Chiff and Fipple Forums

Hi guys.

Me and me friends have gone crazy and we will play in a concert with dancers in less than two weeks, in the Granada University.

I know very well the repertory and I´m confident with that but I have some worries.

It is a 90 minutes concert and I have two play 11 sets with 3 flute solos.

My worries are:

1- Endurance.

I have some problems with my hands and embouchure after playing for one hour aprox, my hands are somewhat stiff and my embouchure gets worse, lowering the pitch sometimes. The closing set is not a easy one and I have to play fast (The old blackhornstick - The eel in the sink. reels). I´m not sure if i will come to this one in good condition.

2- Dry mouth and lips.

I am a nervous man and my mouth became dry under under stress. A bottle of water ever helps but I don´t now if it will be enough.

3- Condensation.

This is an eternal problem for a flute player and I would like how do you face it.


Any tip will be wellcome.

David

Eat a banana earlier to help with the nervousness.

Bring spare equipment/instruments.

Do you double at all on whistle?

sligofluter wrote: It is a 90 minutes concert and I have two play 11 sets with 3 flute solos.

Is that without any break at all? The bands I've been in, we usually try to arrange at least a 10 minute break after the first hour. Can you not schedule a break in the middle somewhere?

3- Condensation.

This is an eternal problem for a flute player and I would like how do you face it.

This one I might be able to help with, because I seem to be a "wet" flute player, at least after the first 30 minutes or so. It depends on ambient temp and humidity of course. What I do, is just step away from the microphone (or lean into the area behind my chair at a session), and do a forceful blow of the flute with all the tone holes covered to clear out the water. The flute instantly "wakes up" and sounds like it's supposed to.

Practice doing this without sounding a tone. If you're not careful, you'll sound a very loud note while blowing out the flute that sounds like an elephant seal is honking a mating cry.

Another option for condensation is to buy a Flute Flag (online), which enables you to swab the whole flute with a single stroke. Works.

Hola David,
1. Endurance: If possible take a 10 minute break in the middle of a 90 minute set. I like Kevin's idea of playing the whistle on some of the sets to give your flute embouchure a rest. The difference in sound between your "D" flute and a high "D" whistle also adds variety to the sound of your band.
2. Nervousness: I'm not sure about eating a banana (Kevin can explain) but how about drinking half a Guinness before the concert and the rest during the performance? You solve both nervousness and a dry mouth.
3. Condensation: It is a real problem so you must have a good flute swab to use (perhaps after each set!). If you don't have time, before you start each set, definitely turn away from the microphone, cover the tone holes and blow the moisture out of the flute.

kkrell wrote:Eat a banana earlier to help with the nervousness.

Common advice in the Boehm flute world. Potassium (from the banana) is good for the nerves, and Potassium helps regulate muscle and heart contractions.

kkrell wrote:Eat a banana earlier to help with the nervousness.

Bring spare equipment/instruments.

Do you double at all on whistle?

A Banana could be a great help to me . Just bought some of them this afternoon. I like the bananas and potasium is fine for tired muscles.

Conical bore wrote:

sligofluter wrote: It is a 90 minutes concert and I have two play 11 sets with 3 flute solos.

Is that without any break at all? The bands I've been in, we usually try to arrange at least a 10 minute break after the first hour. Can you not schedule a break in the middle somewhere?

3- Condensation.

This is an eternal problem for a flute player and I would like how do you face it.

This one I might be able to help with, because I seem to be a "wet" flute player, at least after the first 30 minutes or so. It depends on ambient temp and humidity of course. What I do, is just step away from the microphone (or lean into the area behind my chair at a session), and do a forceful blow of the flute with all the tone holes covered to clear out the water. The flute instantly "wakes up" and sounds like it's supposed to.

Practice doing this without sounding a tone. If you're not careful, you'll sound a very loud note while blowing out the flute that sounds like an elephant seal is honking a mating cry.

No, we have not any break, but I will not play in 3 set dances and a song, so y have 4 small breaks (less than 4 minutes) along the concert, it will be critic for me but i´m not sure if enough.

About condensation, we visited the auditory today and it is cold, very cold, condesation is a nightmare there. We have requested the heating several hours before starting, probably during de sound test and the previous practice. The piano is also tuned high (around 442) and I have several tunning problems until me and my flute get warm. I have to close the slide to the top.

I will play the tin whistle in a single reel, Boys of the malin is in Amaj and I prefer the whistle to do some mistakes with the g# key.

I will try to blow out the water after every set, I hope it works.

jim stone wrote:Another option for condensation is to buy a Flute Flag (online), which enables you to swab the whole flute with a single stroke. Works.

I have one of these, but I´m not confident about opening the barrel during the performance in one of my samll breaks, I´m concerned about to get out of tune.

pmcallis wrote:Hola David,
1. Endurance: If possible take a 10 minute break in the middle of a 90 minute set. I like Kevin's idea of playing the whistle on some of the sets to give your flute embouchure a rest. The difference in sound between your "D" flute and a high "D" whistle also adds variety to the sound of your band.
2. Nervousness: I'm not sure about eating a banana (Kevin can explain) but how about drinking half a Guinness before the concert and the rest during the performance? You solve both nervousness and a dry mouth.
3. Condensation: It is a real problem so you must have a good flute swab to use (perhaps after each set!). If you don't have time, before you start each set, definitely turn away from the microphone, cover the tone holes and blow the moisture out of the flute.

A guinnes sounds like a great tip my friend , if all became bad, at least it will not matter at all.

Condensation it´s hard there, I could see it today, I will try to do the blow out technique and I also have a cloth to clean the holes sometimes. Just praying to have some decent temperature.


Thanks guys, I will try to get some videos for you if my performance is not a disaster

One helpful feature of the fluteflag is that you don't have to disassemble the flute at all to use it. You just thrust the flag into the bottom of the assembled flute, push it up the flute's entire length to the end of the head joint, twirl and pull it out. It can't change the tuning. It just takes the moisture out of the whole flute in one swipe, quite effectively and quickly. I've used it in performing.

I’m also a fan of the Flute Flag, but you need the correct one if you want to swab the entire flute bore as Jim suggests, rather than just the headjoint. The “conical bore take-down” version is the one you need: 2 piece shaft that screws together with the flag swab at one end which, fully assembled is then long enough to swab the entire flute in one go, from foot to headjoint stopper. Works great.

My advice is probably too late for this gig, but...find a copy of The Inner Game of Music I can't find my copy at the moment but I believe the author is Michael Greene.

It'll allow you to come to the gig ready to play without all the jitters, butterflies, and little voices telling you you're going to blow it.

Piper Joe

I can't imagine a Flute Flag working on my Aebi flute, the hole at the bottom of the C foot is very small. Might work on my Windward with a larger bottom hole. I've also never seen a flute player at a concert use a Flute Flag or other swab-out method in the middle of a concert, unless it was done off-stage during a break. At least with the blow-out method, you can do it discreetly in the middle of a 1 hour+ concert set.

Or just learn to ignore the water. I was at a concert a while ago by Kevin Crawford and Cillian Vallely as a duo performance. I was sitting in the front row near the stage (small venue) and I never saw Kevin blow out his Grinter or swab it. Towards the end of the second set, there was visible water flying out the end of his flute. I mean a LOT of flying water, and I couldn't hear a change in his tone.

He must have mastered the dripping-wet flute sound. I can't do that. When either of my two flutes get wet enough, the tone changes dramatically into a "flufflier" sound that drives me nuts, until I blow it out. Maybe with a strong enough embouchure it just doesn't matter.

Blowing the flute out can improve things, but it doesn't always work for me.
I wouldn't personally depend upon it while performing.

You're right. The Flute Flag
doesn't fit into the foot of some flutes, namely those with small feet (good sentence, that one). But it does work on most flutes, including most Rudalls. The solution for the small-footed flutes is to take off the bottom section of the flute and swab the flute from the bottom of the next section. Then swab the bottom section from its wider end. Still doable in under ten seconds.

Hi guys, thanks again, two days to go and I have taken some of your tips like the flute flag, I improvised a flag with to plastic sticks and works fine. My flute is Watson so a R&R model and I can clean the head opening the middle section and not the barrel, it helps to keep the tunning.

I hope to post some videos if i finally can get a cameraman.

Cheers

David

And finally it worked

https://www.facebook.com/david.caceresg ... 690552089/


Thanks guys

Bravo!