Shared Secrets

Song:  Shared Secrets

Artists:  Paul Horn / Steven Halpern

I love this song.

I just had to transcribe it (with modifications).

I had to do some transposing as Paul Horn had extended the range

beyond my capabilities on a few notes.

I won't be transcribing for a while since I have to compose at least 4 songs

for a project I am working on.

This will be a challenge...

even though I have composed before...

as I will have to come up with a certain feel for each song...

as each will serve a particular purpose.

From The Beginning

Song:  From The Beginning

Group:  Emerson, Lake, and Palmer

I just did the vocal track on this song.

Most of it is instrumental.

This really needs to be accompanied by, at least, a guitar.

I cut the intro and the several minutes of instrumentals at the conclusion of the vocals.

I had to turn in my Bass Flute to repair a broken spring bar.

I just got it back yesterday...so, that is why this took so long.

Too Rolling Stoned

Song:  Too Rolling Stoned

Group:  Robin Trower

I had started by cutting the first four measures of the bass solo at the beginning...

and ending the song just after the vocalist says....

"I think I'll just sit this one out"

(I added an additional 2.5 measures for an ending).

I had also modified a few measures in the song...

to prevent being too redundant...

as playing this solo...

or with anything short of a full compliment of instruments might sound.

I completed this song by transcribing the vocals...

and filling in where I could with the notes of the lead guitar.

I don't know of what the actual musical notation is for a palate rattle...

so I just put in Rattle 

as it is a much faster cessation and initiation of the note (or even a trill) 

than the fingers or tongue can move.

It is to get the intentional raspiness of the vocal at that point.

Also...

on the fall just after some of the higher C notes 

(looks like a downwards slur mark not directly connect to another note)...

it can be accomplished by rolling the head to one side halfway into the note...

letting air escape while simultaneously decreasing air pressure

as you also withdraw the tongue to the back of the mouth...

while running a full octave scale downwards just after the note bends and starts to die out...

unless a note directly follows...

whereupon you may omit the scale run as it may hamper securing the following note.

You may also find in this song...

as with many Robin Trower songs...

that he (Robin Trower...the lead guitarist)...

is famous for using many electronic altering gadgets which give his guitar

that pulsating sound (along with many other sounds such as fuzz, reverb and wow)...

so I find myself keeping time by rocking my head as I play some of the notes...

which gives a subtle pulsating sound similar to his electronic gadgets.

Others may have their own techniques...

I don't know.

I am self taught...

so, I just do what I find works for me.

And, yes...

I would need much practice to play this song at full speed.

As with any new song...

start out as slowly as needed to play smoothly and with full resonance...

as it is all about the purity of the tone.

Speed will naturally come with the requisite amount of practice.

About To Begin

Song:  About To Begin

Group:  Robin Trower

This is a blues based song which I really like.

I had cut out the intro guitar and went right into the vocals.

I had also slightly shortened the ending.

My next song will also be a Robin Trower song.

The Paris Match

Song:  The Paris Match

Group:  The Style Council w/ Tracy Thorn



I was first introduced to The Style Council
in the mid 80s while I was working in Japan.

The young lady who introduced me to their music...
and who had then visited me multiple times once I moved back to the US
 over almost the following 10 years...
then became my wife...
and then almost seven years later...
 the mother of our son...
Alex.

This rendition is my favorite song from this group.

The woman singing was a guest singer for this one song.

Tracy Thorn has a unique soft and sultry voice which
just makes this rendition of The Paris Match...
 not only a great slow dance song...
but one of the greatest unrequited love songs I have ever heard.

The Story In Your Eyes

Song:  The Story In Your Eyes

Group:  The Moody Blues

I had awakened Hana when I turned on the camera...

but she had been sleeping on my pillows while I was at the computer

working on this song at around midnight.

She uses my bed as her bed while I am not in it.

She will ruffle the covers and sometimes move them around 

to make herself comfortable.

I will sometimes cover her using the comforter...

but for the most part...

I just let her do what she wants while I am practicing music...

or at the computer.

I was near finished with the song here.

(I bring up iTunes to play the Youtube song as I transcribe).

I use Musescore software to notate music.

It is a free download...

and it was created by musicians for musicians.

I must input each note or other notation one at a time...

but is far better than transcribing by hand.

I learn more and more with each piece of music I do.

------------

You will notice a large grouping of spaces for 5 measures 

starting on measure 30.  

I did this so a guitar may accompany the music.

This is where the guitar plays solo.

I plan to one day teach myself to accompany myself with a guitar...on certain songs.

I first must save up for one though  :)

The next song I will transcribe is a very beautiful slow dance song...

very sultry, and very soulful.

Something

Song:  Something

Group:  The Beatles

This was written by George Harrison...

and I consider it to be one of the great love songs of modern times...

certainly by the Beatles.

George had written many good songs of the heart.

He was a romantic...and it came through in his music.

I had wanted to do an easy going melodious song...

which I had thought would be fairly simple after frying my brains

on the last two.

But it was not to be.  It was another deceptively difficult song.

For some reason...

 I had a hard time discerning flats in certain areas.

Rock Meets Rachmaninoff

Song:  Rock Meets Rachmanioff

Composer / Performer:  Jon Schmidt (Piano Guys)

This is my favorite song from the Piano Guys.

It is powerful and very upbeat.

Now...

I had a problem in a few places when I had realized that on some runs...

it occupied four octaves...and the Bass Flute only has three.

I had to not only transpose some notes...

I had to substitute some.

 I also had spent many hours trying to figure out some of them.

On some of the runs...

I had at first thought that many of the notes were sequentially spaced...

only to find out that there were many triples spaced out over a full octave...each set.

They had been played so quickly that I, at first, couldn't hear the difference...

and so, why I also had to guess at some of the notes.

I was so grateful when I got to the scale runs...

as they were sequentially spaced.

The Song Of The Golden Dragon

Song:  The Song Of The Golden Dragon

Artist:  Estas Tonne

Okay...

I had heavily modified this song.

First of all...

I start out the song at about 55 seconds into the video.

It just sounded like the start of the song.

As this is also a very long song...

I had dramatically shortened it.

I modified some of the passages 

and took out redundant strumming...

and on some parts near the end...

I simply made up some of the notes to lead it into an early ending.

However...

I had kept the spirit of the song throughout.

I hadn't started modifying it until about measure 26.

I heard this song and I just knew I had to attempt it.

This has a lot of quick passages...

with a lot of quick changes...

so, it is perfect to practice such changes.

My next song will also be a very powerful and quick one

(Maybe it's the coffee in me :).

Nights In White Satin

Song:  Nights In White Satin

Group:  The Moody Blues

This is one of my favorite songs.

It filled much of my young life with great visions of the future

from when I had first heard it.

Now...

first of all...

I had modified this song on the orchestral line from about 

measure 42 onwards.

I just like the sound of the mini scale run that the orchestra had done 

in earlier portions of the song too much to just have some of the 

more sustained notes after them, to not continue with 

a modified version added and then the runs repeated 

where they are not in the original song...

yet, where they had still matched.

I had also ended the song where I thought I could feasibly do so

(just before the full orchestra takes over)...

as it is my intention for my elder sister, her husband, and I

to be able to eventually play this song...

and I have to consider the instruments we will be playing.

My elder sister will have the keyboard...

her husband will be on the bass guitar...

and I will be playing the bass flute.

My elder sister is the only one who had any real formal music training...

however, she hasn't played the piano for over 40 years...

and she was only an intermediate player with but a few years 

of once a week piano lessons as a teenager.

Both, her husband and I are, essentially, self taught...

and are very much beginners in music.

I have taught myself how to read music (I am a continuing student)...

and I transcribe, transpose, compose, and modify music...

by ear.

My brother in law cannot read music...

but he will play by ear...

and repetition  :)

So...

I have to keep our skill levels, and instruments played...

in mind when I select music.

In this song...

my sister and I will try playing both parts...

and then decide which one will be the keyboard portion.

We will have to decide which one ultimately sounds best once we get together.

However, it may be a while...

as we are still busy with other aspects of our lives...

which will make it difficult to practice our respective parts...

and to get together enough to play the song as a unit.

I am trying to compile and transcribe the music that I would 

like for us to eventually play.

I also intend to teach myself classical guitar sometime in the future...

as I love the sound, and the music

(this will be by ear...as I only wish to accompany myself 

on particular songs...not as a mainstay instrument).

This way I will be able to virtually accompany myself on some 

very beautiful songs through recorded music layering.

I have been much more busy than I had originally envisioned...

so, I will have to alter some things in my life

so I may have more time to practice music.

I cannot stress enough of how valuable my transcriptions

have been to me in understanding music.

I especially enjoy modifying music...

and composing.

In it...

I find, and greatly enjoy, creative freedom.

I learn by doing...

and as I go.

The self teaching process...

for me...

is so interesting...

so stimulating...

well...

is just so much fun.

I am developing my musical ear more and more with each transcription.

I can now, far more easily, take apart music that I hear...

and lay down appropriately timed and nuanced notes...

most often by monkey hear...monkey do

(Playing by ear...then transcribing the notes I had played...

so I could then play the whole song by what I had written).

If you are just learning an instrument...

easily within the first month of playing...

you can transcribe simple music.

And if you can transcribe music...

you can compose it using the notes and timing you do know.

All you have to have is a love of music.

And...

if you love listening to music...

you will greatly heighten your love and appreciation

for music by learning how to become part of it.

--------------

I am not so arrogant to think that I do not make mistakes.

Sometimes my ear may be off...

especially where many instruments overlap in their playing.

If you spot an error...

please comment freely.

I appreciate learning from spotted errors.

Time To Say Goodbye

Song:  Time To Say Goodbye

Performing Artists:  Andrea Bocelli / Sarah Brightman

A timeless masterpiece.

Their voices are absolutely brilliant.

Watch for the time change...

and for the accenting.

This is a fun one to play...

and for Bass Flute players...

keep the high notes as open as possible(as always with all notes)...

as the crystal clarity of Sarah Brightman's voice 

must ring through.

And just as importantly...

you must bring up the notes from the diaphragm

as Andrea Bocelli's voice is particularly resonant.

While these general rules should always be followed...

when playing opera singers in particular...

where you may be able to get away with not doing it on other songs

by other singers...

it is not so when playing opera.

Their highly trained voices are filled with such depth, power in all notes...

and full and rich resonance.  

The only way to match and achieve this is to play with a fully open and relaxed...

throat, embouchure, and diaphragm. 

This is the way all notes should be played...

even though it is easier for notes to slip.

However, once this way of playing is grasped...

your Bass Flute will positively sing.

And...

NO...

I am not a master of this...

but, it is the way I try to always practice.

It makes all the difference between a good and productive session...

and a wasted one.

Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me

Song:  Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me

Artist:  Elton John

This took awhile because I had to get the fluctuations

 in Elton John's voice just right.

He has great depth in his singing because he will slur from one note...

to sometimes many notes, to the modified note, in an instant.

It sometimes sounds like just one note at first...

as it is almost imperceptible at times.

I made a couple of additions just to make it sound more interesting on the Bass Flute

(One ascending and one descending scale).

Although Elton John has many great songs...

this one is my personal favorite.

Watch for the grace notes.

They are sometimes very quick...

and sometimes not so quick...

as notated.

You will also notice that some do not slur to the next note...

as they are the same note.

Crossing The Sweetwater

Song:  Crossing The Sweetwater

Flute:  Jeannine Goeckeritz

Harp:  Tamara Oswald

Arranged by:  Sam Cardon

I love this song.

It is such a beautiful composition...

and it is so beautifully played.

This transcription is how the song sounds when played on the Concert Flute.

When played on the Bass Flute...

it comes out one octave lower.

If you are playing the Bass Flute...

and you wish it to be at the same pitch...

just play it one octave higher.

I actually like playing this song one octave lower.

After listening carefully to the song...
I decided to let my elder sister come up with the piano portion.

The harp is often played with two hands playing different notes at the same time...
as is with the piano.

I tried to write it out for just one hand play...
on the piano portion...
but it just didn't sound right.

So...
once my sister writes out her portion...
I will then publish it.

In the meantime...
I am off to search for another song with which to transcribe.

Cavatina

Song:  Cavatina

Composer:  Stanley Myers

Flute:  Misao Hatozaki

I absolutely loved this song from the first time I had heard it

in the movie 'The Deer Hunter'...in 1978.

I love Misao Hatozaki's rendition of it.

Now...

I had to transpose some of the song...

as she is playing a Concert Flute (It is one octave higher in pitch)...

and she just goes out of my upper range for the Base Flute.

However, it still sounds very beautiful with the transposition down one octave... 

(From measure 36)

so the Bass Flute may play it.

Ave Maria (Franz Schubert)

Song:  Ave Maria (Franz Schubert)

Composer:  Franz Schubert

Flute:  Alexander Lipay

This is a beautiful song.

Watch for the Pick Up Measure just before the repeat
(It has only one quarter rest for the measure).

Colour My World

Song:  Colour My World

Group:  Chicago

Sorry...

I had to repost this as I had noticed a misplaced note late in the score.

When I had attempted to correct it...

the music scribing program hadn't saved it.

When I reopened it...

it was a much earlier version.

I made some corrections to the score...

and I saved it.

So...

here is the corrected version.

On the second page...first measure...

first note...

it is not the correct note because it originally went below the lower range 

of my bass flute...

so, I had to raise the note to one which sounds good enough 

to not feel too out of place.

My elder sister is now practicing the piano portion (Flute II)...

and I believe her husband will play the bass guitar.

 I will be practicing the flute for the flute I portion.

Ave Maria (Astor Piazzolla)

Song:  Ave Maria 

Original Composer:  Astor Piazzolla

Bass Flute / Concert Flute:  Mirella Pantano

Piano:  Nicoletta Evangelista

I really love this song.

The flutist - Mirella Pantano... plays both flutes beautifully.

I had learned much on this one.

I will be attempting the song Ave Maria by Franz Schubert next.

Love Theme From "Twin Peaks"

Song:  Love Theme From "Twin Peaks"

Original Composer:  Angelo Badalamenti

Updated version.

Although this song only took me a few hours to complete...

it is a very beautiful song due to its simplicity.

Wishing You Were Here

Song:  Wishing You Were Here

Original:  Chicago

Cover:  Leonid & Friends

This is one of my favorite love ballads by Chicago.

I had used this cover because they are excellent.

They sound like Chicago at their best...

and since they had recorded it fairly recently...

this cover is crisp and clear...

allowing me to discern each note far more easily.

For the most part...
this is a transcription...however...

I had modified the ending a bit.

Black Orpheus - Transcription / Modification

Song:  Black Orpheus

C Flute:  Dave Hines

This is my latest Transcription / Transposition / Modification.

A Jazz piece in a Bossa Nova Beat...

and heavily modified by me...

especially from the beginning of the second page.

I had also cut out much from the middle of the first page...

as it was much of the flutist's solo work.

As this is a solo...

unless you can find someone to play a Bossa Nova beat...

I wanted to keep the song recognizable...

with a minimum of solo flying.

By the second page...

I had become familiarized with jazz enough to finish the song without 

using the above song to refer to as I emplaced the notes which 

seemed to flow with the piece...

and I had finished the song in my own manner.

These last two pieces I had used to familiarize myself 

with Rhythm and Blues (previous song)...

and with Jazz (this song).

They were both challenging as the timing was such that I had to listen very 

carefully for the changes and emphasis points.

For my next transcription...

I am thinking of a love ballad...

originally from the group...

Chicago.

As it will only consist of one line...

I will have to fill the single lines with multi instruments and vocals...

and make them blend as much as possible.

This is what will make the next piece challenging.

However...

if while I am attempting to blend the notes from multiple sources

 to be played just on the flute...

it does not sound right...

I will scrap the attempt.

I will have to delve into the song first.

Hopefully...

it will work out.

Never Can Say Goodbye

Song:  Never Can Say Goodbye

Cover by:  TwainsBlues

Okay...

this was my first venture into Rhythm and Blues.

I am teaching myself R & B...

along with Jazz...

by transcribing an example of each.

I really like the sound.

So...

I picked up some R & B with this song...

and the next song will allow me to become familiarized with Jazz to a Bossa Nova beat.

Now...

I had stayed true to this song for the most part...

until I started modifying it at about the 73rd measure.

I shortened the song...

and I took creative liberties with the rest of it.

Heavenly Scat

Song:  Heavenly Scat

Cover:  Emilly

(Original Artist:  Yuki Saori)

I had transcripted and modified the above song.

(This is my favorite song from Yuki Saori.)

However...

the above song is NOT Yuki Saori...

but a cover done by someone named Emilly.

I have been looking for the original by Yuki Saori for years...
to no avail.

While Emilly had done a good job sounding similar to Yuki Saori in this cover...

it is not the same.

The person also had muted some of the instrumentals to the point 

of almost non-recognition of all the high notes of the accompanying flute.

So, I had to, essentially...

wing it.

As you will see...

I had made some modifications to the second flute...

especially near the end.