New blog
Hi folks,
Thanks for checking out the new blog. Stay tuned for woodwind-doubling-related stuff!
Best,
Bret Pimentel
Similar Posts
Trade in your old reeds for new Ricos
This is an interesting promotion from Rico Reeds. Send in 10 of your rejected non-Rico reeds and get 10 Ricos of your choice, either a box of 10 or, it seems, possibly two boxes of 5. I have claimed my mail-in coupon online and will be sending off some reeds shortly. I considered waiting until the deal was done before blogging it, but you have to obtain your coupon by April 6, so I figured it was worth giving the early heads-up.
I haven’t used any Rico products in a while, but I’ve got no shortage of rejects among my current favorite brands, so it seems worthwhile to get some freebies to try out.
Bret on the Clarineat podcast
I had the pleasure of appearing on Sean Perrin’s Clarineat podcast. We talked about my blog, teaching, woodwind doubling, and more. Visit Clarineat.com to listen and subscribe, or search for it in iTunes or your favorite podcast app. Join the mailing list, too, to win a fancy ligature or future giveaways (plus stay up to date on new interviews).
University of Northern Iowa offers new multiple woodwinds degree
The University of Northern Iowa is now offering a Master of Music degree with a multiple woodwinds (3-instrument) emphasis. A few points of interest, according to degree information from their website:- Students take 6 credit hours of study on a “primary” instrument, and 4 hours on a “secondary” instrument, and must “demonstrate proficiency” on a third. Presumably the third instrument must either be at a suitable proficiency level upon entering the program, or the student must study the instrument without the additional credit hours counting toward degree completion.
- Students using oboe or bassoon as one of their three instruments must take an appropriate reedmaking course. This, I guess, means that students choosing both oboe and bassoon must take both reedmaking courses. And the reedmaking course must be completed even for the “demonstrate proficiency” instrument, which might not be part of the student’s coursework.
- Students choosing flute or clarinet as primary or secondary instruments must take an instrument-specific pedagogy course, or presumably both if flute and clarinet are the primary and secondary (or vice versa).
- There does not appear to be any special requirement (such as pedagogy or reedmaking) if saxophone is chosen as one of the three instruments.
- The degree recital must include performances on at least two “of the five” woodwinds. Oddly, it is not specified that these must be the primary and secondary instruments.
- Audition information from elsewhere on the UNI Music website does not make clear what is required for admission to the program.
See my hopefully-comprehensive list for more North American university/conservatory degree programs in multiple woodwind performance. (And please contact me if you see anything that needs to be added, removed, or updated!)
Doctor of Musical Arts
Dr. Bret Pimentel, D. M. A.
The University of Georgia
May 9, 2009
Woodwind Doubler Census results, part 2: instruments
In the previous installment of results from the Great Woodwind Doubler Census of 2011, I shared some basic demographic information about the 187 survey respondents. In this installment (and those to come), we’ll dig into some real doubling stuff.
Instruments
Q: Which woodwind instruments do you play, and at what levels?
The top results are unsurprising: saxophone, clarinet, and flute being the most widely-played, with oboe in a distant fourth place. I was a little surprised to see folk/ethnic/period woodwinds edge out the bassoon.
Read More “Woodwind Doubler Census results, part 2: instruments”