A Tale of Two Concerts

This past weekend was one of  two great concerts, and about as contrasting as you can get.

Friday Night: My Christmas present to my husband were tickets to the great Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival, at Madison Square Gardens, NYC.

Sunday afternoon: Anna Meyer's wonderful solo flute concert entitled: "Accompanied by Silence", at St. Martins in the Fields, in Chestnut Hill, PA.

Friday: Started with an incredible acoustic set with Eric Clapton, Earl Klugh, BB King, and Vince Gill.  The remarkable thing was the intimacy the audience felt in that set; 20,000 people in MSC and it felt like Clapton was singing to you.  Here is the rest of the roster for the festival.




Every single guitarist was phenomenal, often the most famous were sidemen for lesser known incredible players.  The respect shown for the elder statesmen of the guitar was truly touching.  As BB King was assisted across the stage, the audience clapped him all the way on.  The passion shown by the audience was amazing.  Some people were on their feet for 4 hours.  I didn't make it that long.  The wall of sound was too much for my ears, and so I spent the last 1/3 of the concert listening from the hall way, the sound still disturbingly loud.  As Tim in the shop said, "You didn't wear ear plugs?"  Ooops...

Then it was Sunday, and I found myself in the hushed atmosphere of St. Martin's in the Fields.  The soft colors of light streamed through the amazing stained glass windows, the birds singing in the spring air.  Anna's beautiful sound ringing in the rafters of this Gothic style church as she warmed up. 

I was there to accompany Anna in the premiere performance of "Newtown Variations" by Bruce Roter.  My part was an 8-bar ground, repeated 22 times, over which Anna played 20 variations that represented the 20 children killed in Newtown, CT late last year.  While we played, the 20 lit candles in a circle were put out, one-by-one, at the end of each variation.  It took all my concentration to count each beat, and to not look at those candles.  The audience was stunned at the simple, moving, brilliant music, and then the fade to silence, and darkness.

Other composers represented on this concert were Debussy, Higdon, Piazzolla, Loeb, and Eric Meyer (Anna's husband and organist at St. Martin's.)  This was first rate flute playing. No technique was left out.  The power, beauty, emotion, and technical fluency were dazzling.  Just one player.  No amplification other than what the room naturally supplied. 

And now, as I reflect on the weekend, and the events in Boston two days ago, we witness the horror of more senseless deaths, and I think of the inherent danger of any large gathering.  The MSG concert, with 20,000 could have been a dangerous place to be.  Or, how about the concourse at Penn Station Saturday afternoon, where 10 police and two canines patrolled.  Or what about the train itself? 

Maybe we will all value the smaller venues, the intimate gatherings, events that are moving in other ways than overwhelming.  And maybe one day those who are so ill, angry, desolate, fanatical, will get the help they need before the commit a heinous act of terrible violence.

Protecting your flute from tragedy!

 

 It happens once or twice a year.  A customer calls with the terrible news that their flute has been lost or stolen.

Each one of us who plays the flute has a very personal relationship with our instrument.  It becomes our voice;  the embodiment of our unique concept of beauty of sound.

Having a flute stolen is a very real violation of our personhood.

When we at the shop recieve these calls, we feel the pain on the other end of the line. 

And then we ask, "How did this happen?"

Always, the incident could have been prevented had some simple steps been taken.  To follow, my talk to young flute players who are in possesion of their first very valuable instrument:

1.  Only you, or your teacher my play your flute.  No exceptions.  

2.  Leave your good flute at home.

3.  If you take your flute to school, it must stay with you at all times.  Never lock it in a locker, or worse yet, leave it in the band room.

4.  Never reveal the $$ value of your flute to anyone, even in confidence.  That news will travel like wildfire and your flute will become a target.

5.  Never reveal the metal content of your flute.  Frequently, when I travel with flutes, an enthusiastic TSA agent will say, "Are these real gold?"  And I say, "No. They are brass."  All anyone needs is for a security line of several hundred people to hear you are carrying precious metal in a carry-on bag!

6.  Never check your fine flute in your luggage while flying.  The temperature is unregulated in the cargo bay of the plane, not to mention that not every baggage handler is honest.

7.  Carry your flute in a larger gig bag.  I HATE shoulder straps! They scream: "Take me!  I'm a flute!" Leather or woven nylon shoulder straps are no match for box cutters.  Nor do I llike the gig bags with the flute compartment on the outside, looking just like, well, a flute!

Here's why I always carry a gig bag:  

It was a dark and stormy night.  Really.  

Anne Sullivan and I had just finished a flute and harp concert at Clarion University and were packing up and heading to Pittsburgh for the night.  Deciding that we didn't want to stay in our good black velvet concert shoes, we changed into less formal shoes in the parking lot.  

We get to Pittsburgh, unload, exhausted.  Then the shock of all shocks!  No flute anywhere to be found.  Several searches of the car prove fruitless.  It was then, when I recreated the scene back at the Clarion University parking lot, that I recalled putting the flute in its black case cover on the black tarmack on that dark and stormy night.

As you can imagine, there was no sleeping that night.

The next morning first thing, the call was made to the Clarion University security department, music school, and theater manager.  No flute.

In the days before cell phones, the only option was to stop at each service plaza along the PA Turnpike.  Call Clarion.  Next plaza, next call.  At Breezewood, good news!  The biology professor had seen the case on the tarmack, knew it was valuable, and took it to security.  By that time, security and I had become great friends, espeically after I had offered a generous reward for the flute. So he was almost as excited as I was when he told me the news.

The back story: my teacher, Murray Panitz had passed away the previous week.  I was asked to play during his memorial service on Saturday, and wanted to do it on my best flute, of course.  (The hardest performance of my career to date).  Thanks to my new BFF in security at Clarion, the flute was delivered by Fed Ex the day before the performance at the memorial service.  

Lessons learned:

1.  Always put the flute in a large gig bag that will not go unnoticed anywhere.

2.  Change your shoes in the dressing room.

3.  Make a check list of all the contents of a car when travelling to multiple venues on tour.  

4.  Be very nice to security at any venue when you travel.  Well, actually to anyone, anywhere, because you never know.

5.  Insure your flute and keep appraisals handy.

6.  Never, never say "yes" when someone asks you, as they gesture toward the harp, "Aren't you glad you play a small instrument?"

Finally, heed this advice from Clarion Insurance (no relation to Clarion University):

CLARION CALL 

 

This is just a friendly reminder that in order to have a smooth claim process-we strongly recommend having an appraisal on file for all of your instruments. (Even those under the standard $5,000 requirement*.)

*We do "require" an appraisal or bill of sale from a bonifide store for any single item valued at $5,000 or more. We cannot add any single item over $4,999 without an appraisal or bill of sale.

Clarion Associates Inc | 35 Arkay Drive | Suite 400 | Hauppauge | NY | 11788***800-VIVALDI

 

 

Meet the Flute Pro Shop Team!

All of us here at Flute Pro Shop are preparing to be without Dave as he heads to Japan for the next two weeks.   The purpose of the trip is the highest level of repair technician certification from the Muramatsu Company.  While there, Dave will work in the factory finishing flutes, and familiarize himself with the Muramatsu manufacturing process.

 We will miss him while he is away, to be sure.

It's so interesting how a group like this can become like a family, united around a set of principles and values that drive the business and forge relationships that are now moving outside of the shop into social connections.

Let me introduce you to our crew here at FPS.

Me: Joan Sparks, President and Director of Sales and Marketing.  If you have been reading these posts you know just about everything about me.  Actually, maybe more than you want to....

David Kee, Vice President of FPS and Chief Repair Technician.  Dave is the steadying force here.  I tend to react to situations in a manner that is not always calm and contained.  Dave, on the other hand, is a calm and circumspect presence.  He has a wonderful capability to see situations from all sides, weigh them, and then react. Dave has a wry sense of humor, and can turn a phrase that makes us all double over in laughter. His integrity when it comes to the quality of his work is unparalleled.

Cara, Business Manager.  Cara has the most amazing phone voice and manners.  She is often the friendly person on the line when people call in.  She is all business, efficient, and brilliant when it comes to strategics.  She also reigns me in.  I have two tendencies: I'd like to give away the shop, and I really want to acquire inventory.  Lots of inventory.  So, when Cara gets that light in her eyes, and the laser like intensity is directed at me, well, I make a more prudent choice.  Cara is the cheif party organizer too, and often supplies home baked goodies to our celebrations.

Kristen: SEO Specialist, Sales Assistant.  Like what FPS does on FaceBook, Twitter, and more?  It's all Kristen.  With one of the best set of ears in the business, she fills her roles here with incredible skill, creativity, and artistic savvy.  Kristen is the inspiration of so many of the FPS innovations, stylish ads, the new logo, and more.  She is beloved by us all, and is herself quite a wit.  We are all on our toes what here is here!

Tim, Sales Specialist, Shipping Manager, Product Manager.  Tim  is a meticulous person who packs and ships for FPS, manages the music and accessories, and takes your online orders and fulfills them.  He is developing a very fine teaching studio of flute and sax players, and this year had several students place in the Delaware All State Band.  Tim is also training in the repair department, showing patience and the same meticulous attention to detail he shows in the shipping of themany valuable instruments entrusted to us here at FPS.

Denise: Business Assistant, Travel Manager.  I have known Denise forever!  When we needed this role to be filled, I knew she would be the very best person to come in, get the job done, and be a great fit to our convivial group, and so she has.  Denise is amazing at finding travel deals that are both economical and comfortable, which yours truly needs on the road.  She also is calm and deals with our customers in a truly professional manner.  Denise is also the one who keeps us decorated each season, manages the flow of repairs in and out of the shop, and follows up with phone calls.

This crew makes it a real pleasure to come to work each day, and are why our shop is continuing to grow and prosper.  Life at Flute Pro Shop is good.

Next up: The Pets of Flute Pro Shop!

As the weather changes: Springtime Flute Care

There are two season changes that challenge flutes and their owners.  Spring and Autumn.

As the first day of spring approaches this week, let's review the most typical problems associated with the atmospheric changes, and how to keep your flute in great working order.

For most of us, at sometime in the next three months, we will turn off the heat in our homes, and shortly turn on the AC.

It is said that in the North Eastern US the typical relative humidity in our homes during winter, is down around 10%, which is rather like Death Valley.  That's why the floor boards shrink, static electricity is such a problem and house plants need much more water.  The pads, shims, and spacers that keep your flute regulated react by shrinking.  This is why a flute, which has been working perfectly fine in January, shows up needing repair in April.

To help your flute make the adjustment, take just a few precautions:

1.  Completely swab out the inside of the flute each time you play, and use pad cleaners at the end of the day.  We recommend Flute Flags for swabbing, as well as any of the high quality BG France products.  BG France's Universal Pad Cleaners work much better than the standard cigarette papers to keep pads dry and stable.

2.  Put the flute in its case every night, as soon as you have finished for the day.

3.  Let the flute come to room temperature before putting any hot air into it either by warming it up or by playing it.

4.  Store your swab in the exterior pocket of your case cover.  Not a good idea to put the moisture (ie spit) you've just taken out of the flute and put it on top of the flute, and then seal it in the case.

5.  Store your flute on a shelf or in a drawer.  There is a nasty pest called a Pad Bug,  a cousin of the carpet beetle, that will literally eat your pads.  They are tiny insects, but if you are putting a flute away for a while, and store it on the ground, you may have unwanted guests in your case and an unplayable flute when you take it out again.

6.  Never let a well-meaning (but inexperienced in flute repair) band director try to balance the pads or regulate the flute.  Countless examples of the problems this causes come through the shop door every Spring.

7.  Piccolos: here we have some real issues involving wood and its care.  Be extra careful in playing the piccolo only once it is at room temperature.  Swab it out frequently.  Keep it out of sunshine and fast moving cold air.  Make sure you put it in its case every night.  These little guys are so small it is tempting to leave them on your music stand or on a shelf. 

STRESS
Here is a good rule of thumb: if you are under stress, so is your flute!  Solo and Ensemble coming up?  Senior Recital? Audition for summer programs?  The big end of year orchestral concert and you are slated to play the 1st flute part in Daphnis?  Make a repair appointment at least 3 weeks in advance of the big day.  The extra practice you put in during this time of the year stresses your flute and its adjustment.  Anticipate this and avoid the nasty last minute rush to get your flute repaired.  It WILL happen if you have the mind set of Scarlett O'Hara, "Fiddle dee dee.  I'll just worry about it tomorrow."  The problem is, tomorrow is the big concert.

Do you have ways of dealing with the approach of Spring and flute repair?  Please add your thoughts to the comments...

Spring 2013: Focus on Flute FUNdamentals!

Welcome Spring!!

And with it comes thoughts of spring cleaning.

And then my thoughts turn to the flute.  And, like it or not, I have some technical work to do in advance of a concert April 28.

Time to focus.  Flute Fundamentals here we come.

First: don't miss any more swim practices.  It is much warmer in the AM these days, so can't use that excuse.  Swimming is the very best activity for breath control.

Second: don't miss any more flute practices.

Hmmm..what if I structured my flute practice the way I structure a swim practice?

Now, that's fun!

Swim Practice structure:

Warm Up
Kick Set
Pull Set
Main Set
Warm Down

My swimming warm ups don't typically involve the clock, because at 6:00 AM I need to acclimate slowly. Stretch out in the water, get my breathing in gear, let the shock of the cold wear off. With the flute I do long tones at first. (Watch for the new Flute Pro Shop Long Tones of the month feature to refresh your routine!  They will launch April 1.)  Typically 20 minutes here will get me going for the rest of the practice.  I always start in the low register, and work up slowly, focusing on tone quality, resonance, vibrato and so on.

Kick Set in swimming as an adult involves fins: you smoothly glide through the water. For the flute: Scales!  Woot!  For these I use the metronome, and concentrate on lining things up perfectly, honing subdivisions, keeping things smooth, controlled, well matched and even.  I do chromatic, all diatonic, Taffanel-Gaubert No. 1 double tongued, and depending on the time available, additional Taffanel- Gaubert Exercises.

The pull set: paddles and buoys, oh boy!  These are longer distances, and often I layer in  "hypoxic" training, or limited breathing patterns.  With freestyle, I breathe every 3-5-7-5-3 each 50 yards of a 200 yard distance, and the rest for about 15 seconds and go on.  For flute practice, this section will involve going over all the "spots" in the music for the concert.  You know-those little places that need extra attention.  I enjoy playing games: can I do this 5 times in a row perfectly?  10?  Or I reverse the articulation, change octaves, play in smaller and smaller sections, and more. (Maybe I should write a blog on drill patterns?)

The Main Set:  this is the heavy workout segment in swim practice.  Often involving short intervals, negative splitting, and other tortures..ah..fun activities.  Flutewise: I play the pieces all the way through, making notes of sections that will need attention in the pull set tomorrow.

My personal favorite section is, you guessed it, the warm down!  The hard work is done, you have that lovely post-practice feeling of having accomplished something, and can just stretch out in the water, glide, maybe do dolphins up and down the pool, bob, whatever strikes your fancy.  Flute warm down is often a long tone exercise from a piece on the program.

And so now you know how I spend my free time.  Wet or dry, I never lack for stuff to do!  Time to work with my Labradors-food for another blog.

Happy Spring!!

Why I love Fed Ex

It was a cold and blustery early March afternoon.  The call came in from the hotel: our customer's flute had arrived.  It was 3:00 PM.

Many of our customers here at Flute Pro Shop are like family to us, and this is one of those with whom we feel particularly close.   She is a doctoral candidate in a prestigious program in the North East.  She had called the day before with a flute emergency: she had a concert on Sunday, and her Eb key on her flute was bent.

The problem?  Dave and I were on the road, on our semi-annual trip to Winchester and Charlottesville, VA.  Thinking quickly, or as quickly as I could, I suggested that she send the flute to my hotel in Charlottesville.  Dave could do the work there, and we could overnight it for Saturday delivery in time for the Sunday concert.

The round trip to pick up the flute, took 30 minutes, going from the Ashcroft Club house in Charlottesville, VA, to the hotel on Route 29, and back.  Dave finished up the repair for a customer who was waiting there for her flute, and we opened the delivered flute.

The bent Eb key repair was a quick and easy process for Dave.  The more difficult problem was that the flute needed extensive work: three split pads, and was overdue for an overhaul.  It was now 4:00.  The last pick up at Fed Ex, I thought, was 6:00 PM.

All was going well, but Dave was not happy with how the flute was coming together.  I could hear him saying, "It just doesn't feel right..."  The clock ticked on.  At 5:30 he was satisfied that the flute was playing well.  We boxed it up and I took off for the closest Fed Ex store, which I had found on Google.

It wasn't there. 

Stunned, I drove around the parking lot.  "What do you mean it isn't here???"

Getting back on Route 250, I called the Fed Ex 800 number, and a very helpful operator answered.  She asked what zip code I was calling from.  Luckily I remembered it-from when I gave the hotel address to our customer-and rattled off 22092.

Route 250, at 5:45 PM on a Friday is  very well traveled road.  Very well.  And, there is no shoulder.  So I had to memorize the address until I could pull over, enter it into the GPS, and take off.  It was now 5:55.

And there was the Fed Ex logo, bright blue and beckoning.  5:58!

I ran into the store.  I am sure I looked just as frazzled as I felt.  I asked the worker there to please hold the truck so this express package could be taken then.  "No problem."  And then the words that set me free: "The Express shipment doesn't go out till 6:30."  Ahhhh.

At 6:16, the worker took the package.  14 minutes to spare.  As I left the store, look what pulled up:

We have since heard from our customer that the flute arrived, and worked well for the concert.

Whew.

And that is why I love Fed Ex.

Further along the Left Handed Flute Adventure!

February 12, 2013

Further adventures on the left handed flute…

For two weeks now, I have been doing long tones and scales on the LH flute, and even playing duets with my students, often prompting hilarious outbursts of laughter.  

I have learned many things from this process, which has “reformed” my flute playing.

At first, I would play the LH flute for 10 minutes, and then go back to the computer to work.  Oops.  Nothing came out right-I was typing things backwards and all sorts of ways.  This has resolved itself as I spend more time on the LH flute.  Dialing phone numbers resulted in lots of wrong numbers, reversed groups of 4 numerals.  Texting was also challenging.

The following is from an email from the manufacturer:

“As you mentioned, it has positive effects on the brain balance. We discovered a funny effect: When you play left for some minutes, then go to your keyboard and write an e-mail. The characters on the screen are all mixed up, you can’t read anything. It’s because the brain still changes left and right. Only when you look at each character on the keyboard and write slowly, then you hit the right characters. This effect becomes shorter and shorter, until it disappears completely. After some time of training your brain will switch immediately.

Another interesting effect was shown to us by an English physiotherapist during an exhibition in Manchester. A girl (right hander) was playing for the first time with the left flute and as usual, the first few minutes were the most difficult. This guy then asked the girl to take of her shoes, and step on 2 pieces of wood, which were lying on some kind of rubber (it is used to train the balance of people). Suddenly the girl played much better and more freely. That is because her brain now was focused on her feet, busy with keeping the balance of her body, and could not control the playing anymore. The flute is then controlled by her subconscious, which made her play more easily.”

Initially, for me, every note had to be thought through on the most basic technical level.  Not only are the hands reversed, but the placement of the air column is vastly different.  Octaves were a real challenge for my asymmetrical embouchure.  Controlling pitch came slowly.  Certain fingerings were/are difficult: D in the middle register: I still lift the left index finger for it on the LH flute.  Or, I also forget and leave down LH 4, creating Eb.  High A: which finger goes down in the left hand?? 

Through this process, I am learning the connections between such fingerings as F, F#, Bb and B natural.  Learning how to slide my right thumb between thumb keys and finding the C# and C keys with my left hand has been a real adventure.

I can’t take anything at all for granted with this LH flute.  All of my instincts are being challenged.  I have to check my ego at the door before I pick it up.  Not even my sound is professional caliber.

And yet, the improvement in my RH flute playing is immediate and audible to those who know my playing.  The ease of it is a real joy.  I have a deeper appreciation of the inner value of what I have accomplished as a musician.  I can depend on the instincts created by decades of training and practice.

I am a better, more patient teacher.  I sympathize when students fear the flute will roll out of their hands.  I empathize when a fingering change does not register for several minutes, or when a fingering is done incorrectly.

I recommend this process for anyone for who feels their flute playing has become stale and jaded.  Anyone who needs to re-think technique, work things out in a different way, who enjoy challenging something that has long been a part of them.  Then come on over and play duets!