Mellotronists

ferrograph@... wrote:

> << Other than Ian McDonald and Mel Collins, I think it
> should generally be banned. Or maybe rock flute players could be
> licensed... >>
>
> picky picky picky. most rock flute players I've heard are trying their
> damndest to retain some delicacy in the face of overwhelming odds; blowing
> across the end of a foot-and-a-half of tubing, nearly always miked up wrong,
> with a wall of marshalls (or whatever) a few feet behind them. and would the
> world really be a better place without tull?

Well, I don't think I'm being too picky. Between my wife and myself, we've
taught well over 700 people how to play flute (she currently has 43 students),
so I think we have a pretty good idea of what a flute can and cannot do. True,
it is a delicate instrument in the face of a wall of Marshalls, but one can
always use a headjoint cork pick-up and run the flute through one's own Marshall
stack if you want to compete.

The problem with flute is that you actually need a fair bit of study to make a
nice sound, and most rock players (especially) figure if that can make a bit of
a whistle and wiggle their fingers around a bit, they know what they're doing,
so off they go.

Also, I don't know what kind of teachers you had, but all of mine taught me that
I should breathe where the music dictates and that's always fairly clear if you
pay attention to it. Luckily, I never had a teacher who was pedantic about where
to breathe without explaining why. If I didn't agree, then I didn't do it and I
explained why.

There is never a reason to play an instrument badly unless you're happy sounding
bad in which case you have to take your lumps if you do it in public. I know
what a good flutist can sound like in a rock band because I worked with one of
the best. He could do all the Ian Anderson humming crap, knew where to breath,
had an excellent sound, and by God, he played in tune. Why? Because he took the
time to learn how to play flute correctly.

As for Galway, I can't stand the man (a total boor. I've met him) and he really
doesn't try very hard to make music anymore, but you could NEVER call him a bad
flutist if you know anything. You don't get a job in one of the top orchestras
in the world (Berlin Phil) if you can't play. The man CAN flat out play the
instrument--when he wants to. Now as for being a musician, he stopped doing that
when he became a "personality". Sad, but it happens.

Rick