Grey Larsen and tone.

[cadancer]

I love Grey Larsen's playing. He's the only Irish flute player that's truly expressive, I think.

It seems to me that if you take out the "only" part and use "I find" or "my favorite" (with any appropriate language construct) you might have a viable thesis.

You might even be able to pull it off if you can find an audience that has never heard any Irish flute playing. I would suggest that this is not that audience.

Otherwise, your thesis is just silly.

...john

[celticmodes]

Ok, which one of you registered a new account just to stir up a mess? Do I smell whiskey?

[s1m0n]

The irony is, of course, that Grey Larsen himself would never subscribe to such a categorical, judgmental, narrow-minded take on other players.

He might if he was taking the piss.

[Cork]

I think its a little unfortunate that the original post, which seems silly to me and is probably just someone playing a practical joke on us all, has resulted in a bit of a Grey Larsen bashing session. This is particularly unfortunate given that Grey has made some tremendous contributions including his books, musical compositions, recordings and concerts. I don't know him personally, but I have bought and listened to several of his CDs and have read his book and it seems to me that he is not only a very talented player and composer, but also highly aware and respectful of other players and their playing styles. His treatment of this topic in his book is a great contribution in and of itself. So I think we should probably lighten up a bit on the criticism of Grey, especially if we haven't heard his music or playing or read his writings.

He may be somewhat of an academic, but apparently GL has made a sincere effort, and has dedicated much of his life to ITM.

He may not be your cup of tea, to anybody reading this, but perhaps GL could by now have earned a place under the sun, so to speak.

[Denny]

There is a long standing tradition here at the C&F flute forum of dissing Grey Larsen.

ya know how we's loves our traditions

[joshD]

It is unfortunate that Grey has been thrown into the cage by a person who is very closed minded about flute styles and regional differences. I know Grey personally, and he would be uncomfortable to know the kind of verbal slapping he was receiving from a few people. I know we are entitled to our own opinions, I just think a couple of us have gone a little far. I respect the amount of time and dedication that Grey has put in regardless if I agree with all of his ideas and methods.

And I just need to say that MM is the man and June M is the Woman!!!! Man do I love there tone!!!!

[Aanvil]

Besides that... I've always loved his cartoons.

That one with the hiding dog and the cat following the "fud" sign into the clothes dryer always kills me!




I have few of Grey's CD and that fat book of his helped me a great deal. Lots on interesting stuff... and if you can read music some great transcriptions in the back.

[MTGuru]

[Aanvil]

Thats the one!!!

[Ceili_whistle_man]

paddler wrote;

‘its a little unfortunate that the original post…has resulted in a bit of a Grey Larsen bashing session’

I am not one of them, I have nothing against the man. I do think that if you read his book/s and determine that his is the only way to play the flute (I am talking about his way of playing cuts etc compared to others) you are setting yourself up for a big come down.
celticmodes wrote;

Ok, which one of you registered a new account just to stir up a mess? Do I smell whiskey?

I hope it's whiskey I smell in the OP, with a rat in it me thinks!
cork wrote;

He may not be your cup of tea, to anybody reading this, but perhaps GL could by now have earned a place under the sun, so to speak.

No arguments there, I have nothing against Grey Larsen, just outlandish statements from others such as ‘He's the only Irish flute player that's truly expressive’.
Surely if the OP is legitimate, they could not possibly think they could come out with such a statement as they did and not get derided?

[jim stone]

We're being trolled, obviously, and successfully too.
If we want to be critical of GL, fine, but not because we got manipulated into doing it.

If somebody says Chris Norman is the one and only
I would sure disagree, but I think the world is better for CN's playing.
I'm glad it isn't the only playing.
I figure the world is better for
this flute playing too. Check 8.

http://kalletlarsen.com/pages/page1

Maybe we can let Grey have the last 'word.'
Or maybe we would like to go on being played
a while longer. Night all.

[benhall.1]

OK. Thanks for the link. I've listened now - much nicer than I expected from the OP's comments. For me, I'd prefer the more - hmmmm, what's the right word? virile? - yep, we'll stick with the more virile styles of players like Harry Bradley and Catherine McEvoy. But, there ya go - that's personal taste, isn't it?

[Virile can't be the best word, can it? And I only refer to the style - it seems a bit inappropriate as a word for Catherine, but somewhere out there is the word I need, that will encompass both Harry's playing and Catherine's.]

[jemtheflute]

Yeah, thanks for the link, Jim. I had a listen to the track you recommended too. Nice enough, but unimpressive, I thought - I listened to little bits of a couple of the other tracks too, and wasn't inspired to go further! I thought the flute tone in that track rather insipid and not notably more "expressive" in this one track than anyone else might be. There's an annoying whistle-tone edge in his tone here too, as if he had a flake of skin on chapped lips (at least, that's how I sometimes find myself with that high harmonic edge involuntarily coming in) affecting his tone production/embouchure (possibly a result of too-close miking picking up the "edge tone" and that not being suppressed in the mix? - in which case, poor recording/mixing!).

Now, up until now I very carefully haven't criticised Grey because I had no basis on which to do so - I've only been discussing the OP's points from a logical and theoretical angle and suggesting that he's missing something in how he listens to ITM on flute if he dislikes the mainstream bearers of the tradition...... and listening to one track is no basis upon which to dismiss any player, so please don't interpret my critique of that one track as such a dismissal. FWIW, I found the arrangement a bit unsatisfying too, with the rather artificial and unnecessary linking passages between the tunes. But I'd need to hear a lot more and preferably experience a live performance before seriously coming to any conclusive opinion. It is easy (and not particularly fruitful) to pick holes piecemeal.

As for those who think this thread is a set-up, this may end up with me getting an eggy face, but I rather feel the OP is serious.

[MTGuru]

somewhere out there is the word I need

Huffy-puffy? Well, that's really two words. Robust? Grey's playing does seem to be toward the gentle end of the spectrum.

FWIW, here's a livelier clip of Grey playing a bog-standard setting of The Skylark. Excerpted from the CD that accompanies Chris Smith's Celtic Back-Up book. I don't think that Grey or Chris would mind.

http://www.box.net/shared/pxo1lc41mq

[david_h]

The irony is, of course, that Grey Larsen himself would never subscribe to such a categorical, judgmental, narrow-minded take on other players.

That's very much the impression I get from the way he writes. Goes out of his way to be even-handed where what he recommends differs for others and explains why he prefers doing things his way. A very measured, and distinctly north american (especially his use of she not he ), writing style. Far removed from the Irish and British slagging humour common in web discussions that so often causes upsets. Using his book I feel its OK to go along with what he teaches for a while but then choose to aim for a different style that appeals to me more.