John Baker wrote:
> Robert Dick has a flute book with a title something like
> "Tone Development Through Extended Technique".
Yes ("...Techniques", I think), and it's seminal and
highly respected in the flute world.
> His first exercises are about singing WHILE you play
> to open the throat.
He advocates throat tuning, shaping the vocal cords and
throat in concert with the note being played
> There is a lot of magical thinking claiming that the
> resonant cavities of the body add resonance to the
> note.
I'm not sure if it's magical, but the shape of the
mouth & throat and the position & shape of the tongue
certainly can affect tone quality, profoundly in some
cases.
> In fact, the resonance is in the flute, in the
> standing waves in the air chamber of the flute.
I believe that what's behind the embouchure of the lips
(mouth shape, etc.) is highly relevant to the quality
of this resonance. Ask any professional flutist. :>)
> I am against poetic imagery with respect to sound
> quality. I had a flute instruction once to "fill
> your fingers with air." I already have enough
> garbage in my mind. I do not want to add to it.
IMO, mental imagery can be very valuable to both the
production of particular sounds and the communication
of "something" (feelings, emotion, relationships, etc.)
which, after all, is one of the core aspects of music.
So I think it's useful to learn that, say, a particular
"go no hi" in a honkyoku should be like a freshly spun
top, have a point-like intensity, but with a vigorous
yet tightly controlled wobbling around that central
point.
IMO, one's experience (of tops or whatever) is the raw
material for creative expression, and seeing is one of
the main avenues. How to translate a vision into sound,
feeling, and, possibly, music, well that's the art. I
don't quite understand when flutists talk about colors
in their sound, but for some professionals such imagery
is an important aspect of their playing.
John G.
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