Stuff and such

[altivo]

First of all, birthday hugs to corelog and hgryphon. I wish you both something really nice.

Sooo, after playing with several wooden wind instruments lent me by friend Rob in Chicago, I decided to go ahead and spring for a proper Irish flute. No, not the $2K model, but one that I believe will work well enough for me. Thanks to a massive book by Grey Larsen (a really talented musician, for those of you who don't know Celtic folk music) I have a new understanding of the traditional ornamentation in Irish wind playing, and am now working on smooth execution of taps, strikes, rolls, and slides. I need to get a refresher lesson on the bodhran from Rob's wife Dawn, though. ;D Then I'll be a threat!

Made probably the last rhubarb pie of the spring in honor of my mate Gary's birthday, which was Friday. The heat is making the rhubarb go dormant, as it often does by July anyway. This one combines rhubarb and peaches, which is not something I've heard of or tried before, but we agree it's a nummy match and I'll be doing it again.

Still no rain. Three or four years ago we accepted some tiny catalpa seedlings from a friend in Elgin. Gary planted them among our giant oaks out front, and this year two of them are blooming for the first time. Just a few flowers, but they are so lush and fragrant that it is delightful knowing there will be more next year.

Comments

[vimsig.livejournal.com]

Catalpa speciosa or bignonioides?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

C. bignonoides. It's a native here in the midwest, though not typically found in oak savanna like ours. I wasn't sure there would be enough sun, but one of the trees is ten feet tall already.

[vimsig.livejournal.com]

ooh - want one!

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I may be wrong, they could be C. speciosa. I haven't looked that closely. The differences aren't terribly obvious. I might have to check with a local expert.

I could get you seeds in the fall and mail them, if Sweden allows such things to be imported. These won't produce much this year, but there are bushels of seed pods from trees within a mile or so.

According to what I see right away on the web, C. speciosa (Northern Catalpa) is hardy to zone 4, while C. bignonioides (Southern Catalpa) is hardy only to zone 5. We are zone 5 here, so in theory either might grow. They get quite large. I pass a number of them on my way to work that are probably 50 feet tall. They also shed a lot of twigs and debris during the spring and summer, including the flowers, and the huge leaves fall off all at once at the first frost. Where I last lived in Michigan, I had several large ones on my front lawn, and when the leaves dropped suddenly I was knee deep in dead leaves.

[corelog.livejournal.com]

Thankies! *snuggles*

[hgryphon.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Tivo! *steals a plush hug*

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

I still say you could play a normal flute with an irish lilt.

Rhubarb is an unusual substance and often poked fun of quite a bit, I still can't take it seriously because of all the old English comedies I listened to when I was little XD

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Sure I can play a modern flute and sound Irish, but there is a difference to the discerning ear. That's for several reasons, starting with the difference between a wooden body and a metal body to the instrument. Your ear can tell that. Also, the modern flute has a cylindrical bore, while pre-Boehm flutes are reverse conical.

Very important too are the techniques. Ornamentation, which is central to the Irish tradition, develops to fit each instrument used. The Irish flutist uses methods derived from those of bagpipers. Some of these will not work on the modern orchestral flute at all. Those that do work are affected by the fingerings, which differ in specific instances. Producing the expected notes on a tap or strike depends on the ability to move the pitch a certain interval by raising or dropping a single finger. In many cases, the diatonic nature of the early flute allows this, while the modern flute requires a double or even triple finger motion for the same pitch interval because it is made to be fully chromatic.

I have experimented with the wooden keyless flute and the contemporary Boehm mechanism flute side by side now and verified this. I could imitate the Irish style and some listeners wouldn't notice the difference, but others would. ;) Since I'm one who would know, it's worth the bother to me to get a more authentic instrument.

[pioneer11.livejournal.com]

There will be an mp3 or ogg posted sometime yes?

^_^

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I suppose there might be. ;p

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Actually I kind of meant just putting on an irish accent then playing the flute ^.^

[altivo.livejournal.com]

*snicker*
You can expect this pony to be overly literal at times.

Anyway, I do a lousy Irish accent. I'm better at Scots.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

And you put so much detail in that reply, ^.^
Och aye laddie its a warm moonlit nacht ta nicht,