. Tammy writes about flute performance and pedagogy, with a special interest in making practice time really effective. A must-read.
Ethnic woodwind guru and composer Pedro Eustache (“ayoo-STAH-chay”) has posted videos on YouTube of most of his recent work Suite Concertante for World Woodwinds and Orchestra, featuring himself as soloist playing a staggering 21 instruments over the course of 12 movements (45 minutes).
The instruments are mostly ethnic flutes and reeds, though a few modern Western instruments appear as well. Since some of the instruments are Eustache’s own unique creations or modifications, it would seem he doesn’t intend for anyone beside himself to perform this piece. Certainly few woodwind players would have the ability to do so, nor to obtain or make the unusual and customized instruments required.
Here are the movements currently available on YouTube.
Mvts. 1-2: Three different bansuri (Indian bamboo flutes).
Mvt. 3: “Oryxophone,” neys (Middle Eastern flutes), mezoued (Tunisian reed instrument), and flute fitted with ney headjoint
Mvts. 8-9: Quenacho (South American flute), “double tarka” (customized version of South American flute)
Mvt. 10: Fjitchu (South American flute)
The missing movements include shvis (Armenian flutes), fujara (Slovakian flute), didgeridoo (Australian lip-reed), and apparently vocal percussion. There is some additional information on Eustache’s website and in a Spanish-language concert program [update: links dead]. Even if your Spanish isn’t good, it’s worth looking through the program to find the picture of Eustache surrounded by his instruments.
