Michael Dean Archives | Bret Pimentel, woodwinds

Favorite blog posts, August 2019

August 31, 2019 by Bret Pimentel

August 31, 2018 by Bret Pimentel

Michael Dean shares a bibliography of editions and resources for the Rose clarinet etudes.
Alain Vlamynck makes some Baroque oboe reeds. (French language.)
Flutist Douglas Worthen offers some tips on playing Berio’s Sequenza I.

January 1, 2018December 31, 2017 by Bret Pimentel

Betsy Sturdevant brainstorms some (tongue-in-cheek) reasons not to sharpen her bassoon reed profiler blade.
Woodwind doubler Ed Joffe shares some practical advice about subbing on gigs.
Flutist Nicole Riner explores some lessons about focus learned during an artist retreat.
Joan Martí-Frasquier lists some repertoire for baritone saxophone.
Oboist Jennet Ingle considers some ideas about motivation and doing difficult things.
Clarinetist Michael Dean offers some small but useful performing tips.
Flutist Jessica Quiñones shares some ways to build a private studio.
Saxophonist Larry Weintraub recalls a day spent with Michael Brecker.
Khara Wolf suggests solutions for oboe reeds with too-wide tip openings.

January 1, 2018November 30, 2015 by Bret Pimentel

Lots of interesting woodwind blog posts this month. Here are some favorites:

Flutist Roderick Seed is doing a nice series offering commentary on the Andersen Op. 15 etudes.
Michael Lowenstern addresses the idea of bass clarinet as a college major. (This one is from very late October but I didn’t catch it in time.)
Saxophonists Sam Newsome and Ben Britton each offer exercises for improving low register tone production.
College freshman flute major Hannah Haefele shares what she is learning in her transition from high school practicing to college-level practicing.
Clarinetist Michael Dean shares his pre-performance checklist.
Oboist Patty Mitchell distinguishes between knowing your music and knowing your music.
Flutist Rachel Taylor Geier explains the practicing technique of chunking.
Cate Hummel recommends against the old flute “kiss and roll” trick.

January 1, 2018August 31, 2015 by Bret Pimentel

Clarinetist Michael Dean examines some resources available for better-informed preparation of the Cyrille Rose “40” and “32” études.
David Erato compiles some piccolo tips by some top working flutists and doublers (and also me).
Saxophonist David Freeman shares some settings for the kinds of electronic filter sounds used by Michael Brecker and Jeff Coffin.
Josh Johnson shares in exhaustive detail the flutes he tried out at the NFA conference. For gear junkies only.
Heather Roche demonstrates some extended techniques specific to the “paperclip”-style contrabass clarinet.
Saxophonist Bill Plake discusses some benefits of practicing with a drone.
The unnamed mom at How About Oboe? gets her 10-year-old oboist to practice difficult things for just two minutes at a time.
Cate Hummel brings things back to Earth about the flute and the so-called lip “teardrop.” (I also hinted at that topic in a recent post.)

January 1, 2018April 30, 2014 by Bret Pimentel

Bassoonist Barry Stees continues his in-depth and insightful series on interpretation, with installments on motive and harmony.
Flutist Cindy Ellis offers ten piccolo tips.
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.
Woodwind doubler Steve Moffet considers practicing instrument switches.
Heather Roche catalogs extended clarinet articulation techniques.
Bassonist David Pierce offers six words to inspire performers.
Anna Norris explores some issues with beginners and the bassoon.
Oboist Jill Cathey plays her scales backwards.
Contraforte-ist Kristopher King shares his reed dimensions for this intriguing instrument.
Oboist Patty Mitchell asks a question worth considering about music students and immunizations.
Clarinetist Michael Dean addresses a surprising connection between posture and embouchure.