Sherman Friedland Archives | Bret Pimentel, woodwinds

Favorite blog posts, December 2014

January 1, 2018December 31, 2014 by Bret Pimentel

Some highlights from the woodwind blogosphere in December:

Cate Hummel discusses the qualities of a good beginner-level flute. Good advice for those willing to do their homework; not a glib list of models to buy (which would just go out of date quickly anyway).
Bassoonist Cayla Bellamy finds inspiration to attempt the impossible.
Saxophonist Bill Plake prefers a good teacher (or good self-teaching) over a rigid “method.”
Doubler “ericdano” shares a list of favorite blogs (sort of jazz-saxophone-oriented) from the past year. Thanks for the mention!
The always-insightful Barry Stees shares a tip for diagnosing and fixing (cheaply and easily!) a common bassoon defect.
Sherman Friedland discusses the first three notes of the Debussy clarinet rhapsody (and more).
“Komuso Lady” from A Shakuhachi Journey muses on intonation.

Favorite blog posts, November 2014

January 1, 2018November 30, 2014 by Bret Pimentel

Here’s good stuff from the woodwind blogs in November. The flutists and bassoonists were especially busy this month.

Barry Stees offers some suggestions on cleaning up bassoon articulation.
Tammy Evans Yonce gives a brief review/introduction of the cool “Glissando Headjoint.”
Meerenai Shim offers some do-it-yourself ergonomic flute customizations.
Betsy Sturdevant learns something about bassoon reeds from Elvis. (Sort of.)
Cate Hummel makes a suggestion on what to do with flute embouchure “corners.”
The Flute Journal blog is rerunning some of Chris Vadala’s woodwind doubling columns from Saxophone Journal. This one’s title says “extended” flute techniques, but it’s really more of a basic flute articulation lesson for doublers.
Trent Jacobs shares a proposal for amplifying the bassoon while maintaining its natural tone.
Clarinetist Sherman Friedland shares some thoughts on testing instruments.
Oboist Jennet Ingle finds a silver lining in a bad gig.
The Powell Flutes Flute Builder blog gives us a peek at the engraving process.

Favorite blog posts, August 2013

January 1, 2018August 31, 2013 by Bret Pimentel

Read these excellent mostly-woodwind-related blog posts from the past month, and thank me later:

Bassoonist David Wells shares and comments on early 20th-century recordings of the Weber Andante e Rondo Ongarese by William Gruner and Fernand Oubradous.
Multi-instrumentalist Mark Catoe shares some clear thinking about teaching the concept of time signature. This will benefit even some of my college students, who are still trying to shed the “quarter-note-is-always-one-beat-no-matter-what” misinformation they were fed years ago.
Viviana Guzman at The Flute View declares the first Canadian Flute Convention a success.
Sherman Friedland offers some comments about purchasing clarinets. He mentions a couple of specific makes and pulls no punches about his opinions, but regardless of your personal taste in instruments there are some general points worth drawing out: just because “everybody” uses one model doesn’t mean it’s the “best;” a good teacher is crucial to the process of obtaining a fine instrument and making it sing; and it doesn’t hurt anybody to at least consider the advantages of instruments made from non-traditional materials.
Matt Stohrer explains why getting your saxophone overhauled is good for your playing and for your bottom line. Good advice for any woodwind player, really, though of course some of the instrument-specific details will differ.
Oboist Christa Garvey gives college music majors some sage advice for the new academic year.
Saxophonist Craig Buhler suggests that a joyful performance requires joyful practice.
Clarinetist Meri Dolevski-Lewis gives some tips on reading (and, by extension, on writing) advertisements for private teaching. Also: tips on diversifying your musical income streams (including a strong case for woodwind doubling).
Patty Mitchell shares a compelling argument, in video form, for learning the play the oboe the right way rather than looking for shortcuts. (Spoiler alert: It’s a demonstration of a single-reed mouthpiece for the oboe.)

Favorite blog posts, July 2013

July 21, 2022July 31, 2013 by Bret Pimentel

Required reading:

Christa Garvey reports on this year’s John Mack Oboe camp, and shares some masterclass notes. Her post about the fallacy of “doing more with dynamics” is really excellent, too. Christa wrote several other top-quality posts this month, but I’m going to just mention those two to avoid embarrassing everybody with my gushing.
In other conference reports, David Davani covers ClarinetFest in a five-part series, and Robin Tropper tries out oboes at the IDRS conference in a series of extremely detailed posts.
Saxophone repair genius Matt Stohrer takes a refreshingly rational look at the effect that a saxophone’s finish does or doesn’t have on its tone. (Obligatory: my own post on this topic.)
In a perhaps-related vein, The Life of the Flute Player reviews a flute and a piccolo constructed of non-traditional materials. I’m including this post not because I have opinions on these specific products, but because more and more plastic woodwinds are popping up, and I think it’s a trend worth watching.
The always-insightful Bill Plake, saxophonist and certified Alexander Technique teacher, looks at practicing in terms of adding new ideas and subtracting old habits.
Saxophonist Sam Newsome recommends a thoughtful approach to using or not using a metronome when practicing.
Saxophonist Bob Hartig conquers less-familiar keys so that they become natural and intuitive.
Bassoonist Barry Stees recommends continuing your musical education after graduation.
Jennet Ingle doesn’t mind playing second oboe.
Doubler Steve Moffett has an epiphany about flute articulation and the “ta” syllable.
Adam at A Classical Journey explores career options for musicians, and discovers that sometimes plan “A” isn’t the one you wanted after all [update: link dead].
Clarinetist Sherman Friedland wrote an incisive post on the basics of crossing the break, which has since disappeared from his site. So instead of linking, I’ll just recommend that you subscribe to his RSS feed so you can read his posts before he deletes them.