Zoom Tube – Ian Clarke (solo flute) [advanced - – requires open-holes & B foot]
"Zoom Tube is a simply astonishing piece. .... Ian's genius lies in his ability to
incorporate extended flute techniques for the flute in a way that are thoroughly
powerful, natural and accessible musically"
- from programme notes by Wissam Boustany.
Zoom Tube is a rhythmic blues influenced piece employing a raft of extended techniques
to achieve its aims. A stunning addition to the flute repertoire! It has to be
heard to be believed. A challenge to learn but fortunately easier than it looks.
Since coming into print in 2001 Zoom Tube has regularly been programmed in professional
and final year conservatoire recital performances. It is advisable to play something
like ‘The Great Train Race’ and ‘Spiral Lament or some of Robert Dick’s music before
Zoom Tube! Having said that there is plenty of explanation so previous experience
with extended techniques is not a pre-requisite - just useful!
Zoom Tube has been used several times as international competition piece including
for the NFAs 2006 Young Artists Competition. It has been selected for inclusion
in the new Peters Edition GCSE Music Anthology.
New compositions are necessarily, consciously or sub-consciously, influenced by other
work. In the case of Zoom Tube there are many inspirations: rhythm & blues, Bobby
McFerrin, Stockhausen, Robert Dick, Ian Anderson & South American flute playing spring
to mind fairly immediately but I'm sure there's more if one wanted to delve further.
Beyond this I had an impression of what I wanted to achieve and, since I am a composer
& flautist, naturally enough its birth was largely through experimentation and improvisation
on the instrument. The extended techniques and hence palette of colours was very
much a means to an end rather than just an end in itself. Amongst other things I
wanted the flute to groove, much as a rhythm guitarist might, so chords (multiphonics)
and damping techniques were necessary. When the human voice is used to groove an
array of percussive vocalizations are employed to imitate a drum kit or used as interjections
to further rhythmic suggestion. Therefore note bending, an array of articulations
and the voice were going to feature. I also wanted it to complement the piece called
'The Great Train Race' that I had written for solo flute; this had been conceived
as a fun and exhilarating work showcasing many extended techniques. I needed a still
more diverse and exciting sound world to draw on. As well as the techniques already
mentioned the exploration of quartertones and breathy colours fascinated me; singing
and speech use subtle pitch inflections that lie outside the well-tempered scale
so this seemed an obvious area to explore. In the end I hope I have achieved something
new and exciting for the flautist that will surprise and inspire!
It is possible to approach this piece without too much experience with extended techniques
but clearly it is a different proposition to learning a more conventional composition
and some background work would be advisable; for example practice of singing & playing
which will be unfamiliar to many players. Expect to take a little time to get used
to the notation and techniques - particularly the various fingerings employed for
multiphonics and quartertones. Bars 76 & 77 may be particularly challenging! Even
though most things are easier than they look, this is unlikely to be a piece to learn
in days! Having said that, I hope that it is fun and rewarding to learn and that
you will enjoy the unraveling process!
