Ode to the Flying Buttress
R09_0571 Bach Cello Suites (excerpt)
An ode to the flying buttress!?
Back in the spring on my last morning in Copenhagen, I braved the morning rush-hour to do some stealth playing in the stunning central train station before, alas, sprinting to the airport.
Setting up discreetly behind some shops at the base of one of these immense wooden columns, the music of Bach seemed a no-brainer
Purple Bamboo Melody
R09_0217 Purple Bamboo 2 (2) Purple Bamboo Melody, Chinese Traditional
Welcome to the Yung Sing Pastry Shop on Baldwin Street – currently closed for renovations – and here’s some traditional Chinese music recorded in the shop to mark the Year of the Rabbit!
Located just north of the newly Gehry-fied AGO, Baldwin Street is a pedestrian oasis, especially in the summer or when
Year of the Snowplow
dufferin mall snowplow elegy Snowplow Elegy
It may officially be the Year of the Rabbit, but here in Toronto this year will surely be remembered as the year of the snowplow.
As the story first emerged, what seemed like some kind of bad joke about a barefoot drifter wreaking havoc in a stolen snowplow ended up being nightmarishly real after it was learned that
A Little Tobogganing Music?
tobogganning Tobogganing Improv
Toronto is blessed with amazing parks and ravines, and recently this scene caught my eye as I drove north on Dufferin towards Bloor. How could I resist pulling a quick u-turn and dumping the car in the mall parking garage so that I could effect a little tobogganing music?!
Talk about frozen fingers, man was it cold as I deftly snagged a couple
Fun at the Falls
Native Flute in Tunnel Tunnel Improv
I wonder what this scene might look like now in the middle of winter?! I would encourage anyone visiting the Niagara Falls to take the short detour across the border to Goat Island…the American perspective is simply spectacular, and such a contrast to all the pavement on the Canadian side of the falls, such a bore.
Just make sure
Typewriter Concerto
Typewriter Sonata for Solo Typewriter (excerpt)
If it’s been somewhat quiet on the Urban Flute front, I have to cite some unexpected technical difficulties – my Underwood 315 has been in for repairs…haha, just back in action now!
In assembling this post, I had a gut feeling that the common typewriter must surely have been featured as a percussion instrument at some point, perhaps
Farting Around in the Casa Loma Tunnels 2
R09_0267 casa loma horn Paul Horn, Agra
Speaking of tunnels, here is a glimpse of a mysterious tunnel a little closer to home.
Gaining access to the Casa Loma tunnels after hours while there was a movie shoot going on in the horse stables, a few of us had fun, er, horsing around in this creepy space!
If you listen carefully you might even hear the footsteps
Tunnel Acoustics in Nyborg
R09_0541 Francaix, 1st take with Joggers! Francaix Solo Flute
After attending an amazing international flute competition in Odense, I made a stop in Nyborg to check out an intriguing ancient castle. Although the main buildings were closed and undergoing some kind of extreme make-over, I did enjoy walking the grounds and settled on this intriguing tunnel in which to set up and record.
The music of
Warehouse Etude in Denmark
R09_0538 Berbiguier in Warehouse, off rails! Warehouse Etude
At 6 in the morning and over 120 miles outside of Copenhagen last June, I spotted a massive warehouse under construction – how could I resist venturing in?
The acoustics were magical! I guess big box stores aren’t all bad after all…
Happy New Year, Urban Flute Style
laywines-dec-09-2 Aulde Lang Syne (Scotland)
Nothing like a little guerrilla-style performance to round out the year!
Welcome to Laywine’s, the coolest place in Toronto to browse high end fountain pens and any writing or office accessories you might care to imagine. The term stationery shop just doesn’t do this place justice! Tucked discreetly in the heart of historic Yorkville, I had dropped by just
The Farley Mowat
the-song-my-paddle-sings.mp3The Song My Paddle Sings
UPDATE: Here’s an amazing story about a birchbark canoe that was found in amongst junk in a Brithish shed that caught my eye in today’s Globe & Mail. The 250-year old artifact will eventually find a permanent home in The Canadian Canoe Museum, described in this story (see below) originally posted on April 16th, 2008 on Urban Flute Project after I
Starfires & Gospel of Marmalade, Saturday @ C’est what?
Yegelle Tezeta day 3 The Starfires – Yegelle Tezeta
I’ve been jamming with The Starfires since the heady days of early summer, and we’re making some truly incredible, psychedelic sounds – big gig coming up this Saturday, November 27th at C’est what? along Front Street, down near Toronto’s historic St. Lawrence Market, hope you can check it out!
After a summer residency at Somewhere