​ARTICLES

Electric Flute Quick-Start Guide
If you are interested in getting started with the electric flute, but aren't sure where to start, look no further! This brief guide outlines the gear you need to get started. 
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Make Yourself Who You Are: Robert Dick on Creativity
Keeling, Melissa. "Make Yourself Who You Are: Robert Dick on Creativity." Interview by Melissa Keeling, The Flute Examiner (February 25, 2019), http://thefluteexaminer.com/make-yourself-who-you-are-robert-dick-on-creativity/.
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A Glissando Headjoint Primer
Keeling, Melissa. “A Glissando Headjoint Primer.” The Flute View no. 35 (March 1, 2016). https://thefluteview.com/2016/03/a-glissando-headjoint-primer-how-to-play-it-and-why-you-should/.
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Flute Amplification
Keeling, Melissa. “Flute Amplification.” flutespecialists.com (July 22, 2018). https://www.flutespecialists.com/flute-amplification-by-melissa-keeling/

INTERVIEWS

Talking Flutes Extra: "Improvisation - 'It's freedom, it's the nearest thing I can get to flying"
Keeling, Melissa. "Improvisation - 'It's freedom, it's the nearest thing I can get to flying' - Dr. Melissa Keeling." Interview by Jean-Paul Wright, Talking Flutes Extra, podcast posted September 13, 2018, https://flute.podbean.com/e/improvisation-its-freedom-its-the-nearest-thing-i-can-get-to-flying-dr-melisa-keeling/.
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Flute Fridays: Interview - Dr. Melissa Keeling
Keeling, Melissa. "Flute Fridays: Interview - Dr. Melissa Keeling." Interview by Mary Hales, #FluteFridays blog, entry posted January 19, 2018, ​https://maryhalesflute.wordpress.com/?s=keeling.

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REVIEWS

 SUPERSONYQ
​"...the most creative flute writing of 2018 next to Bjork... a delight... stunning and moving... SUPERSONYQ is refreshing and necessary to exploring the boundaries of the flute.”  (The Flute View)

​"I listened to all of SUPERSONYQ and it's quite an achievement! Bravo! My favorite tracks were "Eruption" (of course) and the Debussy, which is absolutely gorgeous. You've really turned looping on its head, transcending the repetitive aspects and finding paths to keep the sound evolving... Your voice on the flute has a depth and beauty that enrich all the music made with effects... [I] heard a lot of things I've not heard before."  (Robert Dick)


Fischer, Andrea (Fluterscooter). 2018. Review of SUPERSONYQ by Melissa Keeling. The Flute View (November 1, 2018). ​https://thefluteview.com/2018/11/melissa-keeling-album-review/.
Download SUPERSONYQ

DMA DISSERTATION

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Worlds of If: Analyses of the Composed and Improvised Works of Robert Dick

Keeling, Melissa, "Worlds of If: Analyses of the Composed and Improvised Works of Robert Dick" (DMA diss., The Graduate Center CUNY, 2017). CUNY Academic Works.

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Abstract
      Considered one of the most important publications in twentieth-century flute pedagogy, Robert Dick’s seminal method book, The Other Flute (1975), is an extensive catalogue of multiphonic fingerings, microtonal fingerings, glissandi, circular breathing, and other extended techniques. The Other Flute and a handful of his published solos are widely studied, but these works only represent a fraction of Dick’s creative energies.
     
Equally comfortable in classical, jazz, rock, electronic, and world music, Dick’s oeuvre demonstrates a sophisticated, musical use of contemporary techniques and his pieces have become standard repertoire. Though Dick was not the first flutist to use or notate these techniques, he proved how to use them extensively, and convincingly, in a musical way. Robert Dick’s over two hundred works illustrate a global perspective, demonstrating how one instrument can fill any musical role in any genre. His musical philosophy, which he describes in the liner notes to his album Worlds of If, is that anything is possible and anything can happen.

      The aims of this dissertation are threefold: first, to publish a complete biography of Robert Dick; second, to identify the primary characteristics of Dick’s musical style; and third, to analyze both his composed and improvised works. At present, no complete biography of Dick has been published, nor has any in-depth study dedicated solely to his music been carried out. No substantial transcriptions of his improvisations have ever been published, although over 90% of his works are improvised. This dissertation illustrates how Robert Dick has taken his place in a centuries-old tradition of innovation by flutists such as Jacques Hotteterre, Joachim Quantz, Charles Nicholson, Theobald Boehm, Severino Gazzelloni, and many others.

      Chapter 1 contains a biography of Robert Dick. Chapter 2 explores three primary characteristics of Dick’s style: the use of extended techniques, the influence of American popular music, and improvisation. Chapter 3 examines three of Dick’s works, both composed and improvised, in order to analyze the primary characteristics of his musical style and how he formulates improvisations. The appendix lists Dick’s complete discography, pedagogical materials, biographical events, and compositions.

      By defining the emblematic characteristics of Robert Dick’s style, performers can craft more informed interpretations of his music, improvisers can expand their toolbox, and composers can gain a deeper understanding of the musical applications of extended techniques.