Bad Habits, CD`s and other Ramblings

[Blackbeer]

Just went on a CD spree, which is unjustifiable in the extreme as I am living on my savings because the guy whos horses I am working with can`t afford to pay me, and came up with some real winners, thanks, as always, to you guys. It`s a short list:

Oil for the Chain, this is a CD and book by Shannon Heaton. Great stuff.

Notes from the Heart by the Mulcahys`. Real honest playing. I love this CD.

The Kilmore Fancy by Catherine McEvoy and her brother John. Well ofcourse I love her playing but the CD is a little disapointing production wise.

Speed 78 by Mike Rafferty, what can I say. If I could get even close to sounding this way I would die with a smile on my face.

Double-Barrelled by John Skelton and Kieran O`hare. Killer. John Skelton is great.

An Gaoth Aduaidh up there with WFO

I also picked up a mini disc recorder on ebay which is realy what promted this thread. Now I am only in the beggining stages of ineptitude on this instument we all love having been at it for a little over 2 years and have excepted in myself, many bad habits thinking I would have time to deal with them some time down the road. Course that was before I recorded my self practicing on anything other then my computer mike. Well what an awakening. One of the things that had always bugged me was the way I held the flute. I held it the same way I held a whistle and it worked for me. A few weeks ago I decided to learn how to hold it the right way and what a struggle. I`m talking paralisis here folks. And all because I wanted to be able to use the Bb key with my left hand. Well I am just now beginning to be able to stop thinking about my fingers. Believe me, if you are just starting on the flute, learn to hold it right.
The main things I learned from my recording were how hissy I was and how loud my intake of breath was and how terrible my timing was and how inept my fingers were and that I should have turned the damn thing off as this was one of those days where I realy woundered why I thought I would ever be able to play this thing. The one good thing I learned from this little recording session is that I realy like my tone. I tried a couple of different flutes to double check and I still came away happy.
Made me think about all this flute buying and trading and the quest for that perfect fit so to speak. So many things to work on. I didn`t even mention embochure. Sloppy, unreliable...................and so it goes.

Take care

Tom

[bradhurley]

A few weeks ago I decided to learn how to hold it the right way and what a struggle. I`m talking paralisis here folks.

I feel your pain. I played with the piper's grip for nearly 10 years before switching to the standard grip and it took me the better part of a year to get back to where I was before. But it was worth it (for me, anyway; others stick with the piper's grip and do just fine).

The main things I learned from my recording were how hissy I was and how loud my intake of breath was and how terrible my timing was and how inept my fingers were and that I should have turned the damn thing off as this was one of those days where I realy woundered why I thought I would ever be able to play this thing.

Now, Tom. Don't be having hissy fits on us.

First off, don't worry too much about hiss and breath intake because microphones pick up all kinds of stuff that a person sitting across from you won't hear. And second, avoding a loud intake of breath isn't so important unless you have ambitions of becoming a Famous Recording Artist on the flute or something. Audible breath should be the least of your worries. The hiss will go away in time, too...as your tone and focus improve, there'll be less hiss.

Recording is indeed a humbling experience, but don't be discouraged by what you're hearing. It can be a good learning tool to help you see the things you need to work on, but it can be dangerous if it makes you feel defeated.

[Blackbeer]

No problem with feeling defeated by recording my practice. Its why I bought the thing. When you live in a vacume and self imposed isolation it is hard to measure any progress. The mini disc might just be the best thing that has happened to me as far as learning to play this thing. Just finaly discovering that the tone I wish I had is in fact the tone I have was a real eye opener.
Changing my grip was and is a struggle, thanks for making me feel less alone in this change. And again thanks for your web site

Take care

Tom

[Jennie]

Hey Tom,

You inspire me. I haven't yet made a recording of myself to listen to. I tell myself it's because I haven't got the right equipment, or the time... but it's probably more that I don't have the guts. (Haven't videotaped my teaching in 20 years either.) That sensitive zone of self doesn't stand for much scrutiny. Even though I often put myself down as some sort of claim to humility, it'd be another thing entirely to have my faults clearly evidenced as they would be in a recording.

Do the horses like the flute music? Hope they're not critics. Sounds like you're enough critic to yourself. And I'm glad the tone is there!

Jennie

[johnkerr]

The Kilmore Fancy by Catherine McEvoy and her brother John. Well ofcourse I love her playing but the CD is a little disapointing production wise.

Just curious, Tom. What don't you like about the production on this CD? I'm listening to it right now as I type - the perfect mixture of fiddle and flute, and the great understated backup of Felix Dolan on piano. IMHO anyway.

[Blackbeer]

Jennie; didn`t I send you a flute last summer. Never heard if you got it or not. I had a couple of things lost in the mail up there.
Anyway, funny you should mention the horses and flute. A while back I had a bunch of the boys in the barn getting them ready for some field work and had a little time before the dew dried off so I broke out the flute and started to play. Well let me tell you, all four of them went nuts. I mean we are talking 10,000 pounds of panic. Not a healthy place to be. So that was the last time I tried that.
I also was out riding my Morgan, Molly, one day and broke out my Eb whistle for a tune while we walked along. Well she took off like a shot, my favorite Eb whistle went flying back behind me, hit her left hind foot and was last seen flying at incredable speed into a marsh never to be seen again. So much for old romantic tales.
Recording yourself is a good tool I think. I am hard on myself I know but it realy helps to face the raw details.

Take care

Tom

[Jennie]

No, Tom, I never got a flute in the mail! I know you mentioned maybe sending a delrin one for me to try, but it didn't come and I didn't pursue it, believing it to be too good to be true that a stranger would be so solicitous for a new fluter such as myself.

Yikes! Who knows what a disgruntled postal worker might to with something like that!

I thank you for your generosity and I'm truly sorry if it has disappeared without a trace. Maybe it'll be one of those posthumous postal stories, where the mail arrives after the writer and addressee are deceased... hope not. Hope there's still a chance it surfaces.

And I am making a note to myself NOT to try playing in a stable.

Jennie

[Denny]

A while back I had a bunch of the boys in the barn getting them ready for some field work and had a little time before the dew dried off so I broke out the flute and started to play.

Tom, what were you playing? Mine seem to like it. Well, except for the ones that don't care at all...

I can see where the whistle might be a bit much!

[Blackbeer]

Well Denny, I was playing my D flute that Alan made for me. The one I sent to Jennie. Sorry Jennie, that you didn`t get it. I guess it is a goner. That was a pretty good flute. That is the one that was wall tested. Able to penitrate half inch wall board without a scratch. Anyway Denny, I don`t remember the tune I was playing, maybe "Fairwell to Tywathie" or something like that. Jeez, thats all I need to hear, even my best friends can`t stand my playing
Course that was a couple of years ago. Maybe I should try it again.
By the way, is it as cold over there as it is here. I just went out to break ice on the troughs and with the wind chill factor it is 35 below zero. Hell of a north easter.

Take care

Tom

[AaronMalcomb]

Good on you, Tom, for having the guts to record yourself. I'm loathe to do it but I learn a lot everytime I do. It's good to be objective (if not hypercritical) about your own playing. It's easy to trap yourself in a bubble and then you'll never improve.

I'd be interested to hear what you were disappointed about with the production of "Kilmore Fancy." I didn't think it was bad but did find the sound levels to be on the quiet side. Especially for Catherine's playing because she has a powerful sound that I can't imagine could get drowned by a fiddle.

As for the cold, it's thankfully not quite that cold on this side of the mountains. Lows have been in the teens, wind chill bringing it down to single digits.

Cheers,
Aaron

[Wormdiet]

I will say that Aaron is a good and helpful analyst of recorded clips.

[Blackbeer]

Hey Aaron, thats right your over there in my old home town. I suppose thats cold enough for you. I am disapointed with the Kilmore Fancy for a couple of reasons. I have a couple of mp3s of Catherine and they will knock your socks off. On the CD her playing almost seems muffeled a bit, and the other thing that bugs me is the piano. Purely a foible of mine but I can`t stand piano in my Irish Trad. Makes me think of grade school recitels. Give me a set of bones or a drum anyday.

Take care

Tom

[Denny]

By the way, is it as cold over there as it is here.

Naw, We've been low 20's at night with enough sun during the day to keep if from being too bad.

Flute/horse...ya might want to start slow, where they can see you, quietly...'till they get used to the idea.
Norton has learned not to get his nose too close to the blow hole, as it makes the sound quit.

[Blackbeer]

I`ll give it a go with Tadpole when this weather breaks.

[Denny]

I`ll give it a go with Tadpole when this weather breaks.

That's the spirit! Just stand in front of them and play/ If they fun ya down you can try bag pipes...