A new Internet friend shared this gem with me (click for slightly larger):
If you know these pieces (I’m familiar with all but the Howden—anybody know this one?), you know that this is a very impressive program. None of these are filler pieces, and the Mozart and the Ibert strike me as particularly large and challenging.
I like the use of the understated term “instrumentalist” here. And I’m glad that smoking in the recital hall is no longer an issue.
I asked the person who sent me this, a member of Mr. Tootelian’s family, if it would be all right if I shared this with my readers. Mr. Tootelian, now retired, kindly gave his consent.
Update, August 2012: I was saddened to hear from Mr. Tootelian’s family about his passing last month. No doubt he has gone on to a place where the reeds are always good. Rest in peace. —BP
First things first: thank you thank you thank you to all who participated in the survey, and especially those who Tweeted, Facebooked, and otherwise spread the word. I was bowled over by the number and diversity of woodwind doublers who responded: top professionals, rank amateurs, and everyone in between, for a grand total of 187 responses. Wow! It has been fascinating to see your answers and read your comments. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be revealing what I’ve learned in installments. If you’re not already subscribed in some way, you can grab the RSS feed, sign up for updates by email, or follow me on Twitter. And you can see all related posts in one place, tagged as The Great Woodwind Doubler Census of 2011.
And now, with no further ado, I give you:
Woodwind Doubler Census results, part 1: Demographic background
Gender
Although a number of talented and versatile ladies responded, as a group we are mostly of the male persuasion.
Should you have your old (woodwind) instrument repaired, or put the money toward a new one? Here are a few things to consider.
First, you should understand the difference between having “playing condition” repairs done and having a full overhaul done. The overhaul is an expensive service, often costing a significant percentage of what you would spend on a new professional instrument. A good overhaul will make your instrument play like brand new, or better. It generally includes any necessary repairs to the instrument’s body, straightening/realigning/refitting of keywork and tenons, replacement of all or most pads/corks/felts/springs, and thorough cleaning and lubrication. The overhaul makes sense about every 5-10 years for a well-made, professional quality instrument that you love and intend to play long-term. It’s generally not worth the money for a student-quality or so-called “intermediate” instrument.
Playing condition repairs are cheaper, à la carte services to get the instrument back into a baseline playable state, maybe replacing a few pads or corks as needed, or fixing anything that is broken enough to make the instrument unplayable. If you are low on cash, a good repair shop can help you prioritize what needs to be done within your budget. Even if you are playing your dream instrument and getting it overhauled on a regular schedule, playing condition maintenance is usually needed on at least an annual basis to keep things working well.
If your instrument is of less-than-professional caliber, or if you want qualities that your current instrument does not possess, you may be better served by having playing-condition work done for now, and saving toward a new instrument. Bear in mind that “professional” is a term applied by makers and retailers to sell instruments; if you’re not sure, it wouldn’t hurt to check in with a real professional (such as your private teacher) to see if what you are playing on is really suited to professional use.
If you are playing on an older professional model, you might want to explore the improvements made to more recent instruments, especially with regard to ergonomics, intonation, and evenness of tone. (Some musicians make these comparisons and decide to stick with what they’ve got, and that’s okay, too.)
A high-quality, well-maintained instrument makes playing easy and a pleasure, and the instrument’s career might even outlast yours.
I have discussed here previously the importance of proper voicing for woodwind instruments. In a nutshell, voicing is the configuration of the oral cavity, manipulated by moving the back of the tongue.
There seems to be some debate about voicing: is it something static, or something that changes from note to note? I find that the answer is, sort of, both.
For beginning woodwind players, tone, intonation, and response (virtually every aspect of tone production) can be improved by habituating a single, stable, “correct” voicing. When this is accomplished, an ideal woodwind instrument, which of course does not exist, would play perfectly in tune, with perfectly consistent tone from note to note, and with perfectly even and reliable response.
An instrument that is merely good will do these things well, but imperfectly. A more advanced musician can use small and temporary voicing adjustments to improve individual notes by altering their pitch, tone, or responsiveness. Doing this requires a “stable” voicing as a stepping-off point, fine control of the mechanics of voicing, and an ear trained to hear notes that are out of tune, uncharacteristic in tone, or problematic response-wise.
So, in general, when working with beginning students or others with significant tone production issues, the goal is to work toward a stable voicing that stays the same from note to note, but with more advanced students the goal is to learn to adjust the voicing ever so slightly to improve each note as needed.
Here’s a comment I made by email to Sy Brandon, regarding the saxophone movement of Divertissement, the new multiple woodwinds piece he is writing for me.
So much contemporary saxophone music is bombastic and grating—I always make sure I bring some aspirin when I attend the saxophone conferences. But the saxophone has such wonderful lyrical qualities, and I’m pleased that the saxophone got assigned to play something pretty in this piece.
Don’t get me wrong; I love the saxophone’s expansive palette of tone colors, and will happily flutter-tongue or play multiphonics or whatever. But it’s nice to play a melody once in a while.
Here are videos from my recent faculty recital at Delta State University. I performed the Saint-Saëns oboe, bassoon, and clarinet sonatas, plus the flute Romance and “The Swan” from The Carnival of the Animals as a baritone saxophone transcription.
“The Swan” is originally for cello, so I assumed it might work well as a baritone saxophone transcription. It turns out it really fits quite comfortably in the alto saxophone’s range, but I decided to take it on as a baritone piece anyway as a personal challenge.
I studied with Bob Tootelian in 1956-57, and he was a very impressive guy. He was the #1 woodwind doubler in Chicago for many years and played all the big touring shows that came through Chicago.
I went to his apartment in Rogers Park several times for oboe and oboe reed making lessons, and was blown away by his collection of woodwinds. He had a whole room full of them — every flute, double reed, clarinet and saxophone imaginable. I had never even seen many of them before.
And he played and taught all of them at a very high professional level. Never met anyone since quite like him. He inspired me to pursue doubling, even though I was often discouraged by my music teachers because it was going to “wreck my lip”. I now have a room full of woodwinds, similar to what I saw back then at Bob’s apartment.
I studied with Bob Tootelian in 1956-57, and he was a very impressive guy. He was the #1 woodwind doubler in Chicago for many years and played all the big touring shows that came through Chicago.
I went to his apartment in Rogers Park several times for oboe and oboe reed making lessons, and was blown away by his collection of woodwinds. He had a whole room full of them — every flute, double reed, clarinet and saxophone imaginable. I had never even seen many of them before.
And he played and taught all of them at a very high professional level. Never met anyone since quite like him. He inspired me to pursue doubling, even though I was often discouraged by my music teachers because it was going to “wreck my lip”. I now have a room full of woodwinds, similar to what I saw back then at Bob’s apartment.
Great memories. Rest in peace “Toot”.