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A versatile man: composition, improvisation, masterclass
teaching and publication, and work on re-designing the flute. This describes Robert Dick to a T. I had the privilege of interviewing Robert recently about his views on flute and music in general, plus getting to talk to him on the phone about flute, St. Louis, baseball, and Star Trek.
This is a man of wide and varied tastes!
Why the title "The Other Flute" for your web site? I first used the title "The Other Flute" for my first book, The Other Flute: A Performance Manual of Contemporary Techniques (2nd. edition, Multiple Breath Music, NY 1989). Its a telling image and people respond to it. So, pretty much all by itself, this phrase has become totally identified with me, and me with it. I have a CD called The Other Flute GM Records 2013), so why not a web site? Who made your specialized F-bass flute and contrabass flute? Both instruments were made by Kotato and Fukushima in Japan. I first played their flutes at the flute convention in San Diego in 1988, and I fell in love with the F-bass flute, which is tuned an octave and a fifth below the flute. Didn't happen to have the money for it at that time, but I never forgot about it. On my first visit to Japan in 1992, I went to see Kotato and Fukushima and asked if I could order an F-bass. It turned out that mine was the only one made in this particular model and they had never sold it! They had re-engineered the F-bass as a standup type of flute played on a peg, like the contrabass. The stand-up model is very popular in flute ensembles. It's designed to have a powerhouse low register and it isn't very effective in the second and third octaves. My F-bass was designed to play the whole range of the flute, three and a half octaves, but tuned down a twelfth. The low register takes more practice to develop, just like the concert flute, but this is truly a soloist's instrument. And it does help to have the physical stature (and to be in shape!) when playing an instrument of this size. My contrabass is also a Kotato, and I love this flute too. they knew it was for me when it was made, and they had heard recordings I'd done on the F-bass, so this axe was maxed! It came with a beautiful note saying that
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