Just did a workshop with Chris Norman
here in St. Louis.
He is an excellent teacher–he taught us
a simple tune and then phrasing,
articulation, ornamentation, and so on.
The fellow is coming from a deep sort
of place, really understands the
music, but he’s building a simple
language of articulation in which
one becomes fluent.
He’s playing a Rod Cameron flute,
which has a lovely, reedy sound.
Anybody know Rod Cameron flutes?
He’s in Mendocino CA, but he
has no website.
Also Chris is teaching this Boxwood Flute
Festival in Nova Scotia at the
end of July. It promises to be
very good, a way to get a lot
of good instruction in a short time.
He teaches Breton, Scottish, and
Irish flute music.
At the end he played for us the simple
tune we had learned, articulating it
in various ways, and it became something
extraordinary.
jim
that rod cameron flute he’s playing is a replica of Chris’ Rudall & Rose boxwood flute #742 (see it here at http://home.earthlink.net/~migoya/id90__594.htm and scoll down to the flute). I got to try it when Chris happened to be at my wedding reception in St. Louis years back at the Sheldon Theater. Long story. Great ending.
Rod makes very nice flutes, but he’s better known for baroque flutes of the one-key variety, although he will do some others.
He offers (i think still) the Chris Norman rudall copy, about $5k as I recall. Also, Cameron’s assistant for years, now on his own, is John Gallagher, who soon should be offering out his own Pratten-model flute. I’ve played some prototypes…not bad at all.
Thanks. Yes, Chris said he has an original RR at home.
The flute he’s playing is very beautiful,
blackwood and lots of silver, with a lovely, reedy sound,
though it was plain Chris had much to
do with that.
A friend of Chris’s was playing a simpler
Rod Cameron blackwood RR sort of flute,
which she said costs about 1100.
Says there’s a waiting list.
I tink the keyless blackwood copy of Normans Boxwood R&R that Cameron makes is $1100.
Tried to contact Cameron a year ago without success. Chris Norman was the one who got me started in this kind of music and woodenflutes, so of course I needed a similar flute as he had so I could make the sounds he does… moahahahaaa. Seriously though, even if it may take me a couple of hundreds of years to get half way to the level of Chris Norman, I still wanted a flute that sounded at least “something like that”.
Did contact McGee and after a long wait got the chance to play the Euro RAF for a week. Compaerd to Chris Normans R&R, the RAF has bigger holes and “rounded rectangular” embouchure and also sligthly different bore dimensions I believe. This resulted to my ears in a flute that was louder, more “raw” and “harder” sounding than what I was searching for.
A couple of weeks ago I made up my mind and ordered a R&R Refined from McGee that is very close to the flute that Norman plays according to McGee (he says it´s almost identical). I choosed boxwood and “two semi-circles” embouchure to get a slightly softer and sweeter sound.
So, now all I have to do is wait, and wait and… wait!
It certainly sounds like you willl get a fine instrument.
The flute Chris was playing last night had keys,
of course. But there was a keyless Cameron flute
there, which looked very nice, though I didn’t
hear it–and it cost 1100. Best
I saw the flute Rod Cameron did for Chris last may, and also a tablefull of other Cameron flutes. I was very impressed with the quality of his flutes, and i’m saving money to buy one of his traversos. He also makes keyless and keyed “Irish” flutes, Rudalls, etc. As far as i know, the waiting is only a couple of months for keyless or 1-key flutes, and he’s very easy to deal with. Great guy, a big huge Scott.
I also think Chris Norman is an excellent teacher.
And Peter, you made a great choice. Terry’s flutes are outstanding. He goes beyond making replicas of old flutes, he creates a true modern 6-hole flute, very easy to play and with wonderful sound.