Developing an attack

[GaryKelly]

...a reel like The Mountain Top, for example, wants to be staccato in the first few bars, with the notes clearly separated and emphasized. I have a clip of Catherine McEvoy playing it both ways as a demonstration: clearly articulated with glottal stops (the way she normally plays it) and totally legato. I'll put that on my website and post a link shortly!

How spooky... I just started learning that last night

[Cathy Wilde]

That is such a great old tune; one of my all-time faves. I can't wait to hear her go at it! (altho' I'm sure yours is brilliant too, Gary)

THANK YOU, BRAD!!!!!!!!

[GaryKelly]

Nah, you're all right Cathy, I've only just started learning it and I'm crap

[bradhurley]

It's up there now...just go to the previous page and you'll see I added a link at the bottom of my message.

This is from a workshop she gave in New York City in 1997. I drove down from Vermont with two other flute-playing friends...8 hours driving roundtrip for a 4-hour workshop, but it was worth it -- I was blown away by her music and those four hours completely changed my approach to the flute.

[AaronMalcomb]

McEvoy is one of the best. She's got it all in spades: tone, rhythm, expression, technique, nuance, and knowledge of the tradition.

I drove an hour to catch a 90 minute ferry ride then a 30 minute walk to catch a 90 minute class with Catherine at the Friday Harbor camp. What a flute epiphany.

Cheers,
Aaron

[tin tin]

Thanks for the clip, Brad. I'm jealous of all you who have had class with Catherine McEvoy! But the mp3 gives a little taste and something to work on...

[Cathy Wilde]

You know, I've been meaning to listen to her playing forever, and Mr. S has even mentioned it as a good idea, but I'd never gotten round to it. Always something else to listen to, etc., etc., etc.

But after hearing that, I bopped right over to Philippe's and ordered Kilmore Fancy, so thanks for getting me off the dime! (my credit-card people thank you too. Must .... stop .... spending .... money )

Wonderful stuff, that clip; illuminating in the best way -- I'm looking forward to listening to it better after work when I can turn the volume up a bit.

Again (or should I say YET again ), thanks so much!

cat.

[amar]

glottal stops.

say the letter of any vowel (except u). in the split second before any sound comes out, you are virtually holding your breath, try it out, that is the state of a glottal stop.

this is how our vocal cords look then:
the vocal cords (the blue-ish thing in the middle) are closed, no air passes through, you are holding your breath.

when you breathe, the cords are open:


and when you speak they go from open to closed, depending on how many vowels you use at the beginning of a word.

so, glottal stops are the easiest (for me anyway) micro-ornamentations that are used when playing the whistle.

[Tradman]

Finally, FWIW, he's often reminded me that he's been working at this very hard for a very long time, so don't feel stupid if you don't get it right away; it can take years to develop such subtleties.


Hope this helps a bit ....

cat.

THIS is so important. Thanks for reminding me gyrl!

[springrobin]

Amar- Is that the Deep Throattal Stop?

[amar]

Amar- Is that the Deep Throattal Stop?

[Lambchop]

and when you speak they go from open to closed, depending on how many vowels you use at the beginning of a word.

After reading this out loud, I notice a little hitch in front of every leading vowel. Then, whilst whistling and saying "ah," I notice the same little hitch.

So, to do this on whistle or flute, I should simply blow, but say "ah" whereever I want the hitch to be.

How very annoying it is to not have a flute here with me at work. I'd be running out to the chopper pad to practice instead of writing this note.

This has been a really wonderful thread. Thank you, all.

[toughknot]

The tough part for me is doing this ( glottal stop ) without altering my embochure.

[bradhurley]

It's a devilishly difficult technique to describe in words; I think the "cough" gets interpreted by people in different ways.

For me, what's going on with my throat when I use glottal stops while playing flute is closer to what happens if I say "uht." You create the final "t" sound in "uht" by closing off my windpipe instead of using your lips. Almost like when you're scolding a kid who's about to do something stupid and you say "uht, uht, uht."

Your embouchure shouldn't be affected at all. The more common problem (one that affects me, in fact) is that it's hard to do glottal stops without inadvertently vocalizing, especially in the second octave. You can hear this clearly in the recordings of Mike Rafferty, and even a bit in Matt Molloy's "black album." I don't mind hearing it anymore; it makes the music sound more "real" somehow to my ears, less purified and clean.

One way to practice these stops is to do glottal-stopped triplets on one note: kind of like a little kid imitating a machine-gun -- uh-uh-uh.

[djm]

I hear Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) doing these all the time, but it sounds more like someone just punched him in the breadbasket.

djm