An interview with Karel van Steenhoven

20/

09/15

In my last travel to Germany, I had the pleasure to meet this great recorder player, founder member of Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet, a recorder quartet with 30 years of history, he told me about his professional background, his last projects improving the modern recorders, and something about the Loeki's backstage. The entire interview is in English, and can be listened trough this link.   - Leia mais...
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Intonation – Hunting the myths

03/

05/13

Música das esferas Continuing the previous article on tuning, it is time to look at some of the theory and science behind how we play in tune. In this issue, we will discuss the harmonic series and some his­torical aspects of tuning. To fully under­stand “how” to tune, it is always good to dis­cuss the prin­ciples behind the practical subject of tuning. I have seen many musi­cians who have great difficulty in grasping the “why” of tuning — and, con­sequently, “how” to play in tune. This should be of concern to all musicians — but, with many recorder players, what happens is that they assume that using a correct fingering will automatically produce a note pla - Leia mais...
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Tuning – Understanding How Pitch Works

28/

04/13

I remember the first years of my musical studies... The teachers all told the students that we must play in tune and always check the tuner. Watching some really stunning chamber music performances on www.youtube.com, I wonder if these musicians learned to play in tune so well just by studying a tuner, looking at its pointer? Is there something else — something secret about pitch? Can anyone play in tune? Remembering back to music school, I regret today not having taken classes in this subject when I was very young, just starting to learn to play the recorder at the age of eight. Nowadays, I see very young pupils, who learn to hear intervals in tune from an early age — and who have no trouble tuning their instruments or playing in tune in a group. But even when we are not so young, we can learn some concepts and parameters that help us play in tune - Leia mais...
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Quer formar um grupo musical? Dicas para começar!

24/

06/12

Algumas pessoas têm perguntado qual o caminho para se formar um grupo de música de câmara atuante. Todos sabemos que no Brasil isto não é fácil. Quem possui um emprego fixo sabe também que não é fácil trabalhar para outras pessoas que não compartilham dos mesmos objetivos, e os obrigam a uma relação de trabalho hierárquica. Vou colocar aqui algumas coisas que penso ser importante. Primeiramente, é importante encontrar pessoas que pensem parecido, ou seja, que tenham as mesmas vontades, os mesmos desejos em relação ao trabalho, e que estejam a fim de tocar (exclusivamente). Neste ponto, existem pelo menos duas alternativas em relação aos objetivos: manter um grupo fixo com ensaios regulares (esta foi a escolha do Quinta Essentia Quarteto) ou juntar pessoas para tocar para um único concerto. A primeira escolha poupa muito trabalho qua - Leia mais...
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