ALBUMS
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Clair de Lune (Debussy/arr. Keeling) - for flute or electric flute
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This arrangement of Clair de Lune is preferably performed with the electric flute. If you are not performing with an electric flute, a reverberant performance space is recommended in order to imitate the delay effect. Either way, this piece is meant to be performed with rubato, spaciousness, and freedom.
If performing with electric flute, two effects pedals are required: delay and auto- harmonizer.
- DELAY: the delay effect is left on throughout, with the exception of mm. 63-65.
- Delay time (time between echoes): c. 3 sec.
- Echo level: 65%
- Feedback (echoes repeat for): c. 6 sec.
- AUTO-HARMONIZER: should be set to produce the lower third, in the key of D-flat major.
The use of these two pedals create the illusion of a pianist playing the piece, instead of a solo monophonic instrument. The delay effects allows the harmonies to sustain, while the auto-harmonizer imitates Debussy’s signature compositional style of parallel thirds.
•••••••••
This arrangement is dedicated to my mom, Dana Gensler, and my grandmother, Grand Jenny Leigh.
My mom is a pianist and my first music teacher. As a child, I remember waking up to her piano playing on the weekends; my dad recorded her playing Beethoven sonatas before I was born (I still have the cassette tape!). She taught me so much about expressiveness in music, and I am so grateful for her everlasting support of me as a musician.
My grandmother (my mom's mother) was also a pianist. Claude Debussy’s Clair de Lune was her signature piece, and she would often play it at family gatherings. This is a very special piece in my family.
To both of these incredible women musicians – thank you for passing on the gift of Music.
Northern Lights (Keeling) - for alto flute
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This piece is intended for alto flute with delay effect. The delay effect is kept on for the entire piece. At the end of each phrase (indicated by breath marks), allow space for the delay effect to reverberate, but not fade out completely. The tempo markings and rhythms are only guides, and do not need to be strictly followed. NORTHERN LIGHTS should have a sense of spaciousness and freedom.
The delay settings are:
Delay time: 3 seconds
Feedback: 12 seconds (for sound to fade out completely)
Level: equal to input volume
Kings of the Sky (Keeling) - for flute and effects pedals
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Kings of the Sky is built on a four-measure loop sequence (page 1). Over top the loop, the performer plays a two improvised solos based on the Primary Motif (page 2). The first solo is on alto flute, and the second solo is on C flute. To end the piece, turn on the delay pedal to create a “wash” of sound (the delay pedal must be placed AFTER the loop station in the signal chain), then turn off the loops while the delay is still fading. Conclude with the final two staves provided, or improvise your own ending.
Technical Requirements:
-Microphone
-Amplification system
-Effects pedals:
1. Loop station
2. Delay
Pange Lingua Gloriosi (arr. Keeling) - for flute and delay, with back track
INCLUDES SHEET MUSIC PDF AND BACK TRACK
This piece was inspired by a hymn of the same name by John Wade. The original chant and text were composed by St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), one of the most influential Catholic theologians of the Middle Ages. The tune was later reset by John Francis Wade (1711-1786).
This hymn is traditionally sung in the Catholic Church on Holy Thursday of the Easter Triduum, during the procession from the church to the place where the Blessed Sacrament is kept until Good Friday. The hymn expresses the doctrine of transubstantiation, in which, according to the Roman Catholic faith, the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ.
Pange, lingua, gloriosi Corporis mysterium, Sanguinisque pretiosi, quem in mundi pretium fructus ventris generosi Rex effudit Gentium.
Sing, my tongue, the Savior's glory, of His flesh the mystery sing; of the Blood, all price exceeding, shed by our immortal King, destined, for the world's redemption, from a noble womb to spring.
This setting for flute alone is intended to be supremely prayerful, meditative, and soaring. A very reverberant space is best; optionally, the performer can perform this with a microphone with a heavy digital delay. Take ample time for the echoes to die away before continuing to the next phrase. During the embellished section, be sure that the original hymn melody carries; allow the other notes to become the harmonic accompaniment.
Optionally, perform with the back track.
2001: Also Sprach Zarathustra (arr. Keeling) - for flute with effects pedals
For flute and back track.
Download includes sheet music and MP3 back track.
“2001: Also Sprach Zarathustra” was inspired by Strauss’s great tone poem, as well as Phish’s interpretation of the melody. Here, only the opening fanfare (“Sunrise”) is quoted.
The performer will need an array of stompboxes in order to perform this piece:
- Loop Station: this creates the rhythmic engine (the opening beatbox section), and should remain on throughout the performance.
- Distortion: the distortion pedal should stay on throughout; set it to a moderate (not overwhelming) level of distortion.
- Delay: places where the stompbox should be engaged are marked in the music with a bracket. Have the delay set to about one second, with a strong feedback level. There should be a noticeable echo after playing a passage.
- Harmonization: the interval to be used is left to the performer. Using a third, fifth, or sixth below yields positive results.
The piece is in three sections, after the opening beatbox introduction. There are three flute solos of approximately 1:30 each; they are notated here, but they may alternatively be improvised by the performer. Each solo should build in intensity from the previous solo. In between each solo is the theme from “2001.”
Diagonal slash marks in the music indicate for the performer to rest, and to let the echoes created by the delay effect pedal to be the melody for those beats.
This piece is more about creating an “effect” than playing exactly what is notated; use this printed music only as a guide to your own interpretation!
SHEET MUSIC
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2001: Also Sprach Zarathustra (arr. Keeling) - for flute, effects, and backing track
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This arrangement for electric flute of “2001: Also Sprach Zarathustra” was inspired by Strauss’s great tone poem, as well as Phish’s interpretation of the melody. Here, only the opening fanfare (“Sunrise”) is quoted.
Includes back track (CD).
This is arrangement includes two versions: one with no improvisation, and one with extensive improvisation.
The performer will need four effects pedals in order to perform this piece:
1. Loop Station: this creates the rhythmic engine (the opening beatbox section), and should remain on throughout the performance.
2. Distortion: the distortion pedal should stay on throughout; set it to a moderate (not overwhelming) level of distortion.
3. Delay: places where the stompbox should be engaged are marked in the music with a bracket. Have the delay set to about one second, with a strong feedback level. There should be a noticeable echo after playing a passage.
4. Auto-harmonizer: the interval to be used is left to the performer. Using a third, fifth, or sixth below yields positive results.
Length: 5:30
Listen: https://youtu.be/oVYMq0KbiJg
Pange Lingua Gloriosi (arr. Keeling) - for flute, effects pedals, and back track
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Includes sheet music and back track (CD)
*Also available as Digital Download*
"Pange Lingua Gloriosi" is an arrangement of the hymn of the same name. Though electric flute (with effects pedals such as flanger are delay) is preferred, this arrangement may be performed without effects pedals.
No improvisation required.
Length: 5:30
Listen: https://youtu.be/w88f70Jy4ls
Star Spangled Banner (arr. Keeling) - for flute and glissando headjoint
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This arrangement of "Star Spangled Banner" is for flute with glissando headjoint. The preferred setup is electric flute with glissando headjoint, but it may optionally be performed without the glissando headjoint or without effects pedals.
Length: 1:30
Listen: https://youtu.be/71LCOV6I3Rw
Clair de Lune (Debussy/arr. Keeling) - for flute or electric flute
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This arrangement of "Clair de Lune" includes two versions: one for solo flute (non-amplified), and one for electric flute. No improvisation required.
If performing with electric flute, the following effects pedals are required:
1. Delay
2. Auto-harmonizer
Length: 6 minutes
Listen: https://youtu.be/gwLe19jiffI
Electric Flute Quick-Start Guide [FREE PDF]
Want to play your instrument through effects pedals? Check out this quick-start guide for how to set it up. Includes checklists of required hardware and recommended products.
2 pages.
Worlds of If: Analyses of the Composed and Improvised Works of Robert Dick (Keeling dissertation)
Doctoral dissertation, 2017.
Melissa Keeling, The Graduate Center, City University of New York.
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.
Kings of the Sky (Keeling) - for flute and effects pedals
*FREE Digital Download*
Kings of the Sky is built on a four-measure loop sequence (page 1). Over top the loop, the performer plays a two improvised solos based on the Primary Motif (page 2). The first solo is on alto flute, and the second solo is on C flute. To end the piece, turn on the delay pedal to create a “wash” of sound (the delay pedal must be placed AFTER the loop station in the signal chain), then turn off the loops while the delay is still fading. Conclude with the final two staves provided, or improvise your own ending.
Technical Requirements:
-Microphone
-Amplification system
-Effects pedals:
1. Loop station
2. Delay
