Echoes From The Mesa

The P Word

2011-10-19T22:05:00.000-07:00

Over the last few years I’ve encountered something that I am never sure how to deal with. It started at the 2009 Zion flute school and has continued ever since. It happens whenever I’m around other flute players that teach. It is always there lurking in the background, but it is something we don’t talk about...

When I first encountered this I was at a loss for words. Or perhaps a better way to say it, is that I was a loss for a specific word. It was the unspoken word. When it came up in discussions with other teachers they all said the same thing, “I don’t say the P word.”

Naturally, I was curious about this because I was also beginning to think that I was crossing a forbidden line whenever I said the P word out loud. So I inquired why they didn’t say it. The answers were all very similar. Basically they would all say:

“The P word scares people.”

“Really?," I would ask, “It seems so normal to me.”

“Seriously, it frightens people,", would be their reply, "students turn white with fear.”

This was a big problem. As a musician I use the P word all the time. All musicians do. Obviously we needed to come up with some euphemisms to say instead of this dreaded word. Several were tossed about: warm-ups and exercises being the most commonly suggested.

From that point on I tried to not say the forbidden P word, but use the more friendly, albeit watered down, substitutes instead. It never felt quite right. Like I was cheating myself and my students. Even while writing my book, The Complete Guide to the Native American Style Flute I wrestled with the question of “can I use the forbidden P word or not?”. In the end I decided I wasn’t fooling anybody, and elected to use it after all.

Yes, I would say the dreaded P word.

For a word that is so avoided and produces such fear it has sure been around for a long time, having its origins in Middle English via Old French. In fact its roots go back to medieval Latin and even farther to the Greek praktike, the feminine of the word praktikos, or practical. In medieval Latin it means to perform, or carry out. I’m not sure why a word that means practical, perform or carry out should instill fear in people. These things certainly don’t scare me. In fact they seem down right sensible.

Nothing worth doing in life comes easily. Everything takes discipline. Learning to talk, being in a relationship, driving, playing sports, raising kids... You name it, it takes a daily repetition of something to become proficient at it.

This is also true when it comes to playing a musical instrument.

So how do you come to terms with the P word? If you ask me, I say you embrace it! Personally, I enjoy practicing. Oops, I said it... Oh well, too late now...

THE ZEN OF PRACTICING
At the root of daily practice is a Zen like peace that comes from every aspect of it. Like meditation, which is also a form of practicing, you gain a daily discipline -which centers your day, relaxes you and gives you a sense of personal growth and accomplishment. On most days you enter a Zen like groove which cleanses your mind of the unnecessary troubles of the day. Instead you turn inward and focus on self growth, awareness and beauty.

Like everything in life, one needs to start out with baby steps. This is true as well with practicing a musical instrument. Don’t tell yourself, “I’m going to practice an hour a day!” You are setting your sights too high, and you’ll be more intimidated and will never even start.

The best way to start is just start. (I told you it was Zen). Set aside twenty minutes every day, at the same time of day. Use this as your excuse for some Me Time. Go to a still place, a quiet room, away from the distractions of life, spouses, kids, TV and Facebook.

For the first ten minutes do the exercises in my book The Complete Guide to the Native American Style Flute. Use a metronome to pace yourself. Set it to a leisurely tempo (speed), say 72 beats per minute. Listen to how closely your playing stays in time with the click of the metronome. This develops an awareness of the music outside of you. A very important skill. It slows down your breathing and allows your mind to let go of worries. You are focused only on the clicks and your fingers.

Don’t try to do all of the exercises. Just pick one or two at first. Play them a few times at the leisurely speed, then move the click up one setting. A little faster. Keep listening, making sure your notes line up with the clicks. The object is not to play fast, but smoothly, and to learn to listen. Music is about listening.

At first this might seem hard. That is normal. But you can find peace in knowing that the days that it seems hard are the days you are really learning. Soon playing the exercises with a click will become effortless and you will play the notes without thinking.

Through discipline comes freedom.

For the second ten minutes put away the metronome and play what comes to you. From the Heart. Your fingers will be nice and warmed up and your thoughts will flow from an open musical mind. In just a matter of weeks you’ll notice that it is much easier to find the notes you hear in your head! Your fingers and mind have grown from the discipline of the exercises, allowing you to play what you feel, without thinking.

This is the fun time. The time to let your self go. When it is combined with the discipline of the exercises you will grow faster as a player. Just doing the exercises, or just noodling around on your flute will not produce the same results. You accelerate your progress and growth by doing them together.

If twenty minutes is too much, do how ever much you can, but do it everyday, at the same time of day. Remember, this is a form of meditation and doing it regularly will speed up your growth and progress, and bring about a sense of peace. Also, other people in your life will come to know that this time is your time and learn to respect it.

Over time, try to extend the amount of time you set aside for practice to thirty minutes. Time just for yourself and your music. Exercises first, then fun. Every day.

You be glad you did and soon you’ll wonder what all the fuss over the P word was all about.

© Cedar Mesa Music, BMI. All rights reserved.

Release Date Announced for "The Complete Guide to the Native American Style Flute"

2011-09-08T13:51:00.000-07:00

The Complete Guide to the Native American Style Flute is Out Now.

To order your copy go to the The Complete Guide to the Native American Style Flute page on the Cedar Mesa Music website.

© Cedar Mesa Music, BMI. All rights reserved.

First check to Leonard McGann

2011-09-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

I sent the first check to Leonard McGann yesterday from sales of "Lone Crow Song". Other payments are being processed and will be mailed soon, as will future sales. To all who have purchased a copy of "Lone Crow Song" thank you for your wonderful support.

© Cedar Mesa Music, BMI. All rights reserved.

Lone Crow Flute

2011-08-25T20:26:00.001-07:00

A Profile of the flute from Lone Crow Song

Part 1 About Leonard
Part 2 About the Flute

Back in 2005, while I was performing in Phoenix at a flute circle on steroids called "Flute Odyssey", I met, and bought a very interesting flute, from Leonard McGann of Lone Crow flutes.

Leonard had traveled all the way from his home in rural Virginia, located on "Difficult Creek Road", to come to the Odyssey. Quite a journey to say the least. I found him to be a kind, warm person, but with a mischievous sense of humor too.

Since then we have stayed in touch and visited during many flute festivals, sharing insights and a few laughs. Okay, a lot of laughs... The most recent event where Leonard and I got to hang out was at the Musical Echoes festival in Florida last May. It was, as always, a lot of fun.

With Leonard McGann at the Flute Odyssey

Then, earlier this summer I learned, with great sadness, that Leonard is very ill. With few exceptions, NAF makers do not make a lot of money, and the sluggish economy has hit them just as hard has it has hit the rest of us. (Us being NAF fans, not Wall Street bankers.) So in addition to dealing with his declining health, he has a mounting pile of medical bills.

Several flute auctions were started to help Leonard with his medical bills, most notability one put together by Randy and Shelly Stenzel of Feather Ridge flutes.

As a recording artist and performer I obviously didn't make flutes that I could donate to the auctions, but I did have the ability to record a song on one of Leonard's flutes. I decided to use the first one I got from him back at the Odyssey gathering. I chose this flute for a number of reasons. For one thing I can’t pick it up and not be reminded of Leonard, but I also chose it because it has a non standard tuning, and I thought that would suit a song written for Leonard. The tuning gives it a unique, one-of-a-kind, quality and Leonard has a unique, one-of-a-kind, quality too!

The resulting song was “Lone Crow Song”. It is available for sale as an MP3 digital download and 100% of the proceeds from all sales of the song go to Leonard to help him and his family deal with his medical bills.

Lone Crow Song

Since it is a very unusual flute I thought it would be interesting to take a look at it in more detail, and that's what this post is all about.

THE LONE CROW FLUTE
The flute that I used to record Lone Crow Song is a six hole Native American style flute, but with a non standard tuning and fingering. Three different scales can be pulled from this instrument making it a fun flute to play, since it has so many notes available to the player. It also sounds great! Clear and sweet.

The Lone Crow Flute

The main scale on the flute is a pentatonic scale, but is not the standard NAF minor pentatonic scale. It has the same notes of that scale, but starts, and ends, one whole step lower. The bottom note is G above middle C and the notes produced are as follows: G-A-C-D-E-G

A standard NAF minor pentatonic with these notes would start, and end on A, and would be look like this: A-C-D-E-G-A

The fingering for this scale is unlike 99% of most NAFs so there is not, to the best of my knowledge, any finger TAB for it. Therefore, to illustrate the fingerings, I will use Xs and Os. An “X” equals a closed finger hole, while an “O” equals an open hole.

THE MAIN “LONE CROW FLUTE” SCALE
Here is the fingering for the main scale with the notes below:

X X X X X O
X X X X O O
X X X O O O
X X O O O O
X X X X X X
X O O O O O
G A C D E G

Although it might look complex all you do is keep the second hole from the bottom covered at all times while opening all the others in succession, starting from the bottom, to play the scale.

Here is a sound sample of this scale:
Lone Crow Flute: Main Scale by Cedar Mesa Music

This scale is called a 1-2-4-5-6 pentatonic scale. Contrary to what you might have heard about such scales, it is not a pentatonic mode. In the larger musical world there are no pentatonic modes. However, it does share all the same notes as the so~called minor pentatonic scale. As we saw earlier, it just starts on a different note, and thus a different root.

The intervals in the scale are: Root, Maj-2nd, 4th, 5th, Maj-6th, Octave.

Notice how the name of the scale 1-2-4-5-6 describes the intervals that are found in the scale.

It is in this scale that I played and wrote “Lone Crow Song”.

THE MINOR PENTATONIC ON A LONE CROW FLUTE
This flute can also play a standard NAF minor pentatonic scale. However, the root note will not longer be the bottom note of G, but will now be the the note a whole step above, which is the pitch A. When playing this scale the flute is now in the key of A.

Here is a fingering chart for the minor pentatonic scale for this flute. Note that in the simplest version of this scale you do not play (close) the bottom hole. The scale starts on the second note (hole) of the flute. The octave (A²) is produced with the fingering shown but the player also has to over blow.

Here is the fingering for the minor pentatonic on this flute, with the notes below:

X X X X O O
X X X O O X
X X O O O X
X O O O O X
X X X X X X
O O O O O O
A C D E G A²

Here is how this scale sounds:
Lone Crow Flute: Min Pentatonic Scale by Cedar Mesa Music

Just like with the main Lone Crow scale, the 2nd hole remains covered at all times. The bottom note really can be played of course, but the root of the scale is still located on the second hole. The A. Like all NAFs in minor pentatonic the intervals are: Root, Min-3rd, 4th, 5th, Min-7th, Octave.

Technically this scale is called a: 1-3-4-5-7 pentatonic scale.

Normally on a typical NAF you could only play one scale and have it be in tune, much less two. But on this ingenious flute we can play another scale! A diatonic major scale.

THE DIATONIC MAJOR SCALE ON A LONE CROW FLUTE
Not only was Leonard able to build this flute with two different pentatonic scales, but he also got a major diatonic scale out of it as well. The so~called “Do-Re-Mi” scale.

Remember, a diatonic scale has seven notes, not just the five found in a pentatonic scale. And to play the diatonic scale on this flute the root note is moved back down to G, the bottom note.

Here is the fingering for the diatonic scale found on this flute. Once again the octave (G²) is overblown:
X X X X X X O X
X X X X X O X X
X X X X O O O X
X X X O O O O X
X X O X X X X X
X O O O O O O X
G A B C D E F G²

Notice how there are two cross fingerings in this scale. The first one happens between notes A and B, the second between notes E and F.

Lone Crow Flute: Major Scale by Cedar Mesa Music

Obviously this is a very complex flute hidden in the simplicity of the NAF design. It is a lot of fun to play and challenges the performer to go farther than the standard minor pentatonic NAF. It’s a lot like Leonard. If you can get your hands on one you'll really enjoy it.

If you would like to help Leonard McGann you can purchase a digital download MP3 copy of Lone Crow Song from the Cedar Mesa Music website. Remember, all proceeds from this song are being donated by Cedar Mesa Music to Leonard.

To purchase your copy click HERE

You can also send donations and cards to Leonard & Kitty McGann at 2534 Difficult Creek Road, Bedford, VA 24523-4542.

© Cedar Mesa Music, BMI. All rights reserved.

Playing NAF Duets

2011-07-05T23:16:00.000-07:00

As always, in deciding what to post to this blog I try to be aware of topics and techniques that people are asking about. One of the topics that I've been asked about a lot lately is “What keys go together well to play duets with my Native American style flute?”

Rather than go through every possible pairing of keys there are a couple very simple ways to figure this out no matter what key your flutes are in.

What keys work best

If you want to play duets, trios, or even quartets, with other flute players the keys of all the flutes need to be related somehow. Keys that are related keys share more notes than unrelated keys and therefore will sound better.

When choosing flutes to play duets with the first step is to pick one NAF as the master, thereby establishing the master key from which to choose other flutes. Once you’ve done this the rest becomes fairly easy. For this post I will also call the master flute: Flute-#1.

In general, to avoid playing too much cross fingering, there are three keys that work the best when picking one to harmonize with Flute #1: The same key, the key a fifth above the master flute, and/or the key a fourth above the master flute.

While this may sound hard, it’s not. Let's start with two flutes a 5th apart.

Finding NAFs a 5th apart
Once you have picked a flute to be Flute-#1, your master flute, you need to figure out what pitch a 5th on that flute is. If you don't know the note names in that key, here's an easy way to locate that pitch you're looking for.

The root of your master flute (Flute-#1) no matter what key you choose, will be fingered like this:
To find the 5th on the master flute play this fingering:

This is the pitch your second flute should play on its bottom note. In other words the bottom note of Flute-#2 plays a pitch a 5th higher than the bottom note on Flute-#1.

To look at it another way, the pitch produced by playing this fingering on the master key flute...
...will be the same pitch as produced by this fingering on a NAF a 5th higher.

This only refers to this one pitch. We will look at how the the scales mesh later in this post.

Here are some common NAF keys that are a 5th apart:
F# - C#, G - D, A - E.
All of these pairs can be in any register. So if you don’t have a high E but do have a mid range E, or even a Bass E it will still work with a flute in the key of A. However, as a general principle, having the flute that is in your master key (Flute-#1) play in a lower register will sound better if you’ve never done this before.

Why This Sounds Good: 5ths
The reason why flutes sound good in these pairing is due to the amount of notes they share. For example flutes that are a 5th apart share all but one note

Key=G	G	Bb	C	D	F	G	-	-	-
Key=D	-	-	-	D	F	G	A	C	D

Out of the six notes available in each NAF's basic scale, four of them can be played by both flutes without any cross fingering.
If we include the note, as shown fingered below, on the second NAF (the one a 5th higher) we can now play the minor 3rd from the master flute on the higher flute. In the example above this would be the Bb flat from the master flute in G, but played on the flute in D. So now we can play that pitch on both flutes! (This is the minor 6th on the flute a 5th higher, but you don't need to know this for it to work.)

Added note on the Flute-#2
Now both flutes can play five of the six total notes available between the two flute's basic scales.

Here's a sample of two NAFs a 5th apart
NAF Duet in 5ths by Cedar Mesa Music
To find out more about all the audio samples in this post be sure to read About the audio samples located at the bottom.

Finding NAFs a 4th apart
Now let's locate the note a 4th above the root of Flute-#1.

Playing this fingering on your master flute...
...will produce the same pitch as the root note on a flute a 4th higher

Here are some common NAF keys that are a 4th apart: F# - B, G - C, A - D.

Why This Sounds Good: 4ths
Just like NAFs that are a 5th apart, NAFs whose keys are a 4th apart share a lot of notes. Out of 7 total pitches the two flutes share 5 of them. If you use all the notes between both flutes you can play a full diatonic natural minor scale starting on the root of Flute-#2, starting on a C.

Key=G	G	Bb	C	D	-	F	G	-	-
Key=C	-	-	C	-	Eb	F	G	Bb	C

When I play duets a 4th apart and am playing Flute-#2 I tend to not play the minor 3rd (the second note on a NAF) but just skip over it. I also like to add the major 6th, for a little spice, which you can get with this fingering

Added note on the flute #2

NAF Duet 4ths by Cedar Mesa Music

"Say What..."
Now let's get a bit clever. If you take a close look at the diagram that compares notes in the key of G and the key of C you might have already figured out that if two players decide that they would rather make the bottom note of Flute-#2 the tonic of the key they are playing in that will make the relationship between the two flutes a 5th.

How does this work, you may be asking? Scales in western music are not divided evenly in half. The bottom half of the scale is the interval of a 5th, while the top half is a 4th.

Therefore, if you and another NAF player decide to play flutes a 5th apart, but the flute used for Flute-#2 is lower than Flute-#1 you could say you are playing a 4th apart! What will determine whether the relationship between the two flutes is a 4th or a 5th is which note is functioning as the root for both flutes. In both of the audio samples in this post the lower flute, Flute-#1, has always played the master root note for both flutes. Therefore the higher flute, Flute-#2, has had to conform to the lower flute's key in each example.

Let's look at this another way. If the notes F# - B are a 4th apart, when you reverse them, B - F# they are now a 5th apart. Conversely if the notes F# - C# are a 5th apart, when you reverse them to C# - F# they are now a 4th apart.

About the Audio Samples
The audio samples were recorded with a Heartsongs flute in the key of D for Flute-#1. One track was used for both samples, e.g. they are the same recording. Above this are a Yazzie flute in A for the sample of two flutes a 5th apart and another Heartsongs flute in G for the sample of the flutes a 4th apart.

I chose to make the master flute, Flute-#1, in D to keep both the second flutes from being too high.

The Three Flutes

© Cedar Mesa Music, BMI. All rights reserved.

Cedar Mesa Music Digital Store Open!

2011-06-07T17:52:00.000-07:00

The NEW Digital Store is open on CedarMesa.com.

Now you can purchase high quality MP3 files of Scott August's recordings directly from his website!

Click the image below to get started

Why would you give your money to Steve Jobs & Apple (or Amazon) when you can buy direct from the artist?

Two Festivals and a School

2011-04-14T01:12:00.000-07:00

Things are gearing up for a busy May in the Native Flute world. The Musical Echoes festival and Zion flute festivals are coming up as is the Zion flute school.

If you are planning to attend any of these events I am available for private lessons on Native American style flutes (all levels) and Anasazi, Mojave and other end-blown flutes. Some people have already contacted me to set up lessons so my schedule is starting to book up. If you are interested in a private lesson please contact me as soon as you can to set one up. Space is limited.

I will also be performing at both festivals and teaching the Anasazi style flute workshop at the Zion flute school. Here are the dates for these events:

Musical Echoes Flute Festival
April 29 - 30, May 1, 2011
Ft. Walton Landing, Ft. Walton Beach, FL
musicalechoes.org

Zion Canyon Native Flute School
May 8 - 12, 2011
PO Box 362, Springdale, UT 84767
( 435 ) 772 - 0778
zioncanyonnativefluteschool.com

Zion Flute Festival
May 12 - 14, 2011
Springdale, UT 84767
zionflutefestivalcom

Even if you can't make it to any of these events you can always get a lesson online. All levels are welcome. There is no minimum number of lessons needed. You can take just one, do one a week, or anything in between. You don't even have to live in the United States. (Two of my student don't) Find out more

NAF Note Finder

2011-03-15T23:53:00.000-07:00

I get questions from NAF player frequently and many times they are about what notes can be found in a particular key. This is good to know on a lot of levels. Including figuring out harmony, playing with other flutes or other instruments and figuring out different scales on the same flute.

To help you figure out what notes are on your Native American style flutes here is a quick cheat sheet showing the notes of the pentatonic scale of several common keys. This is not all the notes, just the ones you get in a standard pentatonic fingering.

Key of A: A, C, D, E, G, A octave

Key of G: G, Bb, C, D, F, G octave

Key of F#: F#, A, B, C#, E, F# octave

Key of F: F, Ab, Bb, C, Eb, F octave

Key of E: E, G, A, B, D, E octave

Key of D: D, F, G, A, C, D octave

Key of C: C, Eb, F, G, Bb, C octave

Key of Bb: B b, Db, Eb, F, Ab, Bb octave

If you are new to Native American flutes you might find it helpful to review How to Play your First Scale.

More articles about scales and keys

When I get a chance I'll try to lay this out better.

© 2011 Cedar Mesa Music

Shadows of Sedona / Quiet Journey

2011-03-05T14:55:00.000-08:00

A new video set to my song "Quiet Journey" for Anasazi flute, featuring time lapse video of Sedona, AZ.

Buy this song Here

Radiant Sky nominated for Best Album of the Year

2011-02-13T14:32:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Scott August!
from Cedar Mesa Music

Radiant Sky

Nominated for two ZMR Awards!
Best Album of the Year &
Best Native New Age Album

Read more

NAF Major Scale Fingering

2011-02-12T18:28:00.000-08:00

In all of the previous articles about scales we've delved a little bit into how major diatonic scales are constructed but not how to play them.Some of my students asked me recently about how a major scale would be fingered so I thought I'd make this available to everyone.
The first thing to remember is that the basic scale on a NAF is a 5-note, or pentatonic 1-3-4-5-7 scale. The so-called "Minor Pentatonic". Although for most of you this is common knowledge, it's worth pointing it out since any full diatonic (7-note) major scale will have to have crossed fingering.

THE MINOR PENTATONIC SCALE
Very quickly let's review the NAF Minor Pentatonic scale. As most of you know, this is pretty easy to play. Starting with all the holes covered you lift one finger at a time beginning with the bottom finger, working your way up the flute, but never lifting the 4th hole from the bottom. In this scale it always stays covered.
A 6-NOTE MAJOR SCALE
If we want to play a Major scale starting on the root note of the flute (all holes covered) we can only get a partial 6-note major scale.

Read the full article and see the finger charts

Video Blog: Butch Hall high E NAF

2010-11-11T20:17:00.000-08:00

Here is a video blog post about a high E NAF by Butch Hall

For more information visit the makers page on scottaugust.com

To see and hear more flutes

Canyon Echo part 1

2010-08-31T22:55:00.000-07:00

In my last post we looked at how to purchase a microphone. For this next post I was going talk about the next step after that: mic preamps, cables and setting a good level for your recording. But there seems to be a fair amount of buzz out there about how to get Canyon Echo that great extra treatment that gives many NAF recordings their sense of space. Along with this buzz there is also a lot of misinformation.

For example I heard the following story from a flute maker. It seems another flute maker had posted a new flute on his website along with some sound samples. There were two of them and they both used the same flute recording. The first one did not have any effects, what is called dry, in our case no Canyon Echo. The second sound sample was the same music but with some Canyon Echo added to it to make the flute sound a little nicer. The next day a customer called the flute maker to purchase the flute, but he wanted the one with the "Canyon Echo Option". He thought that the echo was built into the flute...

The truth is that the canyon echo that gives so many flute recordings such a great sound is added to the sound of the flute by devices that modify it electronically or digitally, thereby replicating physical spaces. These effects are really called Reverb, Delay or Echo, depending on which one is being used. You hear these effects on all types music produced in the last 40 or more years, and on all the different instruments on those recordings: vocals, guitars, drums, keyboards, saxophones, etc, not just Native flutes. Also these effects are never referred to in the larger music world as Canyon Echo. So from now on I won't call it that either. Regardless of what you call it, what we are going to do in the next few posts is look at how these effects work, and how to add them to your flute sound. Something you can do whether you play at home, in the studio or on a stage.

Before we dive in it will help if you understand a little about each of the three effects we are going to deal with: reverb, delay and echo, what they do to the sound, how they differ from one another, and then finally how you can add them to the sound of your flutes. This basic explanation will make every thing clearer and easier to understand. I'm going to do this with one post for reverb and another for delay and echo. Let's start with reverb.

Reverb
Reverbis that extra part of the sound that originally came from the place or "space" in which the sound was performed and heard. Reverb is short for the term Reverberation.

Read the full article HERE

Flute Quest festival 2010

2010-08-25T11:47:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Flute Quest and thought I'd talk a little about my experience at the festival. Sorry I don't have any photos. There are some in the forum from the event. I'll put a link at the end of this post.

I flew into Sea-Tac airport last Thursday, August 19th after a two hour flight from LAX. Ironically from the side of the jet that I was on I could see Yosemite National Park, near where the Yosemite Flute Festival will be happening next month. We also flew over Lake Tahoe, Crater Lake, Mt. Hood, Mt Saint Helens and the ginormous Mt. Rainier, which poked it's cone above the clouds that obscured the ground below. At the last moment as we descended toward the airport we broke through the cloud cover and there below us was downtown Seattle, the Space Needle, the waterfront and beautiful Puget Sound.

Waiting for me as I approached the luggage carousel was Chris and Carole. Two volunteers that had the task of driving me around. (I am not using last names to protect the innocent.) They helped me get my bag and then took me out to a nice lunch of fish and chips at a restaurant on the water in the town of Des Monies. Then it was off to see the festival's day ground in Saltwater State Park.

The Site
Saltwater State Park lies in a tiny canyon created by the McSorley creek. This made the area nice and tucked away from the rest of the world. The steep hillsides that lined the valley were tree covered and the valley itself emptied into Puget Sound at a lovely sand covered beach lined with cool sun bleached driftwood logs. Just a few yards inland from this was the park. A nice grassy park with big shade trees, now lined with the white booths of vendors. There was Butch and Laura Hall, Nash, Tom Steward, Michael Graham Allen, Brent Haines, Rick and Linda of Vision Hawk with their two new puppies Chaco and Pecos and many more. In fact there were so great vendors I never made it to all their booths when I had the time between workshops. Finally, there were some great food vendors. Los Agaves had really authentic taco and other Mexican food and the doughnut vendors whose fresh little doughnuts I'll be thinking about for a while!

Set in one corner was a very nice, large stage for day performers. The whole festival was laid out well. It was big but intimate at the same time. As a cornerstone to the event was the WA Flute Circle booth, the hosts and facilitator of Flute Quest. I got a chance to say Hi to Lisa, who was my point person for the event and did so much of the publicity and arrangements for the festival. I also met many of the volunteers who's hard work and dedication was making this all possible. Later that night everyone there was invited to a get together of food, including some great chicken and salmon. Then it was off to the hotel to rest before the first day.

Day 1
The first day of the festival was nice and cool. A perfect break from the heat of LA. Up first for me was a workshop on the Anasazi flute. I had at least 10 people attending and they all did great! Everyone, from the more experienced to the beginner, got a tone. We went over ways to help get a sound, exercises to improve one's tone and looked at three of this flute scales. I felt everyone did very well and hope they all keep playing, especially those that had less experience. After the workshop I gave a couple private lessons right by the water. It was really one of the most picturesque setting I've ever given a lesson in. Not unlike Musical Echoes, with the water right there.

Before I knew it, it was time to get to the Knutzen Family Theatre where the evening concerts were to be. There I meet Laura, Steve, Amy and Bret who helped myself and Rona Yellow Robe set up and get our "act" together. The venue was really nice. It held 250 persons but was still very intimate in it's layout. The seats come right down to the stage. Both Rona and myself had video presentations for our respective sets and the screen was very big, while the lighting could still be put on both of us during our performances. Most venues only have a strip of lights and either I'm in the dark or the screen is washed out. So this was a welcome perk.

There was a great audience that night. Very enthusiastic and warm. I had a great time during my performance and with the great feedback coming from the crowd I really got into the music. I don't know if anyone got photos of my performance, but if they did I'd love to see them.

Day 2
The second day I had the first of a two part Songwriting/Improvisation workshop. We began by talking about one of the more common ways to quickly come up with a tune by using building blocks derived from the very first notes that come out of your flute. We also discussed how to balance new musical thoughts with repeated ones and some of the basic shapes that a melody can take. I enjoy giving this workshop as a lot of people think that writing a song for their flute is a big giant challenge. But it's really not if you know how to break it down into small components.

After the workshop I gave a couple lessons and sat at the table where the artists could sell their stuff. That gave me the chance to meet some people and talk a little with them.

That night was Joe Young and Mary Youngblood's performances.

Day 3
The last day had a little drizzle in the morning but the sun broke through by the middle of the day. For me it was part two of my Songwriting/Improvisation workshop. We continued where we left off and expanded the small melody that we looked at the day before into a full, short tune for NAF. We also talked a little about rhythm and tempo, and more ways to easily grow ideas into full songs. All the while I was illustrating the concepts on a white board, which, as is normally the case, became a big messy doodle. Some mention was also made about northern Kokopellis vs. southern ones but we won't talk about that here...

Seattle
When the festival ended at 3 pm Joe, his wife LaRee, Ken, our friend Sharon, (who was kind enough to help me sell my CDs during my performance) and myself went off to Seattle to visit Pike Place Market, the Experience Music Project and the Space Needle. We had a great time even though Lark in the Morning has closed the store in Pike's Place. I also wanted to visit the original Starbucks store too. A pilgrimage for my caffeine habit. There were a lot of very talented and unusual musicians playing throughout the market. The Experience Music Project was interesting especially if you're into electric guitar. There is also a Sci-Fi museum in the building too. The big bummer, for me anyway, was that the Space Needle was closed for a private event! Maybe next trip.

I posted a few photos on flicker

Here are the photos from others in a forum on the portal

© Cedar Mesa Music

How to Buy a Microphone

2010-08-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

The Beginners Guide to Buying a Microphone

Of all the emails I get with questions about Native American flutes one of the most common is about what kind of microphone to use for the Native flute. Even if you're not recording a microphone can be used for amplifying your sound when you're playing live. Therefore knowing a little about mics and how you are going to use them will help you decide what kind of mic to purchase

There are two basic type of microphones. But before we get into them and look at how they are different, let's talk about how they are the same: The patterns in which they pick up sound. When I say pattern I'm talking about the shape that we use to represent the direction in which they will pick up a sound. There are a number of patterns but we'll look briefly at three: Cardioid, Bi-Directional or Figure Eight, and Omnidirectional. Some microphones will only use one of these patterns, but many have a switch that lets you choose which one you want to use.

Omnidirectional
The easiest to understand is Omnidirectional. Omni is Latin for all. So an Omnidirectional mic picks up sounds from all directions. No matter where the sound source is in relationship to the mic, it will be picked up equally.

Bi-Directional
Bi-Directional, or figure eight means that the mic will pick up sounds coming from both the front of the mic and the rear, but not the sides. This pattern when plotted on a graph looks like a figure 8, with the mic being in the middle of the two circles that make up the number 8.

Cardioid
A mic with a Cardioid pattern picks up sounds only from in front of it and just a little to the sides if the sound is near the mic. The pattern on a graph for this type of mic looks like a heart, or in truth more like a the outline of a plum. The mic is by the two upper lobes of heart.

If you're interested in seeing what these patterns look like on a graph you can find them here. You'll notice other patterns that we haven't covered here. But these are variations on these three basic types.

Native Flutes = Cardioid
For the most part, when talking about Native flutes, you'll want to use a mic with a cardioid pattern. You'll be playing in front of the mic and really don't want any other sounds to be picked up from the sides or back.

Different Types of Microphones
So now that we've looked at how mics are similar, let's look at how they are different. There are several different types of microphones but for the Native flute there are really only two that you'll need to worry about: Dynamic and Condenser. I'm not going to go into how these two types of microphones work, but rather talk about how they are used. If you want to know more about the circuitry involved there is a lot of information out there. You don't need to know this to use a mic. Let's look at dynamic mics first.

Dynamic Microphones
Dynamic mics are the types of microphones you see on a live stage. Singers use them on stage, as do instruments that need to be mic'd. They are, for the most part, inexpensive, can take a beating, and don't feedback as easily as Condenser mics. A decent, all purpose, dynamic mic can be purchased for $100 - $150. Dynamic microphones generally only come with a cardioid patter.

When playing a Native flute into a dynamic mic you want to get the flute's true sound hole, the one in front of the block, right up to the microphone. This is due to the fact that these mics don't pick up sounds that are not right next to them. (This is why they are harder to feed back)
Notice in the photo to the right how I'm trying to get the true sound hole as close to the mic as I can.

One of the reasons why these mics will not pick up sounds that are not close to them is because they are not as sensitive as condenser mics. This also applies to the range of frequencies they will, and will not pick up. As a general rule dynamic microphones will not pick up sounds that are very low in pitch e.g. low frequencies, or ones that are very high in pitch, e.g. high frequencies. Where they start to not pick up high and low frequencies will give each manufacture's model it's characteristic sound. (BTW a graph showing how a mic picks up certain frequencies is called a frequency response curve)

For the most part this lack of sensitivity really isn't a problem where Native flutes are concerned, due to these flutes limited range. Even if you take into consideration low bass flutes and super high flutes, which are well within the average dynamic microphone's frequency response curve.

I use a dynamic microphone when I perform live. How did I pick the mic I use? I didn't really. I just use the mic that came with my Fender Passport PA system. Why go out and buy another mic when the one that came with the PA works just fine? In fact I know that the mic's inability to reproduce really high frequencies works in my favor in that it acts like a filter on any high, breathy, windy or buzzy sounds coming from the flute. Noise that I would filter out anyway!

Condenser Microphones
Condenser microphones are more common for studio recording. Their electronics work in a different way than dynamic mics and are therefore more sensitive. This means that they will pick up sounds from farther away, that are quieter and very low or high in frequencies. Condenser microphones need to be powered, either by a battery in the mic capsule, or generally from the mic pre-amp. This external power is known as phantom power. Most mixing boards and digital I/Os have phantom power built into their pre-amps.

Unlike a dynamic mic, when playing into a condenser mic the sound source, in our case a Native flute, does not need to be right next to the microphone. In fact anything closer then 12" - 18" will over power the mic and cause distortion. It will also pick up noise from your lips and fingers moving. For Native flutes the best way to go is to have the mic in a shock-mount placed in front and above the flute at a 45˚ angle. It's very common to have the mic hanging upside down when recording this way.
The photo above shows my condenser microphone in it's shock-mount hanging upside down. This is a side view. The front of the mic is to the right.

I use an Audio Technica 4050 for 99% of my studio recording work. I asked several audio engineers what they would recommend for a good, reasonably priced, all purpose instrument mic and this was one of their recommendations. So far I've used it on all of my studio recordings except for a few tracks and have found it to be an excellent mic. When I bought it they cost about $750. They seem to have come down since then. But there are any number of good, reasonably priced mics out there if this is beyond what your budget will allow.

You might be asking yourself, "What mic did he use for the other 1% of his studio recording?" Well on a couple tunes that used a double flute I used a stereo mic, (which I'm not sure gave me the results I was looking for) and on a couple others I used a dynamic mic that was designed for drums! No one has ever mentioned that they can tell the difference and this doesn't surprise me. By the time you do some filtering, a touch of compression and add all the echo and reverb most people can't tell. But leads to another question...

How do you pick a mic for yourself?
So now that I've thrown all this information at you how do you wade through it all an pick a microphone for yourself? The truth is there are a few really easy ways to pick one. They aren't rules necessarily, they're more like guidelines...

1. Where will you use a mic the most?
In the studio or on the stage? If you're going to use it mostly in the studio then you might strongly consider a condenser mic. For anything else, stage, flute circles, family outings, public appearances, Madison Square Gardens..., then get a dynamic mic. It would be wise to not take a condenser mic onto a live stage. It can be done, but It's not worth all the extra hassles and it will pick up every little noise anyone even close to you makes. And that includes your noises as well...

2. What's your budget like?
If you don't have a lot of money you're better off with a good dynamic mic. That way you'll have money for a mic stand, cables and all the other gear the mic plugs into.

3. How quiet is your space?
If you plan to use a mic for only studio recording and your studio is your bedroom, how much unwanted noise is there? If you can't record yourself in a very quiet place then a condenser mic will pick up all sorts of unwanted noise. Computer fans, cars, planes, garbage trucks, neighbors yelling, dogs barking, phones ringing, your spouse / roommate flushing the toilet, the washing machine, birds, loud bees... Better to use a dynamic microphone that won't pick up all these noises. Unless of course you're doing some "Avant-garde, urban noise & flute recording".

I record my live instruments in a walk-in closet with acoustic foam covering the walls. I generally turn off all the phones (which, as my friends know, I rarely answer anyway), and even have my computer in an isolation box to damp down the fan noise. Trust me, when recording, not much is as anonying as unwanted noise that you can't get rid of.

Finally, the last thing to consider is that better equipment doesn't always make for a better recording. Why would I say that? Well what if you purchased some $5,000 microphone (yes, some cost that much) and when you record your flute you hear all this ugly stuff, like wind, buzz and air, in the recording that you don't like? Now you're just going to have to figure out a way to get rid of it. Maybe a less sensitive microphone wouldn't have picked up all that junk in the first place.

Keep in mind that the sound of the flute we hear in our head is not the same as the sound the mic hears. Our brains unconsciously and automatically filter out a lot of wind, air, buzz, fuzz, and other noises from the flute. A mic does not. It's kind of like hearing a recording of your voice. And you love how much your voice sounds... Right?

So if you aren't familiar with how sound works, and how to manipulate it through devices such as EQ, maybe you don't need that state-of-the-art microphone. Maybe an inexpensive dynamic mic is best for your needs and experience. You can always upgrade later.

...Plus, with a "cheaper" microphone, if your playing isn't all that great you can always blame the mic...

Happy Recording!

© Cedar Mesa Music. All rights reserved.

Silent Mystery

2010-08-02T12:12:00.000-07:00

A new Anasazi flute song

Peru Journals Part 7 An Inca House: Ollantaytambo

2010-06-12T20:47:00.000-07:00

Like most people, when I think of Peru the first thing that comes to mind is Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas. That began to change with my visit to Pisac, and then became permanent with our visit Ollantaytambo (o-yawn-tay-tam-bo). Set into the hills at the northern end of the Sacred Valley Ollantaytambo is a powerful and impressive fortress that dominates the surrounding area.

Ollantaytambo
Click to enlarge

Ollantaytambo is about 47 miles from Cuzco, at an altitude of 8850'. Like Pisac, the old Inca town is situated above the colonial town, which itself dates back to Incan times. The word Ollantaytambo is a compound Quechua word. Tambo the word for a town that offers rest and lodging along a road.

Ollantaytambo was a important walled and fortified city. It controlled the road that lead north along the Urubamba river toward the Amazon region. This area, which the Inca called Antisuyo is where the modern name Andes comes from and was one of the four quarters of the Inca world. The people of the Amazon jungle, the Antis were one of the biggest enemies of the Inca. The road also brought many desirable items too. Fruits of all kinds and Coco leaves, which would not grow in the higher altitudes of the Inca homeland.

Urban Ollantaytambo
Click to enlarge

In the hills above the town are the terraces of Ollantaytambo and a massive Sun Temple. Down below, in the part of the city that is still lived in, was the Urban sector. Laid out in a typical Incan grid, this is the only place in Peru where one can still see people living in buildings that were used as homes in Incan times. The narrow streets still have their water channels and water still flows in them, although not while we were there. For some reason that even our guide didn't know, they were not flowing that day.

An Inca street, Ollantaytambo
Click to enlarge

Our first stop was to a historic Inca house down one of these narrow Inca streets. We headed down the street aways from the plaza and, as always were mobbed by vendors, mostly women and girls, selling their wares. I bought a knit cap with some llamas in the design and the distinctive Andean ear flaps.

The Plaza, Ollantaytambo
Click to enlarge

As we got farther away from the plaza, and closer to the Inca house, the street got quieter until the only other non-tourist in it was a young girl in traditional costume headed to the plaza to pose for tourist photos. I thought the Inca street would make for a nice location for a photo of her and gave her a Sol to take a couple shots.

A young Quechuan girl, Ollantaytambo
Click to enlarge

Her hat, like all the traditional hats, indicated where she was from. Like most Quecha people, she was quiet, somewhat shy, but very polite. It struck me, how different we must seem to her, as she does to us. What must she make of the throngs of tourists that flock to her town and get excited by her traditional clothing. "Does she go home at night and put on jeans and listen to her iPod", Claire wondered out loud? A good question.

As we would find out that night, during our private dinner in a Quechan home, while we as tourists marvel at the beauty of the landscape, the strong cultural tradition, and allow ourselves to wonder if their life, closer to the rhythms of the earth, is richer than ours. But the truth is their lives are hard, rough and full of struggle. While we as tourists dream of a more "spiritual" lifestyle they want what we have. Cars, TVs, better health care, decent food, a clean, safe environment, a better life for their children.

If we dream and wonder about their lives, they dream and wonder about ours.

I witness this all the time while I'm traveling through the American Southwest. Tourists come from all over the world to see Native Americans, fascinated by their culture and thinking that the Native cultures have the answer to our fast paced modern lives. They want to take an Indian name, do a sweat, and witness a ceremony. They dream of a life closer to the earth, in tune with nature. All the more ironic as our ancestors worked hard to create a life away from nature. Houses, roads, cars, etc. A life sheltered and protected from the elements. The history of most of human kind, especially western culture, has been to create a world of comfort and safety. Yet for some, when they attain that, they think that something is missing in their lives. Maybe it is. I guess each person needs to answer that for themselves.

I too have fallen into the myth of the indigenous life. During my time in Peru my senses were overwhelmed with the sights, sounds and smells of a unknown, exotic culture. But everyday I saw something that made me realize how lucky I am to have the life that my culture provides. Nevertheless, this did not diminish my respect and admiration for the people and culture I was visiting. Their culture has a richness and an authenticity that our modern, mass produced world lacks. But I still want my Starbucks...as it were.

When we reached or destination, the Inca house or wasi, this contrast of life styles was all brought into sharp focus as we laid eyes on their kitchen.

A traditional Inca kitchen in modern Ollantaytambo
Click to enlarge

Just like the Chicha house, this home contained a very primitive kitchen. In fact more primitive. There wasn't even a small gas stove here. Just wood burning. Huddled up next to the right side was a brown and white Guinea Pig.

The house was part of a larger, traditional compound called a kancha. Most kanchas come in pairs that open onto a common courtyard or patio. The whole compound is walled off from the street, accessed through a small doorway.

The home we were visiting was just one large room. There was very little furniture. The bed was just a pile of blankets on a platform raised off the floor. The floor was the domain of guinea pigs, or cuy which wandered around, busily eating, having no knowledge of their fate. (Where as we humans do, of course...)

Guinea Pigs or CuyClick to enlarge

Laid out next to the wood stove were some common kitchen items and other things arranged for us to see. Different potatoes, corn a couch shell trumpet and other items.

Kitchen stuff
Click to enlarge
Above this, set in a niche in the wall were two skulls from the ancestors of the home's current occupants.

Ancestral SkullsClick to enlarge

Hanging from the roof beams in a bundle of other items was one of the most unusual things we saw in Peru. Unusual to us, anyway. This was the fetus of a Llama. In Prehispanic times the Inca sacrificed llamas to their Gods. These days their fetus are still used as an offering to the Mother Earth, Pachamama. They are buried under the foundation of a building before it goes up, for blessings of health, safety, happiness, wealth and fertility.A Llama fetus
Click to enlarge

The wing of a condor hung on the west wall.

A Condor Wing
Click to enlarge

To end this post I'm going to let our guide, Fredy, talk about some of the items in the house via an amazingly high quality video clip...

Next we'll take a look at the upper section of Ollantaytambo, with its towering terraces, double-jam doorways and Sun Temple.

All text, images and video © 2010 Scott August / Cedar Mesa Music. All rights reserved.

Previous Peru Journals
Part 1: "Journey to Peru"
Part 2: "Lost in Translation"
Part 3: "Flight of the (Silver) Condor"
Part 4: Inca Pisac
Part 5: The Pisac Market
Part 6: Corn Beer and River Rafting

Another Path: Improvisation for Mojave Flute

2010-06-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of a Mojave flute solo improvisation I gave at a bookstore last month.

The piece is called Another Path

© 2010 Cedar Mesa Music, BMI

Panorama Readers Award

2010-05-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

The last time I talked about how to run an Artist Owned record label I talked about tracking sales and managing your inventory. I also talked about the app that I use to do that: Panorama by Provue Development. You can read about that here.

I found out today that Panorama is up for an Ars Design Award. Not only that but they are also allowing the public to vote. Like Cedar Mesa Music, Provue is a little company and needs our support. If you are a fan of my music go over to the Ars Design Award webpage and vote for Panorama. You don't have to register or sign up for anything. Plus you can vote once a day, per computer till May 30th, 2010.

Thanks!

Musical Echoes 2010, Day 1

2010-04-29T17:06:00.001-07:00

I just got back from Musical Echoes in Florida a couple days ago. This was my first time there and I had a wonderful time. This trip included a lot of "firsts" for me and I thought I'd share some of the weekend with everyone.

As always, the days leading up to a trip to perform are always busy. This is more so when I'm not driving as I have to figure out how to get all my stuff to the location. The week before I shipped product, forgetting to pack my Anasazi book. Then I had to borrow a better suitcase so my shirts and coats wouldn't get too wrinkled. They always do anyway.

The next morning when we arrived at the terminal the TSA line snaked back and forth in a landing above the ticket counter, out the door down to the next terminal and then doubled back on itself. I thought sure I was going to miss my flight. However after spending over an hour in the line I made it to the gate just as boarding started.

I had to stop at DFW, which was much easier to deal with than LAX even though I'd never been there before. They had a train that connects all the terminals like a lot of newer airports. From DFW I boarded a 50 seat jet and head to Ft. Walton Beach.

As I headed toward the baggage claim area there was my "ride", David waiting for me. David is one of the organizers and I liked him right away. A musician himself, he had a strong southern accent and welcomed me to "LA"

"LA?", I replied in confusion.

"Yeah, Lower Alabama, that's what we call it down here".

I felt right at home.

We drove by the park where the festival is held, right on the water of a channel behind a barrier island. I met the sound guy and some others. Everyone was really friendly. Then he dropped me off at my room, which was too nice for the likes of me, and said to call when I needed a ride in the morning. I grabbed a bite for dinner, read some of the book I brought and went to bed. It had been a long day.

The next morning I woke to clear, sunny skies. I grabbed some breakfast at a Waffle House (another first) and then David swung by to take me to the festival.

There I met Dave McCullen in person, we had only dealt online before (another first). Dave, for those of you that don't know, makes amazing PVC rim blown and oblique blown flutes. He has been doing so for a long time. Second perhaps to Michael Graham Allen. I have one of his PVC Hopi flutes. He doesn't sell flutes, but gives them to those lucky few. He works under the name Warrior Wind Flutes. While we were talking I was expressing how lame I felt since I hadn't shipped a blanket for my table. Dave said he could get one and took off. He returned about five minutes later with a really nice blue fleece with a "Native" design on it. When I asked who let him borrow it he replied "I bought it for you". I was so touched, but insisted that I pay him back. He took the money I gave him and promptly bought a copy of Radiant Sky from me! He later came by the both with a Ney and a Kaval. Several of us were lucky enough to get flutes by him. What a treat. I got a Ney and a Kaval and another Hopi flute and an oblique blown flute with a NAF tuning. The last two I can play, the Ney and Kaval, not yet.

Mark Holland had a booth near mine, Jeff Ball showed up later and set up next to me. Also there was Jonny Lipford and Michael Searching Bear. I'd met Jeff and Mark and Jonny before. Jeff I've been lucky to know since 2002 and Mark I met in 2007 I think. They are both great guys and as we all know great flute players. Jonny I meet at the last INAFA convention. He's really coming up with his career and I hoped to get a chance to talk to him sometime during the weekend.

During the day there was a flute competition and then the performing began. All this time the nice sunny sky was becoming darker and darker, the air turned cold and rain threaten to start. I took the stage at 6 PM and as I was playing I could see lightening to the west. It started to drizzle. The sound guy, Bob, told me to keep playing while they dismantled the lights in front of the stage and the speaker stacks. I slogged on as best I could as the lightening got closer, thunder started to clap, the rain increased, and the sound guys yelled back and forth as they lowered the lights in front of me. Finally the rain got so hard it was time to shut everything down. Even with all the commotion I felt lucky. At least I got to play. All of the evening performances were canceled. Once I stopped the brave few that were still in the audience rushed for cover and we all headed out.

Performing during the lightening, thunder and rain
Photo by Cynthia McDonald

The lightening storm was amazing. I don't think I've ever seen so much lightening in one storm. We don't get a lot in LA. A bunch of us went to dinner. Myself, Katy Owen, Deborah Peterson, Lynn Lipford, Michael Searching Bear and his band, and the 2nd place winner of the flute competition, Traci Conley Junge and her family, were just part of the group. While at dinner Katy told us that she'd been hit by lightening three times!

We all hoped for better weather the next day...

Anasazi Flute Duet Video

2010-04-21T00:37:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of me playing both parts of an Anasazi flute duet.

This is is a G Anasazi by Earth Tone Flutes recorded live on March 12, 2010 in Orange County, CA. I recorded the first pass and then looped it back to play a second part against it. This was all done in real time using Digital Performer.

For more information about these flutes check out my articles. To learn how to play one purchase my Complete Guide to the Anasazi Flute

© Cedar Mesa Music. All rights reservered.

Echoes Radio Interview

2010-04-08T17:20:00.000-07:00

ECHOES RADIO INTERVIEW
Echoes Radio is going to be airing an interview with me next week. They posted a teaser on their blog today. It will focus on my latest release Radiant Sky, but include thoughts about all my music.

Their interview will air on Monday April 12th and the weekend of April 17th. To find out if you can get Echoes where you are check out their list of stations.

Chasing the Sun live video

2010-03-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

I just sent out a notice to my Emailing List regarding a video I just posted of "Chasing the Sun" from Lost Canyons performed live on March 12th, 2010.

If you are a member of my list keep an eye out for that notice, or visit the Member's Page to find the link.

If you're not a member but would like to be you can sign up here.

In Harmony,
Scott August

Santa Fe from Radiant Sky. A closer look.

2010-03-01T23:35:00.000-08:00

The song Santa Fe, track 5 from Radiant Sky, is the only piece on that release which features a Native American Style flute. This is accompanied by a lot of world instruments: Kalimba, Javanese gongs, Gamelan, Ouds and tons of world percussion. Since the flute plays a prominent part in this tune we'll take a closer look at it here.

THE FLUTE
The flute is a NAF in the key of G minor pentatonic, made of aspen wood by JP Gomez. of Heartsong Flutes This is one of my favorite flutes. It was one of the first ones I got from J.P. and is still my "go to" flute in that key. Here is a photo of me performing "Heart of the Sky" at the 2006 Zion flute festival.

I can say without hesitation that JP's flutes are some of the finest flutes out there. His sound is clear and sings, the finger holes are well placed to be very comfortable and, in my experience, they are always in tune. Now I must admit that even though I've owned this flute for some time and perform live on it every show, until Santa Fe I had not recorded it yet. This did not have anything to do with the flute, but that I wasn't writing songs for NAF much at the time, and not in the key of G. So when I began to sketch out the ideas for Santa Fe I did so with this flute in mind.

THE TUNES
There are about five tunes, or themes in Santa Fe. The rhythmic intro, the three flute themes and the recurring oud/piano breaks. Everything bounces along at a nice toe-tapping tempo and there is a lot of interplay between the instruments. For most NAF lovers however, the flute melodies are the main element that grabs the listener. Rightly so, as it plays the main tunes.

There is a lot of syncopation in the first theme. The clipped duration on the notes throughout the tune accentuate this. The second theme is more driving, although with still a lot of syncopation. The third flute theme is more soaring, with lots of trills and turns. The flute themes are in an AABBCCBBA form. We could simplify this as ABCBA just make it a little easier to get our minds around it. This simplified form, however, does not take the other themes into account, so the piece is slightly more complex.

The first A theme starts at Measure 24, the second at measure 57. Then we hear the B theme at measure 75, the second statement at measure 87. Then at measure 95 we hear the C theme. From that point on it should be pretty easy to hear the different themes.

Here is a sample from Santa Fe with the first NAF A theme and a little of the Oud/Piano theme, or interlude.

Each time a theme occurs there is a small amount of variation. This is either a change of the notes in the tune itself or a change of what is accompanying it, or both. Sometimes new material is added, sometimes exsiting material is removed, or, again, sometimes both happen. It can be really subtle, but the listener notices on some unconscious level. There are no rules.

THE NAF SCORE
For a while now people have been asking me if I'm ever going to publish some of my music in a song book.
This happens to be an ongoing goal of mine, especially the tunes from New Fire. I don't have "release" date, and am not even sure if the demand is high enough to justify it. The work is very time intensive and, up until recently, required the use of an application that I don't use a lot, so I'm always forgetting how to make it do what I want.

A few weeks ago however, I learned that with the latest version of Digital Performer I can now add the TAB finger charts directly into its notation window! So I decided to arrange the NAF themes from Santa Fe in TAB.

If the response to this is positive I'll consider putting more energy into a songbook of the tunes from New Fire.

For the score to Santa Fe I kept a lot of the ornamentation from the recording: turns, short trills, etc., but I cleaned up some of the staccato rhythms so it wouldn't look like a mass of 18th and= 16th note rests. I also didn't worry about notating the bends and chirps that I recorded. (To be honest I don't think that people should even try to play it just like I did when I recorded. Even I don't do that when I perform it live. Where's the fun in that?) However, if you play along with Santa Fe you'll be able to hear the few little bits that might not be in the score. The point, for me, was to present a clean, easy to read notation of the song. One that would be easy for most players to follow.

The NAF TAB Score

It's available for purchase HERE as a 8.5 X 11 printable PDF file for $1.99, or for member's of my Email List, for only $1.79.

If you're on my Email List already you can purchase it in the Member's Store. If you'd like to join my mailing list you can sign up on the Email List Sign Up Page.It's easy and free. Plus you get discounts on all Cedar Mesa Music products, Free MP3 downloads and my online newsletter "Echoes From The Mesa"

If you're not a member, and don't want to sign up you can still purchase it below.

If you don't own a copy of Radiant Sky yet, you can purchase a copy here or, if you're a Emailing List Member, in the Member's Store located in the Member's Section.

In
Harmony,
-Scott August

Radiant Sky available to Member's

2010-01-16T20:08:00.000-08:00

Radiant Sky, my latest CD is being released on February 16th, 2010.
However, member's of my Emailing List can get it now and save 15%. This pre-release sale lasts through 02/15/2010.

Listen to samples of Radiant Sky

It's Coming...

2010-01-04T16:49:00.000-08:00

Radiant Sky the New CD by Scott August

Peru Journal part 6: Corn Beer, Coin Toss and River Rafting

2009-12-14T11:35:00.000-08:00

UN DESCANSO
Day two in the Sacred Valley began with a trip to a local Chicha (corn beer) brewery, but there was more there than just beer. We got a glimpse into Quechua culture. The name of the brewery was Descanso, which means "rest" in Spanish, and the name fit it well. It was a quiet place right off the main road through the valley, where once behind it's walls you felt a sense of peace from the rest of the world. The walkways and patio had flowers growing up them. Tall trees reached high over the back patio and the mountains of the valley hung above the rooftops like sentinels. Descanso is not just a brewery but a social place to go to drink the corn beer they make there, called Chicha by the Spanish and Aha in the Quechua language, have some food, meet friends, and play a coin toss game called Sapo.

Descanso: the Aha Wasi
Click to enlarge

We arrived early in the morning and were greeted by Mercedes, the Chicha maker and owner of Descanso. Like many of the Quechua we met she was shy and quiet, but very friendly too.

While things were getting set up for us to see how the beer was made and then taste some we wandered around the grounds. From the patio was a beautiful view of the Sacred Valley.

The Sacred Valley from the Descanso patio
Click to enlarge

GUINEA PIGS
One of the more interesting, and for some, controversial parts of Quechua culture is the eating of Guinea Pigs or as they are called in Quecha Cuy: "koo-ee". The consumption of guinea pigs dates back to pre Inca times. During the reign of the Incas it was reserved as a royal food for the upper class. Today it is eaten on special occasions, like birthdays, holiday and any other celebration. Some of the people in our group found this really upsetting. Every culture eats something that people from outside of that culture find strange or uncomfortable. While exploring the Pacific Northwest Lewis and Clark preferred eating dogs to salmon, something I think most people from the U.S. would find bizarre and upsetting today. The fact that the Peruvians eat guinea pigs was all the more surreal since there were billboards in Lima promoting the film G-Force, a cartoon about secret agent guinea pigs.

At Descanso, as a small business, they raised guinea pigs for sale. They lived in their own room which opened off the patio and we were invited to look in and take photos.

Guinea Pigs
Click to play

The guinea pigs squeaked and nibbled on their food while we poked our heads through the door. Our guide Fredy tried to explain the unexplainable. They eat them, they always have, they don't think of them as pets or name them. By the end of the day those of us that wanted to would be able to taste guinea pig. But the day had just started and that was many hours from now.

SAPO
After checking out the guinea pigs we were introduced to another part of Quechua culture. The coin toss game of Sapo. The word Sapo is Quechau for Frog. The point of the game was pretty simple. There is a table on which a matrix of eight holes is cut. Like a tic-tac-toe grid. In the middle of the grid sits a brass frog, it's mouth facing front toward the player. Coins are tossed from a distance of about six feet at the table. The goal is to get as many coins into one of the holes, each of which has it's own ranking of points. The ultimate goal is to get a coin into the frog's mouth, which has the highest number of points.

Our guide Fredy gave us a demonstration and got a coin into the frog's mouth! He seemed as surprised as the rest of us. Then it was our turn. We grouped into three teams: The Condors, The Pumas and The Guinea Pigs...

Playing Sapo
Click to play

CHICHA
After our game we gathered in the dinning room of Descanso where Mercedes, the lady of the house/business and brewmeister showed us how Chicha is made. Like all beer a grain, in this case corn, is malted (partially germinated) by soaking in water. For Chicha the corn is soaked for 15 days. The partially germinated corn is then dried in the sun for two days and then ground up. Traditionally this was done by hand using a mano and matate, but today is done by a professional miller. This is then boiled to a wort for three hours, the brewer constantly stirring with a stick. The wort is poured through a grass filter into a giant pot to which yeast is added for fermentation. For Chicha the yeast is part of a starter, like sourdough bread, taken from the bottom of the pot of the last batch of Chicha. It ferments for three days. Unlike beer made from barley, the alcohol is very low, around 3 percent or less, so the beer is traditionally served in a large glasses. Each glass cost about $1 sol, or about 33¢. (In Peru the Sol is like our dollar, even if the dollar is worth three times as much. So for the average Peruvian, especially from the highlands, $1 Sol is a fair amount of money. Nevertheless I sometimes wish a pint of beer here in the U.S. only cost a dollar!) Mercedes told us that she usually drinks a couple glasses a day, her husband having 5 to 6 glasses.

Mercedes holding a glass of Chicha
Click to enlarge

As we would see again and again during our time in the highlands, the kitchens of most houses are very basic, yet the meals cooked in them were complex and tasty. Descanso's kitchen was no exception except yet beer was brewed here for sale and consumption. Not what you'd expect a commercial kitchen to look like.

A typical wood burning stove
Click to enlarge

Descanso did have a small gas stove (it said so right on the front) which was a luxery compared to the other private kitchens we saw.

The gas stove
Click to enlarge

Notice in the photo above on the far right center of the image there is a hand holding a mano used to grind food on a metate. A tradition that stretches back thousands of years and is found throughout the Americas.

The final product is Chicha, Aha in Quechuan, which we all got a small taste of. No big glasses for us...

Chicha and the corn it's made from
Click to enlarge

In the photo above are the different types of corn used to make Chicha along with a basket of the malted, partially germinated, corn kernels. The glass with the yellow liquid is regular Chicha. The purple Chicha gets it's color from the addition of strawberrys. It was very delious. There is also non-alcoholic Chicha made from a purple corn that is very common and can be found bottled.

Chicha has a milky taste. It's somewhat sweet with a hint of sour and goes down smooth. It does not taste like any beer you'd taste in the U.S. And that's a good thing. Something different.

The main road through the Sacred Valley
Click to enlarge

ROWING ON THE RIVER
After our Chicha taste we all said "goodbye" to Mercedes and Descanso and headed up the only road through the Sacred Valley, north past the town of Urubamba towards Ollantaytambo, where the road ended and the valley dropped down into the jungle. We were headed to the ruins at Ollantaytambo but first were going river rafting on the Urubamba river. Before you get any images of raging white water let me say that even though the locals claimed the river was currently a class 3, to us it seemed like a wimpy 2. But the skies were clear, the day warm (in the sun), the snow covered mountains loomed in the distant, and that was the plan.

We met up with our guides who gave us a lesson on how to row...

Row, row, row your raft...
Click to enlarge

Did I mention we all looked like geeks in our river outfits?

Photo: Mas Yamaguchi
Wearing the latest Peruvian water gear
Click to enlarge

So off we went down the raging torrent of the Urubamba

Photo: Mas Yamaguchi
Rapids? We don't need no stinkin' rapids!
Click to enlarge

Okay, there were a few rapids...

Photo: Mas Yamaguchi
Oh yeah, that was a rapid...
Click to enlarge

We were in two boats. The guide in our boat was very nice but for some reason keep yelling "Pura Vida!" I hate to admit I've forgotten his name.

Photo: Mas Yamaguchi
Pura Vida!
Click to enlarge

Okay, enough snark. Truth be told it was a lot of fun and a beautiful day. No one fell in, heck, no one even got wet. But it was quiet on the water. The sun sparkled on the waves. There were birds in the sky and farm animals on the banks. It was very pastoral. A nice break from the rush of our trip so far.

Photo: Mas Yamaguchi
On the Urubamba
Click to enlarge

Soon enough we were back on the bus and headed to Ollantaytambo. Like Pisac in the southern end of the valley, Ollantaytambo (oh-yawn-tay-tambo) was both a living town and the old Inca fortress above. This is a major site, so I'll stop here and leave that for the next post.

Previous Peru Journals
Part 1: "Journey to Peru"
Part 2: "Lost in Translation"
Part 3: "Flight of the (Silver) Condor"
Part 4: Inca Pisac
Part 5: The Pisac Market

© 2009 Cedar Mesa Music
All Photos and video © Cedar Mesa Music except where noted.

Peru Journal part 5: The Pisac Market

2009-12-07T00:38:00.000-08:00

After we visited the prehispanic ruins of Inca-Pisac we went back down the hill into the Sacred Valley to visit the market in Colonial-Pisac. At the time I was bummed to leave the ruins, as I wanted to spend more time exploring there. Also I was enjoying playing my new Quena flute, which I had just bought from a Peruvian man selling flutes and wind chimes. Another person in our group snapped this photo of me playing it while exploring the ruins.

Playing a new Quena
Click image to view full size

As much as I wanted to stay at the ruins I had also read that the market at Pisac, which happens three times a week, was a "must see" and Peruvians were said to drive over the hill from Cuzco to shop there.

Colonial Pisac was built around 1572. This was during a time when the Spanish were trying to gather the Quechua people into villages in order to better control them. The town was laid out in a traditional Incan grid of narrow cobblestone streets with the gutters running down the middle, but there was also a Spanish Plaza de Arma and a Catholic church. In the plaza there is a tree that, according to legend, Francisco Pizarro, the conquer of Inca Peru is said to have hitched his horse to, which would make the tree over 500 years old.

A food vendor
Click image to view full size

You may have noticed that all of the images in this post are not the best. That is because they are really lifts from the video I was trying to discreetly film. One of the many ways that the locals make money is to dress up in full traditional outfits and offer to pose for a photo, with or without you in the shot, for 1 Sol. The Sol is their version of our dollar and during our visit was worth about 33¢. Paying to take someone's photo was not a bad thing per se, but once you took a photo of one person you became known as an easy target and others would descend on you to take their photos and pay them too. For that reason I discreetly turned on the video camera and casually held it to my chest so as not to attract attention. This technique worked to keep most of the people from asking to pose for me, some just asked if they saw you with a camera, but the video turned out pretty bad. All shakey, out of focus and blurred.

Women in traditional hats
Click image to view full size

Traditionally the yarn for textiles is dyed with natural dyes. These dyes are made from vegetable and mineral sources among others. In the image below the woman is holding up strips of little packets full of dye. There were a lot of vendors selling these. Unfortunately traditional dyes are losing out to modern factory dyed yarn. This is compounded by western tourists that buy textiles with brighter colors but don't realize, or care, that's not not traditional.

Women selling natural dye packets
Click image to view full size

More traditional outfits and hats.
Click image to view full size

Toward the back of the food section things calmed down a bit and there was an entrance into the part that sells everything but food. There were textiles: blankets, rugs, panchos, scarves, sweaters, hats. There were musical tapes and CDs, instruments and toys. There was lots of jewelry. As to it's quality I can't say. There were gifts with everything from fine art items to mass-produced junk. There were less people in this area of the market and it was kind of quiet and slow. One woman, in the photo below, was sleeping on her wares.

A pathway in the non food part of the market.
Click image to view full size

"Looking for something to wear?"
Click image to view full size

This part of the market was a maze of stalls. Rows upon rows that disappeared in the distance. We wandered around, overwhelmed and underwhelmed by the goods for sale. I almost bought a Charango but settled for a Quenacho, a larger Quena, instead.

Finally we popped out of the far end of the market a few blocks from the main square. The streets were cobbled and there was a gutter running down the middle. We saw this in every colonial town. It was nice and quiet. Kids were playing with dogs chasing them as we walked back to the main plaza.

A traditional Inca street. Notice the terraces in the background.
Click image to view full size

We walked back to the bus where suddenly Claire announced she wanted me to take her picture with some girls that were hanging out, holidng baby goats, hoping that tourists would snap their picture. You could also hold one of the kids (baby goat) too. "Why not?", I thought and quickly the girls ran over to us, each hoping Claire would hold their goat.

At the time it seemed everyone was really enjoying this. The girls seemed happy and Claire was thrilled. Later, however, when we reviewed the photos I took, we noticed that the girl on the far right was not happy! Not at all! At first we thought that she was mad that her goat wasn't picked, but, after studying the photo closer, she doesn't have a goat. Did we do something we weren't aware of? Was she mad or upset with one of the other girls?

We still don't know...

Peruvian girls with goats posing
Click image to view full size

After the market we headed to our hotel for the night. In the lobby they had some mate de coca or coca tea. Being about 5:00 PM it was tea time so I had some. Mate de coca is supposed to be good for fighting the affects of altitude. The presence of stimulant alkaloids give the tea an effect like caffeine. It tastes a little like green tea and has the same color. I didn't really notice anything out of the ordinary, compared to the boost that tea gives me. Others however complained the next morning that they didn't sleep well.

We all went to bed early that night as the next day was to be very busy. More Inca ruins, river rafting on the Urubamba river, a visit to a local Chicha (corn beer) brewery and a traditional Quechean dinner in a private home.

© 2009 Cedar Mesa Music

Previous Peru Journals
Part 1: "Journey to Peru"
Part 2: "Lost in Translation"
Part 3: "Flight of the (Silver) Condor"
Part 4: Inca Pisac

Peru part 4: Inca Pisac

2009-11-29T13:41:00.000-08:00

WEAVERS
I'm going to backtrack a little. My last post left off with us descending into the Sacred Valley but I forgot to share the second half of our trip to the llama farm. It was a demonstration of weavers that had come from all the surrounding areas to show turistas like us how they weave and their traditional dress.

Weavers
Click image to view full size

The weaver in the middle photo is a young 14 year old boy named "Jonathan". Our guide Fredy was a little surprised at this but went on to say that in some of the villages male weavers were more common and a man that knew how to weave was desirable as a mate. Traditionally women did the weaving though and textiles held as much value as gold in prehispanic Inca culture.

After visiting with the weavers with translations from our guide, we were herded into a gift shop full of weavings. This shop was different in that the sales went to benefit the local weavers we were told. But it was a gift shop nevertheless.

We continued on our way to the Sacred Valley. At one point our tour guide, Fredy, had the bus stop by the side of the road to watch and visit with a local farmer, named Vincente, who was threshing wheat using donkeys. This was a completely impromptu stop and a lot of fun.

The Sacred Valley
Click image to view full size

Soon we were back on the bus descended into the Sacred Valley of the Urubamba river and headed to the town of Pisac or Pisaq.

The Sacred Valley
Click image to view full size

INCA PISAC
Pisac is about 19 miles northwest of Cuzco and is a major archaeological park in the region. In truth there are really two Pisacs. The ancient Inca town (ruins in the archaeological park) and the modern colonial town, which is the living town today.

The ancient town of Pisac dates to pre-Inca times. The site today is dominated by curving terraces built into the hill sides allowing the Incas to take advantage of every bit of sun light. Another advantage to building on the hillsides was the views that allowed people to see any approaching attacks. There seemed to be a concern about attacks coming up from the Amazon river area, which was one of the four large sections of the Inca empire called Antisuyo, from which the name Andes was derived from.

Terraces of Pisac
Click image to view full size

If you view the image full size by clicking on it you can really see how steep the terraces are. Keep in mind this only about a fourth of the total site. There are terraces covering all the nearby hillsides wrapping around behind the hills on the right side of the photo. Also in this photo you can see the colonial town of Pisac, or part of it.

To make better use of our time there our bus drove up the back side of the site to the Qanchisraqay or Kanturaqay sector of the site. This area is outside of the fortified city. From here we could walk to an area which housed the soldiers and encounter a trapezoid door/gate of the city's wall.

Soldier Sector
Click image to view full size

The Mortar-less Gate
Click image to view full size

This gate is made of mortar-less stone, a sign of it's significance. Mortar-less walls required greater craftsmanship and precision in their construction and are found mostly in religious buildings, such as temples, and building for the Inca king, like his palaces.

More terraces at Pisac
Click image to view full size

The photo above shows the religious sector of the town situated above more terraces. This area had a Intiwatana, or Hitching Post of the Sun. Intiwatanas are very sacred and this area was most likely the most important part of the entire site where ceremonies were conducted.

If you click on the photo to view it full size you can barely make out V shaped dots in the walls. These are the so called "Flying Steps", stones that protruded from the walls like stairs for easy access up and down the terraces.

Inca Pisac video. Click to Play

MY FIRST MUSICAL INSTRUMENT PURCHASE
Almost every time the bus stopped at a location there were people, adults and kids alike, hocking their wares. Some of it was nice textiles, some was cheap junk. At Inca Pisac we were greeted by several women with stuff, but there was a guy there selling Quenas, the rim blown flute of the Andes. I had planned to buy one (or two) during the trip and even though my Spanish was bad, his English was worse, but we managed to communicate somehow, and I tried them out and found one I liked. So I bought it right on the spot. It was great to be playing this flute, which has been a part of the Andean culture for over a thousand years at such an ancient site!

Holding my new Quena with the guy I bought it from
Click image to view full size

Since this purchase I've performed, or I should say "mangled", Cactus Dance a couple times on this flute during some of my performances, including at the most recent Yosemite Flute Festival.

Our time at Inca Pisac was very short, only about an hour. I did not realize how large and impressive the ruins would be and, as I love archaeological sites, wanted to spend a whole day exploring each section in detail. I was bummed when it came time to leave. However our next stop, the famous market down the hill in colonial Pisac turned out to be a lot of fun.

But that needs to wait until next time.

If you've missed the first three parts here are their links
Part 1: "Journey to Peru"
Part 2: "Lost in Translation"
Part 3: "Flight of the (Silver) Condor"

Peru part 3: Flight of the (Silver) Condor

2009-11-22T19:58:00.000-08:00

After three full days in Lima, a large, bustling, urban city, we finally head into the heart of the Inca world and the Peruvian Quechua culture, Cuzco. To get there we got on a 737 operated by the Peruvian airline LAN. Actually LAN is a Chilean airline company but they are based in Lima.

The entire time we were in Lima the skies were overcast from the coastal fog produced by the Humboldt Current. As the jet climbed higher into the sky we soon broke through the cloud cover, riding above a solid desert of clouds, punctuated to the east by the peaks of the Andes mountains. The Andes are the longest exposed mountain range in the world, at 4,300 miles in length, extending from the southern end of Chile to the norther part of Peru. The average height is 13,000 feet!

At first from a distance they seemed unimpressive, but as our plane flew closer to them and deeper into their heart I could tell that even though we were flying at 30,000' many of the peak seemed to touch the plane as they were 20,000'. The scale was tremendous.

Luckily we had seats on the left side of the jet as it flew south, giving us a perfect view of the mountains and hints of the edge of the Amazon jungle beyond.

The Peruvian Andes

As we flew I got out my video camera and started filming, during which the pilot came on the intercom and announced what we were flying over in Spanish and then English. He mentioned several peaks whose name I didn't know, but then came those two magic words: Machu Pichu. Unfortunately Machu Picchu lay behind several mountains and even if it hadn't been hidden I now know that, compared to the giant mountains that surround it, it is a small dot on the land.

Just after passing by Machu Picchu we began our descent into Cuzco. Living in Los Angeles I'm used to flying over the outskirts of the city for an hour before you actually land. Cuzco looked like a small town by comparison with a population of about 350,000. The greater LA area by comparison has 14 million people... (Yuck.)

Below is a little video of the flight and landing in Cuzco.

Flying to Cuzco. Click to Play

Cuzco was the ancient heart of the Inca empire. The world Cuzco means "navel" or "center" in the Quechua language, the lingua franca of the Incan empire. From here the Inca conquered other cultures around them, then those in the Sacred Valley and eventually most of those of the Andes, creating an empire stretching from southern Chile north to Peru and on to southern Columbia. Cuzco remained the "capitol" of their empire and was the seat of their government. It was also where their major temples were and where the Inca kings built their palaces.

At 10,912' it's also very high in elevation. For that reason we didn't linger long there but took a motor-coach over a pass to the Sacred Valley of the Urubamba river. The Sacred Valley is a little lower in elevation and that would help us adjust to the thinner air.

As I've spent a fair amount of time in the southwest at elevations of 7,000 to 8,000', even as high as 10,000', I wasn't that concerned about the altitude. Even the mountains surrounding LA have towns built around man-made lakes where my family would vacation from time to time that are 7,000 feet high. But there were many people in our group that had come from areas where there were no mountains and they were not used to high altitudes. Even I had never spent the night above 8,000 feet, so acclimatizing seemed like a good idea. We would return to Cuzco in a few days.

Little did I know how charming the center of Cuzco was as I filmed our drive through the city, up the mountains that surround it as we headed northeast to the Sacred Valley

Driving through Cuzco. Click to Play

On the way over the pass toward the Sacred Valley we stopped at a demonstration Llama and Alpacha farm to learn about these camelids. They had charts showing each variation and how they were traditionally used, be it for a beast of burden, food or wool. We also learned how to tell then apart. Llamas have plain, or flat, hair on the top of their heads, Alpachas have fuzzy hair on top of their heads. After that we went through a gate into a Llama "petting zoo" where we could see them up close up and even feed them. Some of them were surprisingly large and one person in our group got spit on by a llama. It was a lot of fun.

Feeding Llamas. Click to Play

From the farm we descended into the Sacred Valley

The Sacred Valley

The Sacred Valley stretched out below us as it ran north following the Urubamba river, one of the main tributaries to the Amazon. In the distance loomed mountains over 20,000 feet high. We were headed to the Inca ruins and modern town of Pisac where we would spend the afternoon.

Review Part 2
Continue to Part 4

Peru part 2 Lost in Translation

2009-11-15T00:41:00.000-08:00

The second part of my Peru Journals.
Read part 1

ESTOY ENFERMO
Lima and it's neighboring cities is a very large place. So to speed things up we took a city tour of the old historic center of town. On the way we stopped at the Museo Nacional de Arqueología Antropología e Historia del Perú to look at some prehistoric artifacts. However, I wasn't feeling all that great that morning.

"
The Museo Nacional de Arqueología Antropología e Historia del Perú

I'm not sure why I was sick to my stomach. I was being careful with the water, drinking only bottled water, and hadn't eaten any raw fruit. I did have several Pisco Sours, a mixed drink made with lime juice which I learned later the lime juice can bother your stomach. Maybe it was the rich dinner of duck I had the night before. Either way my stomach was in no mood to be bounced around inside a bus with a bunch of other tourists. But I toughed up and away we went.

The museum was an old hacienda that was built around a courtyard. The displays were tucked into each of the rooms that opened up on to the walkway that bordered this yard.

The Museum walk ways

I was starting to feel queasy again when we came upon the Raimondi Stela

There were many time in Peru when I was brought face to face with something I read about in books, but never in my wildest dreams thought I'd ever see in person. The Raimondi Stela was the first of these encounters.

It was built by the Chavin culture. The Chavín were a civilization based in the northern Andean highlands of Peru from 900 BC to 200 BC

Stylistically, Chavín art makse extensive use of the technique of contour rivalry which allows the viewer to see different images depending upon how one looks at it. The art is supposed to be difficult to interpret, as it was intended only to be read by high priests of the Chavín cult who could understand the sacred designs. The Raimondi Stela is one of the most famous examples of this technique. At the bottom a fearsome deity stands holding two staffs and wearing a very tall headdress of snakes and other creatures. When the stela is flipped upside-down the headdress becomes a stack of fanged faces, the deity, now at the top, is now a fanged reptile, and the staffs also have faces. My photos don't do this effect justice.

The culture of the Chavin and their cultural motifs influenced many of the Peruvian prehistoric cultures that followed. At one time they where thought to be the oldest "culture" in Peru, but there is evidence of earlier cultures these days. The date for the oldest culture in Peru keeps getting pushed back, earlier in time.

There was also some great pottery from the Moche culture, who are know for their pot making skills.

The Moche were a coastal seafaring and fishing people. This was a strong motif in the pieces we saw that day. Some of the images from pots not on display were shown on the wall behind the pottery. The image below shows a Moche fisherman. The whiskered, Dr. Seuss creature leaping to the right of the boat is a seal of some sort.

The culture of the Moche is fascinating, but too complex to go into here.

At the end of the displays came the Inca culture. There was a Quipu on display.

Quipu or khipu (Quechuan) were recording devices used in the Inca Empire and its predecessor societies in the Andean region. A quipu usually consisted of colored spun and plied thread from llama or alpaca hair or cotton cords, with numeric and other values encoded by a system of knots in a base 10 positional system. Some believe they were a binary system. They were not a writing system per se, but rather used to keep count or as a mnemonic device to refresh one's memory. The ability to read them was done by trained individuals called Quipucamayocs. The practice was lost during the Spanish invasion The art of the Quip[ucamayocs died out with them. Their meaning lost to the ages.

The museum also had a photo of two prehispanic Quenas. The rim blown flute of the Andes.

Photos are nice, but I would have rather seen the real instruments.

GHOSTS OF BOLIVAR
After the museum we continued to the Lima city center. We got off the bus at a big roundabout. The buildings were from the 19th century. It had been raining and everything was old and gray looking.

Of course my opinion of this part of town I'm sure was altered by how I felt, lousy, and the fact that there were tons of people around. We had been warned to be careful of pickpockets and it turns out that the day we showed up was Peruvian Independence days, so the streets were mobbed. The President of Peru was giving a speech from the Plaza de Armas, one of the main plazas, but it was not open to the public, only invited guests. Streets were closed and getting from where we were to where we wanted to be, the Plaza de Armas, was not going to happen. Even our tour guides looked nervous.

Nevertheless we walked as close as we could get to the plaza and to the restaurant where we were to have lunch, (something I was not in the mood for.) Our route took us down a street that was closed to cars for the day.

There were soldiers on horse back.

More old churches.

Next to the church was a cool Art Deco building that had been invaded by a fast food joint...

Then we came to a cross street that was completely blocked off for the motorcade of El Presidente and his guests.

We were stuck. As we waited I got my video camera out just in time to film a marching band come by on horse back. While I was filming some people in the crowd commented how much they love their El Presidente.

Click to Play

Being a guest in Peru I thought it best to not ask about these comments. Besides I was still not feeling well. Once the parade of dignitaries and soldiers passed they opened up the street and we went on our way. There were soldiers everywhere. Marching in columns, on horse back, in trucks and jeeps. Many of the uniforms of were colorful and gaudy. I began to feel like I was witnessing an 19th century coup.

We made it to the restaurant. I skipped lunch. Back at the hotel I drank chicken soup for dinner and took it easy. I began to feel better, almost normal. We watched Peruvian TV in the room, most of the programs were from the U.S. dubbed in Spanish.

LOST IN TRANSLATION
The next day we visited a fish market. By then I was feeling great and looking at all the fish was making me hungry. The local fishermen were showing off their catch. One of the fish I did not recognize so I asked our guide what it was. She didn't know either so she asked him. I caught the exchange on film. There was some confusion to say the least...

Click to Play

I think it was eel, but I"m still not sure...

That wrapped up our visit to Lima. The next day we went to the airport and flew to Cuzco in the heart of the Andes. I was glad to leave Lima behind and get to the heart and soul of Peru.

Continue to Part 3

Peru part 1

2009-11-14T06:17:00.000-08:00

HOW DID I GET HERE?
This past July I got a chance to travel to a place I've wanted to visit since I was young. Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Inca. Perched high in the cloud forest in the Andes it was abandoned before the Spanish arrived in 1532. They never found it. Except for the locals, it was unknown until 1911 when Hiram Bingham, with the help of local guides and farmers "discovered" the city for the western world. As a youngster I encountered images of Machu Picchu. To my young mind it seemed like an ancient castle in the sky. It has stayed on my list of places to visit during my lifetime since.

The chance to visit Peru happened quickly. The subject came up just eight weeks before the trip actually took place. We thought about it for another two weeks, made the decision to go and then six weeks later we arrived at LAX, tickets in hand, bound for Peru. Our destinations: Lima, Cuzco, the Sacred Valley of the Tambo and Machu Picchu.

Although I went to see Machu Picchu, what I found was a vibrant culture. Full of color, music, dramatic history, prehispanic ruins, cold foggy coastlines and clear mountain skies. For me, Peru was a land of extremes.

When we left Los Angeles in late July it was summer. Peru however, being in the southern hemisphere, was obviously having winter. The weather looked similar to LA's winters. Cool days but with colder nights than we get here in LA. So we boarded the plane dressed for cool weather. On our way we had to switch planes, with a one hour layover in San Salvador, El Salvador, where we were greeted by hot humide weather. It felt like 100˚ and the thick air hit you like a wall. As we were wearing long sleeves and fleece jackets it was very uncomfortable.

Lush tropical jungle surrounded the airport, like a rain forest. But despite a hard search we could not find water for sale anywhere in the terminal. The heat droned on.

I'm sure El Salvador is a wonderful country, I love Pupusas, so I know the food is great, but we were happy to be on our way and escape the humid heat of the tropics. As our plane climbed skyward the classic cone of the San Salvador volcano, or Quetzaltepec, hovered in the distance. We headed southeast. The sun slipped below the horizon.

LIMA
when we landed in Lima at 8:30 local time it was dark, cold, and cloudy. Lima is a big city. Like all big cities there were people everywhere and cars zigging in and out of traffic. The taxi ride from the airport to the district of Mira Flores took about 40 minutes. The streets were busy and full of people. American business reared their heads in the form of McDonald, Starbucks, KFC, TGI Fridays and from the UK was there with Burger King. It's always somewhat of a disappointment to travel somewhere and find exactly what you left behind.

Peruvian Starbucks

We were surprised to find that gambling is legal in Lima and we drove past many gaudy casinos. As we got closer to our hotel in the Mira Flores district, the streets got quieter and quieter. A light drizzle began to fall. For Lima this is a major "rain" event. The city, although right on the Pacific coast, is in a desert and receives only 1/4" of rain on average each year.

We arrived at our hotel, checked in our room, and then checked out some local stores, an upscale market and had a nice quiet dinner nearby. The next day we explored further.

MIRAFLORES
The first place we visited was Kennedy park in Miraflores. It was named after JFK, our 35th president. The "city" of Lima is made up of several towns, of which Lima is just one of the. Miraflores is another. It has it's own city government.

Kennedy Park

Next to the park was a church. My understanding is that Peru is 80% Catholic, but I get the sense that there is a strong practice of the older indigenous religions that predate the Spanish. Very much so in the highlands.

Church near Kennedy Park

Detail of church

As we left the area on Kennedy Park we spied one of the few cats we saw in Peru, sleeping on a grate next to the church.

The next place we went to was the Artist's District of Miraflores. This was an area of several blocks that had little malls full of small shops, or stalls selling everything from textiles to jewelery, art, silver pieces and even musical instrument. We had been told that most of the stuff was not of the best quality, and it was recommended that we wait until we get to the highlands for better stuff. So I didn't buy the long belt shaker I saw hanging from the ceiling of one stall. I never saw another one the rest of the trip am and still bummed that I passed on getting that one.

The inside a mall in the Artist's District

Outside the Artist's District

THE PACIFIC COAST
The building in Miraflores were all painted in pale pastels, adding a bright counterpoint to the gray skies that constantly hung over the city. The clouds were dreary in general, but more so once we walked down to the coast. From Kennedy park it took about 20 minutes to walk to the coast. Lima sits on the Pacific Ocean, but is in the same time zone as New York City.

Lima-Miraflores sits on the Pacific Ocean
In Miraflores there is a new "American" style mall called Lancomar which over looks the ocean. While there were some local stores, many of them were U.S. chains. Nevertheless the view from the mall was very nice.

View from the Lancomar Mall

There were lots of locals at the mall and in the strip of parkland that extended along the top of the cliffs next to the ocean. For a price you could go Para-gliding in the constant breeze that swept the coast up the cliffs. Not a price I would pay...

Para-gliding

Next to Lancomar was Lover's Park which was dominated by a huge statue of a couple wrapped in embrace.

"Get a room!"

For me the highlight of the park was the tile benches that snaked along the sides. Done in a style reminiscent of the work of Gaudi, there were quotes about love set in the tile mosaic.

In my next post about Peru we visit two local markets, including a fish market right on the coast. Things get lost in translation, but it's all good. Plus I break out the video camera...

Continue to Part 2

My Favorite Flute?

2009-10-20T17:25:00.000-07:00

I've been out performing this month again and as always I get a question that stumps me every time. "What's your favorite flute?"

I've been asked this question at least a hundred times and it still surprises me. Mostly because I've never sat down and thought about it on my own. "...hmm, what's my favorite flute?" It is a perfectly reasonable question, I guess, but one that I could never answer.

Why not? Well here are a few reasons.

Too Many
I've been playing Native American style flutes for over ten years now and stopped counting how many I had at least nine years ago. As my collection grows I forget about some of the old ones. Newer ones catch my attention and they get played more. It's human nature.

Not All Flutes Sound Alike
Every flute I have sounds slightly different. What I like about the sound of one flute may be great for a certain mood, musical style, or playing style, but not work as well outside of those parameters. I might prefer other flutes for other moods, styles or types of playing.

The sounds of some flutes I own are sweet, some are clear, some are loud, some are soft, some are warm, etc. Many flute have a lot of these qualities, but not all flutes have every good quality one might look for in a flute. I've never heard a flute than can sound both "plains" and "woodland" style. It's one or the other.

This may be why I prefer some flutes over others, they do more of the things I want a flute to do than others. Flutes that can be played soulfully one minute and then aggressively the next I like better than flutes that only play one way.

Too Specific
Some flutes are so specific that they end up limiting themselves. I have drone flutes and doubles that do a few things really well, but not everything. Bass flutes and really high pitched flutes can also fall victim to their specific design. When you get down to it all NAFs are based on one key and that limits them as well. So all flute suffer from being specific in some way.

A World Full Of Options
In the end the main reason why I could never pick a "favorite" flute is that I like to keep my options open. I don't have a favorite color, or a favorite meal, (I do have a favorite food: pumpkin... go figure), I like many different styles of music, a variety of tea blends and types of beer, I like all the seasons (although I think I prefer fall), and as the seasons change and the food at the farmer's market changes I get excited with all the new stuff they offer.

Variety is the spice of life and there are so many wonder things on our planet for us to pick from that I don't see how anyone could ever say "This is my favorite."

So, now that I've thought about it, do I have a favorite flute? Well surprisingly I do...
But it will change tomorrow.

Quiet Journey. Song for Anasazi flute

2009-10-02T22:28:00.000-07:00

Quiet Journey: Anasazi flute with images of the Grand Canyon by Scott August.

Recorded live July 16th 2008.

More Videos

Performance at the 2009 Yosemite Flute Festival

2009-08-21T12:18:00.000-07:00

I will be performing at this years Yosemite Flute Festival on Friday Sept 25th! I will also be giving workshops and private lessons during the festival which is from the 25th to the 27th. Hope to see you there. Pass this on...

2009 Scott August Signature flute: The Mojave 6

2009-06-04T14:53:00.000-07:00

Once Earth Tone flutes had completed the line of the 2008 Scott August Signature Anasazi flutes the big question for me and Geoffrey was "What do we do next?"

The type of flute was the easiest part to answer. I had recently obtained a Mojave flute from Michael Graham Allen and was enthralled with it's exotic sound. It's limited range of notes, however, was some what frustrating. The Mojave replicas that Michael makes has only four holes and could not play any notes above the 5th in any given octave. This is not to say that Michael's flutes are lacking in sound or soul, I just wanted more notes.

So Geoffrey and I decided early on to extend the number of pitches by adding holes. I knew that the next note I heard in the scale was a minor 6th, a half step above the 5th. Above that, to match the top note of a Native American style flute, we picked the minor 7th. The flute is based on the note B.

Coincidentally Geoffrey had been exchanging emails with Frankie Sierra regarding a five hole version of a Mojave flute that he was working on, the fifth hole being a thumb hole. Personally I like to avoid thumb holes if possible so we decided to move the thumb hole to the front of the flute to get the min-6th along with another, higher, finger hole for the min-7th. A total of six holes. This led to the name Mojave-6, or M-6. The spacing of the six holes is in the same style as an Anasazi flute: two groups of three.

Read the complete post

Cahuilla flutes

2009-05-28T00:47:00.000-07:00

Several years ago I had the pleasure to visit the Riverside Metropolitan Museum, here in southern California, with Marvin and Jonette Yazzi to look at five Cahuilla/Diegueno/Ipai rim blown flutes they have in their collection. I found out about these flutes from Marvin and Jonette Yazzie and Ernest Siva, an elder of the Cahuilla/Serrano culture.

These flutes are part of the broader western rim-blown flute world which include examples from the Anasazi, Mojave, and southern California cultures.

Like the Anasazi flutes, many of these flutes are made of a elder wood, specifically elderberry. This is a common tree that grows wild in southern California. It blooms with yellow flowers in the spring. The inner core, or pith, of the wood, is soft and can be poked out with a hard stick for flute making. Three of the flutes in the Riverside museum were made of elderberry. The two other flutes were made of river cane. The majority of the flutes we saw that day were thought to have been made during the turn of the 20th century. All had four finger holes.

We took some photos and measurements of the flutes but were not able play them as they had been treated with a preservative that was toxic. I think it was formaldehyde. They also had to be handled with white gloves for this reason.

Measuring about 21" in length with a 3/4" bore, the elderberry flutes' finger holes were evenly spaced in the middle of the flute. No information was known about the tuning or the traditional use of these instruments, although Ernest recalled that elders played this flute when he was a youngster growing up on the Morongo reservation in the San Gorgonio pass. The flutes in the Riverside museum were found in the Diegno/Ipai

The cane flutes were about 17" in length with the top finger hole being about 8 1/2" from the blown end, also known as the proximal end. From there three more finger holes descended toward the distal end.

The flutes all had some decorative markings. Hatch marks radiating from finger holes like sun rays and bands of triangles and wavy lines that were possibly burned on to the flutes.

Several weeks later the Yazzies made a few reproductions of the elderberry flutes. (Fig 1-A below) The pitch classification of the notes does not correspond to any western tuning and seemed to be random. Due to this lack of any tonal focus I never really put much effort to playing these flutes. That was a couple years ago.

About a month ago I dropped by the Yazzies and while there Jonette brought out some flutes that were based on the cane Cahuilla flutes with the finger holes grouped toward the distal end of the flute. When I played these there was a stronger tonal center than the elder berry ones. These were fun to play. (Fig-1 B-E)

Figure 1

One of the better "tuned" ones was based on the note G (above middle C). The tones produced by a straight uncovering of the holes from the bottom up produce the notes G-B-C#-D-E with an overblown octave G. A cross fingering pattern will produce the notes G-B-C-D-E-(G 8va) (Fig 1-D)

Two of the flutes were based on E-G#-A-B-C with an overblown octave E. These flutes tends to wander a bit more between half steps depending on the players embouchure. (Fig 1-B/C)

The Yazzies also made a six hole version, but not based on any of the artifacts we saw. The pitches found in this flute are F-Ab-A-B-C-Db-Eb with an over blown note of E, a major seventh above the root. (Or a half step below the octave.) By not playing some of the notes I was able to come up with some scales, but nothing like the Anasazi, Mojave or NAF scales. (Fig 1-E)

These flutes have a very soft, intimate sound. What I would call sweet. They are not at all loud. Here is an example of flute D from Figure 1.

The Yazzies are making these flutes with their "grand father" tuning. I thought it would be fun to take some of them with me to the Zion Flute School (more on that in a later post) and before I even got them handed out they were spoken for. Luckily, I had one already.

You won't find these flutes on their website, but if you contact them they can fill you in on the details.

© 2009 Cedar Mesa Music. All rights reserved.

Potomac Festival Notes

2009-04-05T16:18:00.000-07:00

Last week I performed at the Potomac flute festival. This was my first time performing on the east coast and it was a great experience. The week before I had flown into Raleigh, NC to do a workshop and performance for the Neuse River flute circle. I met some great people there, many of whom I now consider friends.

RALEIGH, NC
From the time I landed on Friday night right up till the following Monday morning I was on the go. Workshop Saturday afternoon, then rushing over to the small hall to set up, then perform, a late dinner, up early the next day to give some lessons...

The workshop was on Intermediate/Advanced NAF playing and the level of the attendees, as with all workshops, varied greatly. There were some very good players and some very good flute makers.

Here are a couple photos from that workshop.

In this one I'm showing how much weight my flute case can case support..

Apparently I also demonstrated how to palm a basketball...

Setting up for the performance I encountered a lot of issues that I don't normally have. The internal routing of my signal path got screwed up some how and it took a while to work through that. Then my small MIDI keyboard was not recognized by my gear. Never did figure out what happened there.

Regardless, once I took the stage I put all this out of my mind and focused on the performance. Without the keyboard I was forced to rearrange my set on the fly, but as I tend to not use a fixed "set" anyway this wasn't a problem.

Performing in Raleigh, NC

THE PIT
After the performance a bunch of us went to The Pit for Carolina style BBQ. The master chef there is Ed Mitchell who is considered by many to be the premier chef of this style of cooking.

Drinking a toast of Junior Johnson's Midnight Moon moonshine with Ed Mitchell.

POTOMAC
At Potomac the set up was flawless. Earlier that day I did a mock set up to find out where things had gone wrong in Raleigh and everything work exactly the way it was intended all along. The signal routing worked fine and the keyboard came online without a hitch. I always try to learn something from any problems and although I never did figure out quite what happened in Raleigh, I did learn more about how my internal routing worked and saved presets for several different configurations to use in the future.

During the performance I tried to played an equal percentage of Anasazi flutes to regular NAFs and debuted several new pieces.

The next day consisted of multiple lessons and an Anasazi workshop. The latter was interesting as everyone was at a different level of ability. Some were well along the Anasazi road, while others had just got their flute that day. A few just showed up to see what all the fuss was about. That made the workshop a challenge. Which level do you gear the class to? I tried to get a little bit of information for every level.

FLUTE ENVY
In between all this I manged to buy flutes from Butch Hall and Colyn Peterson. I also got a flute from Leonard McGann tuned to a major scale and played a cool double by Brent Haines.

Here is the flute I purchased from Colyn and Kitty of Woodland Voices

It's made of Port Orford cedar with Katalox and is in the key of G# (minor pentatonic).

I saw this flute with it's crow/raven design and all weekend keep going back to it. Being at the table next to Colyn and Kitty didn't help. (Big shout out of thanks to Kitty for all her help at my table while I was away giving lessons or my workshop.) At one point Jeff Ball came by and asked me to do an improv that he could film for the portal and this is the flute I picked up. Finally by Sunday morning I knew I had to have it and in fact have ordered a bass version of it.

I also got to try out a prototype of Butch Hall's Anasazi flute. He is trying to base his on the original artifacts that were dug up and so they have a much smaller bore and no notch on the proximal end. They have a very gentle, intimate sound and I asked Butch to put me on the short list for getting one. (So Butch, if you're reading this, don't forget me!)

STAGE SET UP
Judging by the amount of questions I got about my stage set up I'll take a moment to go over it here. I use an Apple MacBook Pro running MOTU's Digital Performer and Reason by Propellerheads . The audio interface is a MOTU Traveler which handles all of my audio routing, including audio from the computer via FireWire.

The mic was plugged into this device and that signal was then routed to a TC Electronics Nova Delay for added delay. The output of the Nova Delay is returned to the Traveler. Then the mic/delay signal is bussed to an output to the hall's main mixing board as a stereo pair, while my "minus" tracks are bussed to another output to the board. Again a stereo pair. This allows the person running the main sound mixer to blend my tracks, which frees me up from having to do any on the fly mixing. This is a luxury, normally I have to do this myself, while on stage, performing.

The keyboard was an old M-Audio Oxygen 8. Normally I use an Axiom 25, also made by M-Audio, but it was bigger than the box that I used to ship stuff back east. This was part of the issue that I encountered in Raleigh when the keyboard wouldn't work. The Oxygen 8 is so old that my USB drivers don't recognize it and I have to go through a MIDI interface. A real pain... The newer versions of all of these keyboards work just fine with a USB cable. The are class compliant

For my performances in both Maryland and North Carolina I played flutes by J.P. Gomez, (2 flutes) Geoffrey Ellis, and Pat Haran, (a double drone flute). As back up for watered out flutes, I carried one each by Geoffrey Ellis and Scott Loomis. For Anasazi I played flutes by Geoffrey Ellis and Michael Graham Allen. Lastly I also played a Michael Graham Allen Mojave flute.

ODDS AND ENDS
This was a really well run festival. From my perspective things went very smoothly. The Saturday afternoon concert did go a little long and forced my Anasazi workshop to start a little later, but everyone was fine with that. There were great performances from Mark Holland and Jeff Ball, and I got to finally meet Geri LittleJohn! On Sunday night I hung out with Jeff, Margo Boone, Brent Haines and his wife, Leonard McGann and others. I also met Jeff's new family dog "Hershey" and just had a nice relaxing time.

The only down side of the trip was that my sinuses were messed up the whole time I was on the east coast. I only mention this because when I told Jeff about the trouble I was having he answered, with one of the funniest things I heard while there, "Welcome to Maryland. If you don't already have allergies, you'll get them here!"

The flight home was long, going through Chicago, but from there we flew right over the Grand Canyon.

Out my window seat I could clearly see and make out the buildings on the south rim. The red deserts a stark contrast to the rich greens of North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.

Back home in the deserts of LA my sinus problems are behind me, but I brought back new friends, long lasting memories and the hope I can return soon.

LOST CANYONS wins NAR LifeStyle Music award!

2009-03-15T22:45:00.000-07:00

Lost Canyons has been awarded a 2008 NAR LifeStyle Music Awards by New Age Reporter. The winners are selected by DJs and broadcasters through out the world. Read More.

Two Nominations for 2008 NAR LifeStyle Music Awards

2009-02-21T23:53:00.000-08:00

New Fire" and "Lost Canyons" have been nominated for a 2008 NAR LifeStyle Music Awards by New Age Reporter. New Age Reporter is one the most influential charts for New Age music and it's sub genres. The nominees are selected by DJs and broadcasters through out the world. If you've heard some of my music on a radio station near you thank them, and let them know you appreciate them playing my music!

Mojave Flute Improv

2009-02-21T10:44:00.000-08:00

From a recent concert. Will Clipman sat in with me, adding some live percussion to my set.

Running a Record Label -Tracking Sales, etc.

2008-12-31T18:51:00.000-08:00

In previous posts we've looked at some of the steps needed to set up your own label. While the idea of having your own label might seem romantic, the truth is that it's a business and like all business you need to keep track of your product, sales, promos, purchase orders, invoices and business contacts.

The best way of doing this is to have a database. Now I realize that databases aren't sexy or hip or have the allure of a new piece of gear for your studio, but in the long run could have an equal, if not greater, impact on the success of your label.

There are a lot of databases to choose from. I've used a few and the one I've found the easiest and fastest to use is a less known one called Panorama by a company called Provue. Turns out Provue's been creating software for a very long time. In fact the only other company that has been designing software to run on Apple computers longer than Provue is Microsoft! You read that right, Microsoft.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Understanding Pentatonic Scales

2008-12-30T18:21:00.000-08:00

What are pentatonic scales? How are they constructed? What makes them different than major and minor scales? Why are they the most common scale used in the world?

In this article we're going to take a closer look at these very popular scales and explain them in an easy to understand nonacademic way.

Scales are one of the most important building blocks of music. Notes from scales, combined with rhythm, form the basis of melodies. A haunting, solo melody can be a rich and rewarding musical expression. Therefore a basic knowledge of scales is beneficial to anyone that wishes to make music, especially if they are creating their own tunes or just improvising ("playing from the heart").

In the two previous articles we looked at diatonic major and minor scales and then the diatonic modes respectively. A good understanding of these principles will help you with the subject of this post exploring pentatonic scales. You might want to review them before diving into this article.

For anyone that plays the Native American flute the term pentatonic scale becomes a constant refrain in almost all conversations about this instrument. Yet very few people know very much beyond the fact that Pent is Greek for five. Even though this is the limit of most people's knowledge, somehow a lot
of misinformation and incorrect terminology gets passed from player to player, maker to player, maker to maker and player to maker. This misinformation is completely invalid outside of the Native American flute world and for that matter is barely valid for the NAF. As if the Native American Flute world is it's own little bubble, which it's not.

If you want to be taken seriously by other musicians, and have the Native American flute taken seriously as well, it's essential to be able to discuss music at a basic level using the correct terms that are recognized by the larger musical world. Likewise it's also good to avoid using terms that are not recognized by musicians, composers and music theorists.

Let's start by looking at the most common pentatonic scales, the names they are known by and how they are constructed. Then we'll talk about some of the incorrect terms and names given to them so you can avoid falling into the trap so many NAF players have fallen into.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Mojave Flute

2008-12-14T15:25:00.000-08:00

During last July's INAFA convention Michael Graham Allen played what he called a Mojave Flute. It had a sound very similar to an Anasazi flute but the scale was quite different. Michael didn't have any to sell at that time but I put in an order and got my flute a few months later.

Surprisingly I didn't mention to very many people that I had one but lately the largest number of emails I've gotten with flute questions have been about this flute. So instead of responding to each one, one at a time I thought I'd post a short article about them here.

These flutes are shorter than Anasazi flute being 24-3/4" long with a proximal (the playing end) bore width of 7/8". They also only have four holes instead of six.

The "notch" on the mouthpiece is smaller, or less pronounced, than on a Anasazi flute. However given the shorter length they are a little easier to play than their bigger cousins.

Read the full post here

Encore showing of Ancient Light on PBS

2008-12-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

Don't miss an encore airing of Ancient Light by Scott August on PBS Arizona, KAET Chanel 8, Saturday, December 6th at 11:00 am as part of the their winter pedge drive.

This special broadcast will be co-hosted by Scott August and Scott will be talking about Ancient Light, his love of the southwest and playing some Native and Anasazi flutes live in the studio.

Please tune in and support this broadcast. If you can, make a pledge. Only with your support will KAET continue to air this program.

Be sure and tell your friends too!!!

Even if you can't make a pledge, please let KAET know you are excited that they are showing Ancient Light by contacting them.

KAET
Phone: (480) 965-2308
Email eight@asu.edu

Scott August hosts Ancient Light on PBS

2008-11-29T11:22:00.000-08:00

The PBS affiliate in Arizona, KAET Chanel 8, will be airing Ancient Light tomorrow, Sunday, November 30th at 3:30 pm as part of the their winter pledge drive.

This special broadcast will be hosted by Scott August and Cathi Lahti. Scott will be talking about Ancient Light and his love of the southwest.

Please tune in and support this broadcast. Let KAET know you are excited that they are showing Ancient Light.

KAET
Phone: (480) 965-2308
Email

In Harmony,
Scott August

Anasazi flute book update

2008-11-18T22:45:00.000-08:00

The name of my book about the Anasazi flute has been changed to "Kokopelli's Flute: The Complete Guide to the Anasazi Flute".

The latest edition contains three songs from Lost Canyons in August Anasazi TAB format.

The Flutes of New Fire

2008-08-14T22:22:00.001-07:00

A lot of people ask me what flutes I use to record with. So I thought I'd take a moment and go through each CD over the next few months and talk about them in a little detail, starting with New Fire. I'll also talk a little about each track and link to previous posts about the track, flute or maker, if there are any.

Heart of the Sky

This piece is in the key of G with the flute in G pentatonic minor (from now on all keys are pentatonic minor (1-3-4-5-7) unless stated otherwise). The flute is a Scott Loomis flute.

Loomis G

This flute really sings and seemed to really fit the mood of this song. It's got a clear, singing tone with a touch of sweetness.

Heart of the Sky started out as a rhythm that I would improvise to. The original track was composed right after Distant Spirits but I didn't get down to recording the tune till much later. In fact in its first incarnation it was played on two flutes, one of which was a clay drone flute, and neither of these flutes were in G.

The title comes from my many visits to the Grand Canyon. The view from the rim seems to go on forever, to the heart of the sky.

One of the Mayan gods of creation was named Heart of Sky and there is also a Hopi deity named Heart of the Sky.

For a more detailed look at this flute visit my earlier post Loomis Native American flute

Recently I tend to play this song live on a J.P. Gomez aspen flute that I got after New Fire was finished. I still play the Loomis flute, but for this song J.P.'s seems to be better live. I've already recorded a piece for my fifth CD with this flute. J.P. lives in Sedona and makes excellent flutes. If you don't have one of his you should seriously consider adding one to your collection.

For a closer look at J.P. Gomez's flute visit Find out more about J.P. Gomez

Mockingbird Canyon

Key of F# played on a Moonlight Creek F# aspen flute. The opening tune for this piece popped into my head one day while practicing scales and technical exercises. Set against a rhythm of udus and tablas the tune is joined by an acoustic guitar, charrangos and other Latin guitar-like instruments. I like the crisp sound of aspen flutes, however they water out very quickly and take forever to dry.

Mockingbird Canyon is a real place in Chaco Canyon National Park, NM. Although the park is know for it's giant prehispanic buildings, Mockingbird Canyon is a quiet side canyon without any ancient structures that I know of.

I want to take a moment to talk about Moonlight Creek flutes by Michael Gulino. Michael is a good friend of mine having met him through flutes. He's never made a ton of flutes, but each one I own by him is a jewel. I don't have a favorite flute, but if I had to pick a favorite my G NAF by him would be on the short list of the flutes I might choose. Michael's flutes have a clarity and singing quality that is very rare in NAFs. Their thin walls give his flutes a very unique, yet classic sound. His flutes are completely made by hand. He doesn't even use a lathe to shape them but sands them down with sandpaper, by hand.

My Moonlight Creek G

It's hard to put into words, but in my mind the sound of Michael's flute embodies the haunting bittersweet sound of the NAF. The sound that captures peoples souls. Michael is a very talented person. He's always looking for new challenges. Sadly for the flute world he is not making many flutes and told me recently that when he sells what flutes he has left he plans to stop making them completely. Any one who owns one of Michael's wonderful instruments will understand me when I say this is a loss for the NAF world.

For a more in depth look at one of Michael's flutes see my earlier post on Gulino and Yazzie flutes

Turquoise Twilight

This piece is in G. I don't remember what flute I used on it. Seriously...
The title came to me during a drive from LA to Phoenix when the sun was sinking behind me and the sky all around was turning the many hues of turquoise, red, vermilion, salmon, pink, light blues, dark blues and black. The peaceful sensation from these colors seemed to match this piece perfectly.

Ravens & Redtails

Another piece in G using the same Loomis flute from Heart of the Sky. This is another piece that began as a live sketch right after Distant Spirits to fill out my performances. When the mood strikes me I'll even perform the kalimba part live. The title comes from a road trip I took once where Ravens kept flying across the road and higher up in the sky above the highway Redtail hawks soared in the air currents. There are also lot of South American and Latin American guitars in this piece like Mockingbird Canyon.

Ravens flying around Delicate Arch, UT

New Fire

New Fire is the title track and was performed on a Queaztcoatzl double flute made by Guillermo Martinez. This particular flute was one of his first doubles and is marked #2 on the back. I showed it to him a few years ago and he didn't remember making it, but I purchased it directly from him.

Made of what looks to be yellow cedar, this flute is tuned in 4ths and has metal "nests" for the totems or birds to rest on.

This is another piece that started as a rhythm for live performances to improvise on top of, which I then expanded into a larger piece. Ironically I still use the original "live" version in concert and never switched over to the version that's on the CD.

The name New Fire comes from the New Fire ceremony which is performed by many the Hopi as part of the large Wuwuchim ceremony. Simply put it is a New Years ceremony, but in reality it is much more complex than that. It has a long history and a version of it dates back to Aztec times when it was performed every 52 years. Jessie Walter Fewkes, an American anthropologist, archaeologist, writer who supervised excavations at Mesa Verde, thought that evidence exists indicating that the New Fire ceremony was performed at Mesa Verde during the 10th and 11th centuries.

Sedona Sunrise

This piece is the only flute solo on New Fire and was performed on a Yazzie flute made of Cocobolo.

Yazzie cocobolo flute

Cocobolo is part of the Rosewood family, which is used a lot in instrument construction. Guitars are know for having parts of them made with Rosewood.

This piece was recorded before the title came to me. This is usually how it works. Just after I had finished the song I was visiting Sedona and driving early one morning to an appearance I was doing in the area. The rays of the sun were low in the sky and the cliffs were bright red and pink, as if they were lighted from the inside.

Read more about the Yazzie Cocobolo flute.

Cactus Dance

Sometimes ideas come during time when you don't expect them to. The seed for this song was planted during a concert I gave years ago while I was demonstrating different kinds of flutes. I spent just a few minutes talking about non standard Native American flutes: Clay flutes, drone flutes, double flutes, bass flutes... Anything that the average person might not have seen before.

One of the flutes I demonstrated was a High Spirits drone. High Spirit drone are joined at the mouthpiece and then flare out like a "V". This particular flute had an altered drone tuning which could be exploited to great effect. I played a short but fast little improvisation through a very bouncy delay. At that time I was recording all my performances and when I got back to my studio it seemed that there was the beginnings of piece there. So a few months later when I got the chance I developed it into a real piece.

Cactus Dance bounces along with a very energetic rhythm with a middle section that pulls back and becomes more dreamy. There are hints of Andean music throughout the piece.

The version on the album was recorded using the High Spirits flute and for a while I was dragging that instrument around to perform the song live. However, given it's V shape it wouldn't fit into my flute bags and caused me to have to carry it around in a cardboard box. This got to be a pain, the box started to fall apart and a couple times the flute fell out.

Due to this I had stopped playing the song live until Richard Halliburton sent me plans for a flute he was asked to make by one of his customers. I never could figure out what that flute was for. It was in a very odd tuning and scale. However, when I looked at it I saw that if he made it in the normal (so called) minor pentatonic scale, the 1-3-4-5-7 pentatonic, I would have a flute that would look like other drones but would have the altered drone tuning I wanted. So now I can play Cactus Dance live again but on Rich's flute.

Rich is an up and coming flute maker from the LA area. One of his flute won first place at the first Oklahoma Flute festival and they are quite striking. He uses a lot of onlay, inlay and semi precious gemstones in his flutes.

The Rich Halliburton drone

The title for this song comes from it's South American influence and my memories of visiting far southern Arizona. There cactus are everywhere. Barrel, Cholla, Saguaro abound. The rays of early morning and late afternoon sunlight dancing on their spines.

To read more about this piece and to learn more about Rich Halliburton and the flutes used on Cactus Dance visit Two Tunable Drones

Sombra de La Luna
Performed on a clay "Moon Goddess flute made by Xavier Quijas Yxayotl.

Clay flutes were very common in the ancient Mexican and the Mayan cultures. Excavations and early accounts show evidence for this. I have seen photos of a pit used for offering and clay flutes with a trumpet shaped bells are among the many objects that were throw in the pit to the Gods. Clay flutes do not have the front chamber that Native American flutes have but instead have the flue placed in the mouthpiece. This is the more common type of construction for fipple flutes. NAFs are the exception to the rule.

Once again this piece got it's start from a live improve I gave once. Originally I recorded a solo version of it for Sacred Dreams but I felt that there was still much more that could be done with the tune and the sound of the flute so I rearranged a version that was longer and had more instruments. This is the version on New Fire which combines the flute with piano, some treated percussion and very atmospheric tones.

Take a closer look at this flute

Temple of the Sun

Recorded on a Guillermo Martinez double flute Temple of the Sun is the longest piece on New Fire. It begins with a solo and is later joined by a hypnotic percussion beat over the quiet drone of didgeridoos.

The flute is made of wood and the longer half is tuned to D while the shorter half is tuned to A.
I posted an in-depth article about this flute which is still accessible.

Here is home video of me performing the solo intro to Temple of the Sun.

Ancient Memories

Although this tune comes later in sequence on the disc it was the first to be composed for New Fire. I had just obtained a Hawk and Geri Littlejohn bass G flute and my first Yazzie flute having just met them. I thought it would be fun to write a piece for a flute and it's bass counterpart.

Yazzie G flute

Right after Distant Spirits came out I was asked to do a workshop for the NCFC on recording a NAF with a computer. I used this piece in that workshop since it was still in production.

Sacred Night

This is the only piece on New Fire where the flute was recorded live during a performance, taken back to the studio where the rest of the instruments were added to it. The piece is in D#/Eb and is played on a Ken Light flute. This is my favorite Ken Light flute. It has a good clean sound but with just a little buzz for character. The fingering on mine is not his usual fingering but the standard NAF fingering of playing the octave by holding down the fourth hole from the bottom.

The flute part itself was an improvisation to which the other parts were layered in weeks later. This is always a fun way to work for me as I enjoy the challenge of working around a recording that is locked down. I did do some processing toward the end where the flute returns as a faint echo in a texture of sounds.

In my mind as I was working on this piece was the memory of a trip I made to Flagstaff, passing through Keyenta, or K-Town as the locals call it, and Tuba city on Hwy 160. The road passes through Tsegi, Shonto, Cow Springs and Tonalea on the north while the cliffs of Black Mesa rise to the south. As the sun began to touch the horizon the sky began to light up in multi chromatic hues.

I began to take photos of the changing scenery and light while driving down the highway. It was one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen and Arizona is known for it's beautiful sunsets. One of the shots made it into the booklet for New Fire.

Well, that's a look at New Fire. We'll look at my other CDs in the near future.

© CEDAR MESA MUSIC. THIS ARTICLE AND ALL IMAGES AND SOUND FILES ARE THE PROPERTY OF CEDAR MESA MUSIC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. UNAUTHORIZED DUPLICATION (COPYING) IN ANY FORM IS ILLEGAL AND IS A VIOLATION OF ALL COPYRIGHT LAWS. THIS INCLUDES, BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO, USING ON YOUR BLOG OR MYSPACE PAGE.

Anasazi Signature flute prototype tests

2008-08-12T00:30:00.000-07:00

As many of you know Geoffrey Ellis and I went through many different prototypes to get the instrument we were looking for. When playing over the phone didn't cut it I made a video clip with my digital still camera. I placed it on a bookshelf to get the mouthpiece in view. Then I emailed it to Geoffrey.

The "ticking" on the soundtrack is the camera's auto focus. Other than that, this is a completely dry take. No reverb or delay.

Scales and Modes part 2

2008-08-07T20:18:00.000-07:00

THE MODES

In the previous section we looked at how major scales are made up of a sequence of whole and half steps. That every major scale has a half step between notes 3 - 4 and 7 - 8. If you move the root note you need to also move the sequence of whole and half steps. Also, that while a major diatonic scale based on the note C has no sharps or flats, if you move the root note up to D both the F and C notes have to be sharp for the sequence to be correct.

But what would happen if we played the notes from D to D but this time we played just the white keys -the notes that make up the C major scale? This would force the sequence of whole and half steps to change and in doing so would construct a completely different scale. Scales that are made up like this, using the notes of a major diatonic scale but starting on a note other than the root, are called modes. Modes are nothing more than a variation of the sequence of whole and half steps.

Let's take a closer look at this.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

INAFA Convention 2998

2008-07-20T15:38:00.000-07:00

I got back from the INAFA convention last week and thought I'd share a little of my time there. This won't be a review of the event but more like a journal of my time there. This was one of the best, if not the best, organized events, flute or otherwise, I've ever had the pleasure of attending. The schedule was well laid out, the venue was almost perfect, the sound guy knew what he was doing and everything seemed to go off like clock work. Most of credit belongs to Kathleen Joyce-Grendahl. The Exec Dir of INAFA. She was greatly assisted by members of the Clear Water Flute Circle. They all did a great job!

THE JOURNEY
Just getting to Eau Claire was amazing for me. My flight from LAX to Minneapolis went over many of my favorite places on earth.

First we flew over one of the main routes out of southern California, the "Cajon Pass" which heads through the Mojave desert to Las Vegas and on into Utah.

After flying directly over Las Vegas and Lake Mead the jet passed Zion and then Bryce Canyon National Park. A UPS plane flew passed below us as we crossed over Sunset Point, the Visitor's Center, Rubys and the town of Tropic.

The next major site was Capitol Reef National Park. This is a off-the-beat park in south central Utah. One of the last areas of the country to get regular mail service.

Next was Canyonlands National Park. This is where the Green and Colorado rivers meet. It is a land of sun baked canyons with two ribbons of green meandering through them. My last free MP3 download was inspired by a back country four-wheel drive trip I took along the stretch of river shown above.

Further to the east is the Upheaval Dome. A very odd geologic feature. Now thought to be the strike of a meteor it was once thought that underground salt erupted from this site. The drainage from in the lower right portion of the dome is very interesting. Something that one doesn't see as clearly from the ground.

Here is the town of Moab, UT the strip of green on the far right, and Castle Valley on the far left. Between the two snakes the Colorado river and Hwy 128, one of the most scenic roads in the country. Below that is Arches National Park. We flew over Balancing Rock, the Windows section and Delicate Arch.

THE CONVENTION
The INAFA convention was held in the little city of Eau Claire, WI. People came from all over the country to attend.

The vendors and artist set up their tables in the lobby of the Haas Fine Arts Building.

I met up with a lot of my friends and made new ones. Here are some of them in alphabetical order.

Mary Jane and Michael Graham Allen, aka Coyote Oldman and Coyote Oldman Flutes.

Bobb Fantauzzo

Robert Gatliff

Keith and Kathleen Joyce-Grendahl

John Kulias of Meadowlark Flutes -ceramic flutes!

Colyn and Kitty Peterson of Woodland Voices flutes

John Sarantos

I took some photos of Jeff and Jo Ann of the Oregon Flute Store, but they were out of focus...

All of the makers shown can be found on the Makers page of my website. You can find INAFA in the links section or just just click on the link here.

Well that's it until the next convention...

Tom Vezo

2008-07-20T13:10:00.000-07:00

In my journey with the Native American flute I've been lucky to meet a lot of really great people. Most are just NAF folks that play for fun, others come from other interests but share a love for the NAF. One of those was Tom Vezo.

Tom was an incredibility talented photographer. His speciality was wildlife photography and his focus was birds. It was quite a shock that I learned that Tom died Friday afternoon ( July 18th, 2008) while hiking in the Rincon mountains of AZ. I've spoken one of his close friends and the details are still slim. He was 61.

Tom was a very dedicated and passionate person. He was also one of the original members of the Tucson Native American Flute Circle.

The family has requested no flowers...Donations may be made in Tom's memory to Defenders Committee of the Friends of Madera Canyon; P.O. Box 1203; Green Valley, AZ. 85622

If you have a love of the wild and a love and respect for birds as I do you owe it to yourself to check out his site www.tomvezo.com.

Here is some more information about Tom from the Green Valley News and Sun:

Tom Vezo's work is widely published in the United States and Europe in many books, calendars, magazines and advertisements. His credits include: Audubon, Birder’s World, Bird Watcher’s Digest, Discovery, Ducks Unlimited, National Geographic, National Wildlife Federation, Nature Conservancy, Nature’s Best, Natural History, Outdoor Photographer, Sierra Club, Travel and Leisure, Wildbird, Wildlife Conservation and many more.

He was winner of 1998 and 1999 Nature's Best Magazines photo contest for “Wildlife” in the professional category and the BBC Wildlife photographer of the year in 1997 as an honorable mention.

He was recognized as one of the top bird photographers in the United States but also photographed landscapes all over the world. He led many photography tours throughout the United States and Canada teaching people the techniques of nature photography in the field. His expansive photo library contained more than 400,000 images.

Passionate about preserving Madera Canyon, Vezo helped publicize organizations like Friends of Madera Canyon and The Defenders of Madera Canyon on his Web site and in his monthly e-mailed newsletters, illustrating many of his causes with photos of the endangered areas.

Echoes From The Mesa, Summer 2008

2008-07-06T15:19:00.000-07:00

The Scott August Newsletter

The Summer 2008 newsletter is up. In it you can find information about the following:

Ancient Light DVD to air on PBS
Flute Class: Intermediate NAF & Beginning Anasazi flute
Native American flutes Scales and Modes: part 1
New MP3 Download (Emailing List Member's)
Appearances
Reviews
Anasazi Signature flutes

If you are a member of Scott August's Emailing visit the member's section of www.cedarmesa.com or www.scottaugust.com to find the member's version of this newsletter.

If you are not a member you can become one at any time by going to the Sign Up page.

Scales and Modes part 1

2008-06-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

During my travels, workshops and performances I'm asked many times by Native American flute players and audience members about the scale of the Native American flute. Surprisingly, even among long time players and makers, there seems to be some confusion about the scale and the other modes that can be played on a NAF. Many people don't know what the scale is and it is often mislabeled as a "native "scale which, in it's most common form today, it is not.

History tells us that at one time the scales of the Native American flute varied greatly and that there was no standardized scale system. Today however, the NAF is most commonly tuned to the minor pentatonic scale, a western scale which like most, if not all, "western" scales can trace it's roots back to ancient Greece.

But what makes a scale minor pentatonic? Or major pentatonic? Or major, the most common western scale? Is a scale the same as a key, and if not, how do they differ? To understand the the scale of the Native American flute it's best to understand how scales are constructed. Not only will this give the player and maker a better understanding of the Native American flute, it will make them better musicians. For behind knowing about scales lies the secrets to what musical keys are all about, which different keyed flutes sound good together, what different modes sound good together and what is meant by terms such as Diatonic, Pentatonic, Major, Minor and Mode. These terms come up with increasing frequency during flute circles, online disscusion groups and between individual players and makers.

In this series of posts we're going to try to answer these questions in a way that is simple for a non-musician to understand. Be warned however that this can not be done without getting into some theory. You will discover however that you already know much of this information intuitively. Personally I have always found theory to be fun. It's like a puzzle. You start by working with a couple of pieces, then with whole sections and soon you have a complete image.

Don't forget, it's just music. It's not brain surgery...

SCALES AND MODES:
WHAT ARE THEY AND HOW DO THEY WORK?
The most common scale on the Native American flute is the minor pentatonic. However with a little change of fingering other scales can be played. Since these scales will all relate to each other as they have some common notes they can be considered as "sub-scales" of a main, or parent scale. These sub-scales are better know as modes. Modes have been around for hundreds of years. The two most common modes are the Ionian, better known as the Major scale and the Aeolian better known as the Minor scale. As you can see the words scale and mode tend to be used to mean the same thing even though they're not the same. They are related however. We're not going to go into that here (if you want to get deep into this spend some time doing a Google search or poke around Wikipedia, there's lots of information out there.) but for the purposes of making this easier to understand let's try to simplify this down to the basics.

Let's start with a major scale...

Read the full article

© 2008 Cedar Mesa Music - Scott August

Artist group protests `orphan' copyright bill

2008-06-03T17:00:00.000-07:00

I'm sure I'm violating some copyright law in posting this so let me say clearly this is from The Boston Herald. I believe this might be of interest to the Native American flute community as we create music, art, photos and many other things that might fall prey to this pending bill. There is also some links at the bottom for more information about this.
-Scott August

Artist group protests `orphan' copyright bill

By DAVID WILDMAN -- The Boston Herald , May 22, 2008 Thursday ALL EDITIONS

The Orphan Works Act seems innocuous enough: a federal bill designed to help museums and libraries use works of art if the creators are unknown, something they can't do under current copyright law.

Don't believe it, says a group of Massachusetts-based artist organizations and volunteer lawyers. They claim the bill now sailing through the House and Senate will radically restructure copyright law and infringe artists' rights.

``What they are doing is, in effect, reversing the order of copyright law,'' said Brad Holland of the Marshfield-based Illustrators Partnership of America. ``This bill shifts the presumption of ownership from the creator to the public.''

The bill was originally devised to help museums, libraries and documentary filmmakers access images and artworks whose author is unknown. For example, a museum with a collection of Depression-era photos could not put it on their Web site under current copyright law without getting permission from each of the photographers, which would be nearly impossible.

The Orphan Works Act solves this problem, but goes much further. It allows any work of art to be used for free by anyone who files notice that they are conducting a ``diligent search'' for the creator. It also calls for the creation of a privately run database where artists must register their work or run the risk of having it declared ``orphan.''

``It's like killing a mosquito with a machine gun,'' said Jim Grace of Boston's Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. ``I think it's being driven by commercial interests.''

Under this bill, artists would have to register their works for a fee to receive copyright protection that is now free. The database could be run by an Internet company such as Google (one of the bill's backers), which would stand to make a huge profit.

Bill co-sponsor Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) declined to comment but released a statement: ``We have worked to strike the right balance to protect the interests of copyright owners and potential users of orphan works.''

``That's bull,'' said Cynthia Turner of the Illustrators Partnership. ``If they really wanted to create orphan works legislation to do what (Leahy) says, they could bring in new, spehttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifcial, very defined uses. Latitude could be allowed in using works where the copyright owner couldn't be located or identified.''

In response to the outcry against the bill, U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Quincy) wants to give artists more of a say.

``It's been a while since we've heard from that many people from the artists community,'' said Mark Forest, Delahunt's chief of staff. ``If they're concerned, we're concerned.''

Contact your Rep Tell them you are against the Orphan copyright bill. You can email them or better yet, call them!

LINKS
nikondigital.org
arstechnica.com
Copyright Clearance Center
U.S. Copyright Office page

New Age Reporter review of Lost Canyons

2008-05-21T16:13:00.000-07:00

Bill Binkelman reviewed Lost Canyons for New Age Reporter and we thought we'd like to share it with you...

"It alarms me that an artist of Scott August's caliber managed to release five recordings (his sixth is coming very soon) and I have only now heard his music. Guess I'm not such an icon in the industry after all, am I? I named this to my best of 2007 list, but it's even better than that. I'd place it in my top ten for Native-influenced fusion music, period. Yeah, high praise, but after playing this album at least ten times prior to writing this review, I'm sure it belongs there.

August plays way too many specific instruments to recount here, but among them are flutes (primarily the Anasazi flute which this recording seems to pay tribute to), piano, percussion, guitars, ethnic instruments such as the kalimba gamelan, and "textures" which I take to mean the application of synthesizers in assorted permutations. In this last aspect, August should give lessons to others as his dexterous superb blending of synths adds just the right amount to any song on which it's featured. Never too over the top yet also not so subtle as to make the listener question whether anything has been added at all. He's also an amazing percussionist across the full spectrum of the drums and other instruments which he uses on the CD.

Variety is the catch word here, as Lost Canyons contains everything from the plaintive beauty of the opening "Morning Star" (Anasazi flute, alabaster chimes and textures, the latter two coming into play later in the song) to the lively "Raven Dance" which intermixes percussion from just about every continent with guitar, piano and Tiger Maple flute. And those are just the first two songs on the album"

Post continues here

© Cedar Mesa Music

Spring Gathering Photos...for real

2008-05-07T22:29:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Denise Halliburton I now have photos from the Spring Gathering in Georgetown.

The 2nd annual "Spring Gathering" sponsored by the NCFC NoNahme Clan Clan was April 26th, 2008. Lew Price worked hard to make this year's festival a success and succeeded with flying colors. Unlike the first festival the weather was great! Warm clear skies and no rain. There was a large turnout of people, flute makers and flutes players.

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Lost Canyons #2 on Echoes Top 25

2008-05-03T15:46:00.000-07:00

Cedar Mesa Music is proud to announce that Lost Canyons hit #2 on the Echoes Top 25 playlist for April 2008. Echoes is one of the largest syndicated New Age radio programs in the nation heard on 130 stations.

Lost Canyons has also been in the top five of the New Age Reporter playlist for the last three months. You can read more reviews or listen to samples from Lost Canyons on the Cedar Mesa Music website.

Back to Cedar Mesa Music News

Spring Gathering Photos...sort of

2008-05-03T15:15:00.000-07:00

I've posted some notes and photos from the Spring Gathering in Georgetown last weekend. During the festival I was too busy teaching workshops and performing to take photos but after my Sunday workshop I went out with some friends to see the surrounding area. Georgetown is just up the road from where gold was discovered in California in 1848 and there are lot of wineries in the area, being one of the oldest wine growing regions in the state.

Post continues here

Intermediate/Advanced NAF workshop

2008-05-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

Native American Music Award winner Scott August is coming to the Bay Area and will be giving an Intermediate/Advanced NAF workshop in Napa, CA

If you feel you've reached a plateau with your Native American flute playing this workshop is perfect for you. Learn the secrets to spicing up your NAF playing and improvising. Make the leap to the next level.

Learn the tricks that make you sound like a pro!

Vibrato control
How to make your flute chirp
Advanced ornamentation including trills and turns
Tonguing techniques for more expressive articulation
Flutter tonguing
How to improvise like a pro

Intermediate/Advanced NAF workshop
Date: May 10th, 2008
Time: 1:00 pm Class will be 90 minutes long
Place: 793 La Salle Way, Napa, CA, 94559
Cost: $40

Class size is limited. To reserve your space send an email to Cedar Mesa Music or take your chances and just show up.

Flute Wraps

2008-04-24T21:43:00.000-07:00

Some of my best friends belong to the Tucson Native American Flute Circle, TNAFC. I've talked about Keith Stanford before and profiled one of his flutes. Another friend of mine is really two people, Ed and Fran Pendrys of Juniper Flute Accessories.

Juniper Flute Accessories makes tasteful flute stands and bags. They also make really nice flute wraps. Something you won't find on their website for some reason.

Here is an example of one of their wraps on a Geoffrey Ellis flute.

They do really nice bead work on beautiful leather. All of this is done by Fran on a small loom. She doesn't do a lot of them since, as with so many people in the Native flute world, she wants it to be fun -not a job.

I consider myself very fortunate to have a few of these great wraps. They look great and really dress up a flute. If you're interested in one email them through their website.

Sandhill Crane flute

2008-04-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

Here are some images of a Sandhill Crane flute by Greg Jones

The body is made of lacewood.

The block and mouthpiece are made from rosewood. Note the celtic inlay of rosewood too.

The carved head extremely well done. This flute is in the key of Bb and has a sweet, clear tone that carries well.

Sandhill Cranes are the most common crane in the American Southwest with their distictive red head. They are found all over the U.S., Canada and even Seberia.

Greg Jones can be found in Oregon. He does not sell flutes directly but my understanding is that you can possiblly get one by contacting The Flute Case store. I have also heard rumor that Querencia Woodwinds might begin selling them this summer. If you have any interest I would suggest you contact them.

Scott August Signature Anasazi flutes

2008-04-10T18:03:00.000-07:00

Cedar Mesa Music and Scott August are proud to announce the Scott August Signature Anasazi Flute. These professional quality instruments are made by Geoffrey Ellis of Earth Tone Flutes and are perfect for both beginning and advanced players. Ideal for concert stage, recording studios or just nooding around alone as you discover your true Kokopelli.

Scott and Geoffrey worked closely together to construct a flute that had the distinctive warm, low sound that Scott strives for in his recordings while still keeping ease of playing in mind. Several prototypes were constructed and extensively tested. The final designs were then field tested by members of Scott's beginning Anasazi flute class before Scott and Geoffrey made their final decision. The result is a warm, resonant low tone with a silky smooth response.

To satisfy both the collector and the everyday flute player these flutes will be available in two lines

The Scott August Signature Ansaszi Flute
and
The Scott August Anasazi Flute Series

The Scott August Signature Ansaszi Flute
Shown above, this is a limited edition flute. Only twenty five flutes will be offered per year, each year will it's own distinct design. Made of eastern red cedar The Scott August Signature Anasazi Flute is tastefully accented with a crushed turquoise Cedar Mesa Music logo and Bore Rings in a style reminiscent of Chaco Canyon jewelry. Each flute will be signed by Scott August, Numbered and come with a Certificate of Authenticity, a bag and maintenance kit.

Available in the keys of Ab and A these flutes will be made to order to accommodate both right and left handed players. See below for prices and availability.

The Scott August Anasazi Flute Series

Also made of eastern red cedar the Scott August Anasazi Flute Series is a more affordable version of the Signature flute accented with a wood burned Cedar Mesa Music logo and Bore Rings. Each flute will come with a bag and a flute maintenance kit.

Available in the keys of Ab and A, with other keys to be anounced, these flutes will be made to order to accommodate both right and left handed players. See below for prices and availability.

The Scott August Ansaszi Flute Series

Prices and Availability
These flutes will be available starting April 21th, 2008

The Scott August Signature Ansaszi Flute:
Price: $350.00 One of 25 Signed and numbered flutes. Keys available: Ab and A
Comes with a certificate of authenticity, a bag and maintenance kit

The Scott August Anasazi Flute Series
Price: $235.00. Keys available: Ab and A. Other keys to be anounced.
Comes with a bag and maintenance kit

How to order
To order your flute send the following information to Cedar Mesa Music

Name

Address

City, State, Zip

Phone

Which Key?
Tell us which hand you place on the bottom holes –right or left?
We don’t need a deposit

Anasazi flute class review

2008-03-24T20:32:00.000-07:00

I know the posts have been a little light lately, but I'm hoping to start posting more frequently. To start off I thought I'd show some photos from the Anasazi flute class I gave earlier this month for the Inland Empire Flute Circle. All the photos were taken by Barbara Garliner, the IEFC's de facto official photographer.

The class met in the future home of the Dorthy Ramon Learning Center, a non profit group that is dedicated to saving and sharing all Southern California’s American Indian cultures, languages, history, music, and other traditional arts.

The class was made up of about eight very brave people as the Anasazi flute takes a strong will to learn to play for most people. We've looked at this flute in great detail in earlier posts so I won't go into that here.

Everyone had to get a flute for the class and some did not have them very long before class day. A few chose to maker their own. A double challenge.

The first thing we did was to talk about the embouchure, or lip position that the player needs to learn to play the flute. Unlike the NAF the vast majority of people can't just pick up an Anasazi flute and get a tone right away. It can take days, weeks, even months of practice and the embouchure is extremely important.

Each member of the class got to try it out for themselves and I was able to tailor my comments to every one's individual needs.

In addition to the homemade PVC Anasazi flute we had a professional maker of Native American style flutes, Rich Halliburton of Querencia Woodwinds. Rich and I are good friends but I don't know what other "woodwinds" he makes besides flutes. His NAF's however are very nice and one of his flutes won top prize at last years Oklahoma Flute Festival. John Stillwell was also at the circle meeting as was Steve Meier a budding flute maker who was there to debut some of his flutes.

Here is a photo of Michelle. She is in the military and if I remember correctly was a captain in the navy. Not many women can play the Anasazi flute due to the long length of the bore. In the photo she is playing an Ab (G#) and if she was smaller and could not reach the finger holes of this key she could try one in the key of A. I know of a maker that is planing to make some Anasazi flutes in Bb so that more women can play them. Coincidentally, I've been doing some digging lately into the original Anasazi flutes that were found by Earl Morris in "Broken Flute Cave" and it turns out that they are reported to have been in the key of Bb so these shorter flutes will still be authentic to the prehistoric ones.

Here's a photo of Ernest Siva giving the Anasazi flute a try. Ernest is a elder of the Morrongo tribe and grew up on the Morongo Indian Reservation located in the San Gorgonio pass. The culture of this area had flutes very similar to the Anasazi flute but shorter and with a narrower bore and only four holes. Several of these are in a museum in Riverside and Marvin and Jonette Yazzie of Yazzie Flutes have made recreations of them. They are really hard to play and the pitch class of the scale is still a mystery.

Speaking of Jonette Yazzie, here is a photo of her playing an Anasazi flute. Her playing position is not the best but as she is not that tall she found that holding the flute a little to the side was the only way she could reach the bottom finger holes. Like Michelle (shown above), Jonette is playing an Ab.

We also looked at a recreation of a Hopi flute that was in use as recently as 120 years ago. These flutes continued to be used after the Anasazi flute apparently fell out of use about A.D. 1250, which coincides with the great migration out of the four corners area and, some believe, the appearance of the kachina cult.

At the end of class I showed everyone some prototypes of some Anasazi flutes by a maker new to these instruments. I handed them out to the class to get some feedback on how they played for beginners. We'll look at these Anasazi flute in greater depth in a later article.

If you're interested in trying to learn to play one of these flutes I'm giving a class in Northern California on April 26 as part of the Northern California Flute Circle Spring Gathering Festival. To find out more here.

Anasazi flute class

2008-01-23T10:54:00.000-08:00

I am offering a class on how to play the Anasazi flute on Saturday, March 8th, 2008.

The class will cover:

Introduction to the Anasazi flute
How to hold the flute
Lip position and placement "Embrosure"
Getting your first notes
Perfecting your tone
Exploring the scales
Breath control
How to practice

For complete details visit the class page on my website.

Hope to see you there,
Scott August

Chasing the Sun: Haran Triple flute

2007-12-09T14:13:00.000-08:00

There is a lot of experimentation going on in the world of Native American flute. Many makers are trying different designs and combinations to come up with some very interesting flutes. The history of flute making is one of change spread over thousands of years but recently the amount of experimentation has been increasing at a tremendous rate staring about ten years ago with the first bass NAFs made by Hawk and Geri Littlejohn and continues today with many makers. These new designs include bass flutes, drone flutes and double flutes made from a variety of woods and clay and other materials.

My latest recording Lost Canyons features one of these very unusual Native American flutes on track #10: a triple chambered flute made by Pat Haran which is best described as a double drone flute.

In this latest post we're going to look at this flute and a common NAF player affliction "Flute Envy".

Read the full article

© Cedar Mesa Music

LOST CANYONS: Echoes CD of the month

2007-11-25T14:51:00.000-08:00

LOST CANYONS chosen as ECHOES CD of the Month for December 2007.

Echoes is a daily two-hour music soundscape, distributed by Public Radio International (PRI) and broadcast on over 150 radio stations from Maine to California.

ECHOES DECEMBER CD OF THE MONTH
SCOTT AUGUST: LOST CANYONS
"A Native Flute virtuoso heads for canyon echoes.
We've been playing Scott August's music for years on Echoes. He's become an expert on the Native American flute and combines it with sensitive electronic arrangements and environmental sound. Lost Canyons is his latest, and finest album to date. Inspired by the desert southwest, August creates epic journeys and quiet meditations on this meticulously crafted CD. It's our Echoes CD of the Month for December."

LOST CANYONS will be featured on the Echoes Dec 3rd broadcast. To find a station near you click here.

Please show your support for Lost Canyons by voting for it in the Echoes 2007 Listener's Poll. Voters will be entered into a drawing to win all 25 top 2007 titles and more. You can vote HERE.

Voting is very easy. Echoes has provided pull down menus of all the choices alphabetical by the artist's first name. They ask for you to pick your top three in order but if you don't have three picks you can chose "No selection" from the top of the pull down menu.

Voting ends Dec 6th so don't wait!

© 2007 Cedar Mesa Music.

Fall 2007 Newsletter

2007-11-06T12:24:00.000-08:00

The Fall 2007 issue of Echoes From The Mesa is out and is posted in the News Section of www.cedarmesa.com

If your a member of my E-mailing List go to the Member's Section.

Central Coast Flute Festival

2007-10-23T18:25:00.000-07:00

Photos from the Central Coast Flute Festival

The festival had a great projection system for my video backgrounds

Playing "Heart of the Sky" from New Fire

Performing "Emergence" from Distant Spirits

Playing "Raven Dance" from Lost Canyons
This is a good shot of my "band", aka Mac PowerBook G4, plus some other goodies in the black box.

Adding Digital Downloads

2007-10-22T17:03:00.001-07:00

I plan to add this to www.cedarmesa.com but thought I'd try it out here first.

Below is my SNOCAP store. You can purchase a whole CD or click the + sign next to the CD name and it will open up to allow you to purchase tracks a la carte. Currently I've only uploaded Lost Canyons. More to come. Stay tuned...

Canyon Rainbow

2007-10-21T18:28:00.000-07:00

Got a few shots of this during my last trip to the Canyon...

Lost Canyons: Behind the Music

2007-10-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

Many of you have asked me to talk about my recordings in depth. The biggest question is "What flute did you use on a certain song?" or "What key is that piece in?". I don't include this information in the CD booklet as I feel that it takes away from the magic of the music to transport the listener if there is too much technical information. Also, most of the people that listen to my music aren't musicians and don't care that much. But for those of you that do, I thought my blog would be the perfect place to talk about this.

As Lost Canyons is my most recent release I thought I'd start with it.

ARTICLE CONTINUES...

How to Start a Record Label part 2

2007-07-21T17:19:00.000-07:00

I've posted Part 2 of How to Start your own Record Label on my website. This article covers a lot of the legal side of making music including:

Copyrights
Licensing
Royalties
and
Marketing.

This article is exclusively for members of my E-mailing List. If you are a member please visit the Member's Page on either www.cedarmesa.com or www.scottaugust.com Look for the new link called Exclusive Member's Articles.If you're not a member you can sign up for free. Details are on the web sites listed above. Click on the "Mailing List" link. It's free and you get free MP3 music and 10% all purchases.Click here to read Part 1 of How to Start your own Record Label

The Extended Scale of the Anasazi Flute

2007-06-06T15:49:00.000-07:00

In our last two articles about the Anasazi flute we looked at the basic major pentatonic and then the minor pentatonic scales respectively. If you'll recall we also discovered that the major pentatonic is Anhemitonic pentatonic scale, so called because the scale doesn't have any half steps, like the Native American flute scale, and that the minor scale is Hemitonic pentatonic scale because it has some half steps. To review this check out the last article: The Minor Scale of the Anasazi flute.

In this section we're going to look at the Extended scale found in the Anasazi flute's lower octave. By extended I mean all the playable notes. This scale has nine notes that are determined by the physical construction of the Anasazi flute itself. It is not presented here as a scale that you would find practical to play or even pleasing to listen to, but rather as a reference of all the notes available in the lower octave of the Anasazi flute; how they are fingered and their intervalic relationship to the root note.

THE EXTENDED SCALE OF THE ANASAZI FLUTE

Grand Canyon Hike

2007-05-30T23:10:00.000-07:00

It was somewhere about two miles from the rim while hiking back out when I began to doubt that I might make it all the way up to the top again. The light was fading quickly in the side canyon of the Bright Angel trail and my left knee had just had two sharp, shooting pains that felt like someone was driving a metal stake through it. The day had been long, but I had gotten a late start. The morning was spent answering emails and now here I was in another world where the concept of time existed in spans that stretch longer than a human life. And against it all the realization of just how insignificant we all are and especially I was at that moment.

For years I'd seen the canyon from the rim. Wondering what it was like to see it from the inside. I'd made several short trips down but no more than a few miles. Today I was going almost all the way. Six miles in and 3,100' down. Six miles out and 3,100' up.

The day was clear and comfortable. The strong, cold winds of the last two days was gone, replaced by a gentle breeze. On my back was a new Camelbak pack with 3 liters of water. I also brought another two extra liters just in case. On my head was a big, ugly floppy hat, but perfect for shading my head from the hot sun that would be waiting for me at the bottom of the trail. For now I was in the shade of the cliffs and cool in the high elevation. The trail head starts a 6,860 ft above sea level where the air is cool and pine trees whisper in the wind.

Read the full story

Ancient Territories flutes

2007-05-01T21:23:00.000-07:00

The number of Native American style flute makers is growing everyday. It's getting harder and harder to find flutes that are different enough and also well made to fork over the money for another flute. However these makers are out there -which is good for NAF enthusiasts but bad for bank balances- and one of these is John Stillwell of Ancient Territories flutes.

I first met John at the debut meeting of the Inland Empire Flute Circle and it was obvious that he was doing things that I had never seen before. At that time all of his flutes had end caps made of multiple layers of contrasting colored wood in a distinctive chevron pattern. The workmanship was first rate. Turns out John has a background in cabeint making so he knows how to work with wood. The other difference was that instead of cutting his blanks on the horizonal he cuts most of his on the vertical so that the seam runs through the finger holes and sound holes. The final touch was that the flutes flaired slightly on the top making for a subtile flatting of the finger board, the top of the flute where the finger holes are.

All of this made for a very unusual looking flute. They also sounded good too and since that time John has constantly experimented to make his flutes even better.

For good or for bad many flute makers stop experimenting once they get a template that works for them. For many makers this is not a problem once they get a good sounding flute. John however seems to be driven to strive for the next level of his craft.

Read the full aritcle

The Minor Scale of the Anasazi Flute

2007-03-19T19:24:00.000-07:00

In our last look at the Anasazi flute we saw that the Anasazi flute, like the Native American flute, has a basic pentatonic scale. The NAF basic scale is a minor pentatonic while the Anasazi flute's basic scale is a major pentatonic. However the Anasazi flute has several other scales that can be easily played by just changing a few fingerings. One of these is a minor pentatonic. However the Anasazi flute's minor pentatonic is slighty modified from the Native American flute's minor pentatonic.

A PENTATONIC REVIEW
Before we can understand why the minor scale of the Anasazi flute is modified we need to understand a little more about common pentatonic scales. The most common pentatonic scale is called a Anhemitonic pentatonic scale by ethnomusicologists because it has no half-steps. The so called NAF pentatonic minor scale is a Anhemitonic pentatonic scale. You can easily play a Anhemitonic pentatonic scale using only the black keys of a piano.

WHAT IS A HALF STEP?
Musical systems are broken down by the smallest distance between tones. In the case of the Western European scales that we use most often in our culture (so called Western Culture) the smallest distance is the Half Step.

Half steps are very easy to play on a piano. Any two notes that are next to each other are a half step apart. The easiest to play is to go from a white key to a black key that lies next to it. Another is to play two white keys that are directly next to one another. (There are two of these on a piano.)

In the example below all the notes in red are some of the half steps you can find on a piano.

There are no half steps between any of the black keys on a piano. That's why its so easy to play a Anhemitonic pentatonic scale on the the black keys. It's built in.

Let's listen again to the basic scales of the Native American flute and the Anasazi flute, both starting on F#.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

© Cedar Mesa Music

The Basic Anasazi Flute Scale

2007-03-13T18:14:00.000-07:00

The Anasazi flute, currently recreated by Michael Graham Allen, is starting to gain popularity among players of the modern "plains" style Native American flute. It's haunting tone and ability to maneuver through the overtones of the harmonic series creates a very seductive sound. Since more people are becoming interested in them let's take a closer look at how the basic scale is set up on this flute and how it differs from the modern NAF.

First here is a quick look at how a Anasazi flute is held. As you can see the lower half of the mouthpiece end of the flute is set in the middle of the jaw. The player blows across the top part of the rim with the flute held at a 45˚ angle. We'll take a closer look at this later. For now let's take a look at the basic scale.

A DIFFERENT PENTATONICS SCALE
The Anasazi flute, like the modern Native American flute, has a pentatonic scale as it's basic scale. However, it's not the NAF's minor version of the pentatonic but the major version. A pentatonic scale has five notes (from the Greek pente: five) plus the octave.

Let's listen to examples of both these scales starting on F#.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

© Cedar Mesa Music

Two Tunable Drone Flutes

2007-02-05T16:36:00.000-08:00

On my recording New Fire there is a song called "Cactus Dance". This was recorded using a High Spirits tunable drone flute. A drone flute is basically two flute chambers built into one fllute body. One of the chambers has finger holes and plays like a normal Native American flute and plays the melody while the other chamber doesn't have finger holes and therefore only plays one note or "drones". This second chamber is usually tuned to the bottom note of the flute. Not unlike a Bagpipe.

In this article we're going to look at two tunable drone flutes, both in the key of A.

One of them was made by Odell Borg of High Spirits flutes. (left)

The other was made by Rich Halliburton of Querencia Flutes. (right)

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

Playing in the Snow

2007-01-25T22:10:00.000-08:00

Playing an Anasazi flute in Chiricahua National Monument, located in southern Arizona. Yup, southern Arizona gets snow from time to time. This is about 40 miles north of the border with Mexico.
Photo ©Keith Stanford

Flute Circle Pumpkin Crunch

2007-01-25T22:02:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Cathy Tuhy for bringing this tasty treat to my workshop in Tucson last weekend. It was a hit.
Good for all flute circle meetings.

1 29-ounce can pure pumpkin
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
1 teaspoon butter flavoring
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons cinnamon

1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup melted margarine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix first
eight ingredients until well blended, and
pour into a greased 9 X 13-inch pan.
sprinkle cake mix on top and then cover
with pecans. Drizzle with melted margarine
over top. Bake 45 - 55 minutes or until top
is golden and a bit crispy.

Starting your own Music Label Part 1

2007-01-13T12:37:00.000-08:00

THE ARTIST'S GUIDE TO
STARTING AN INDEPENDENT RECORD LABEL

So you want to start your own record label? And why not, there are plenty of reasons to do so. Here are a few:

Artistic and Monetary control
Record companies do not have a reputation for making small artists money
Keep in direct contact with your listeners.
No legal junk to deal with. (Not much anyway)

All of this is now possible in the world we live in mostly thanks to the Internet. (This is a good time to mention supporting Net-Neutrality.) Having you're own business is an exciting challenge and extremely rewarding. How far you take it is up to you and the amount of work you put into it.In this part of Starting Your Own Music Label we're going to look at the basics to get your company up and running. We'll look at:

How big do you want to be?

What it costs

Where to start
- Picking a Name
- Setting yourself up with a Performance Rights Organization
- Picking and registering your company name
- Location, location, location
- Business license and filing
How your company looks on paper and on the web
- Your Logo
- Letterhead, Business Cards
- How to get YOURBUSINESS.COM
Banking
Bar Codes

Article continues...

Zion Native American flute festival

2006-12-10T16:23:00.000-08:00

I've posted some photos from the 2006 Zion Canyon Native American flute festival.

Nixon Presidential Library Concert

2006-12-10T16:16:00.000-08:00

I've posted some photos from my July 23rd concert at the Nixon Presidential Library.

Recording Your Own Flute Music

2006-11-05T19:56:00.000-08:00

One of the questions I seem to get more than any other is from people wanting to know how to record their own flute playing. As I use fairly expensive equipment and software for my recordings I'm never sure how to answer this as I assume that most people don't intend to spend a lot of money.

So I called my friend Hal Stevens at West LA Music and picked his brain a little. Hal gave me a few options for people wanting to put together a small inexpensive set-up to record themselves and we'll look at two different options in this post. At the bottom you'll find contact info for Hal and I highly recommend you contact him before buying anything.

WHAT IT ALL MEANS:
Before we start let's talk about a some of the components and what they do.

Microphones: A Mic converts sound waves to electronic impulses. The better the Mic the better the conversion, e.g. the better the sound recorded.

Audio Interfaces: A audio interface converts the electronic impulses from a Mic into the 1s and 0s of digital code. The better the audio interface the better the conversion into digital code. Audio interfaces also convert the digital code back to electrical impulses that go to your Monitors (speakers). Again the better the audio interface the better the sound delivered to your speaks and thus your and your listeners ears.
Audio interfaces are also known by the name Digital I/O.

Click here to read all of Recording Your Own Flute Music

Twilight Journey

2006-10-04T21:04:00.000-07:00

During the day the colors of the canyon country are washed out, lossing their rich hues and becoming pale and dull. But during sunrise and sunset, when shadows are long and the rays from the sun are traveling though more of the earth's atmosphere the colors of the desert bursts to life. Reds ignite like fire, the blue of the sky turns a rich turquoise and sandstone cliffs glows the spectrum between white, pink and gold.

I find myself waiting for these this special time of day. Waitingat the edge of some vast canyon or hurrying in my truck to some spot I know will perfectly catch the light. Camera ready. I call these Twilight Journeys.

One place that never fails no matter how many times I've seen them are the sunsets at Grand Canyon. I'm always amazed. Most people choose watch the sun, itself, set over the horizon. Something I've always felt I can do at home. I prefer to face away from the sun and watch the colors of the canyon cliffs come to life. For only at the canyon can you experience the fiery reds, glistening golds and shimmering sand colors that make help make the canyon grand.

Another place that is almost always perfect is the southern edge of Cedar Mesa, the place where Cedar Mesa Music gets it's name. Rising 1,100' above the Goosenecks of the San Juan river, Valley of the Gods and Mexican Hat, on a clear day from any of the vantage points you can see from Ute Mountain in southeastern Colorado to Monument Valley on the Utah-Arizona border.

Below Cedar Mesa from the view point at Monument Valley Tribal Park you can get a close up view of the famous Mittens and if you're there during sunset you can see Ute Mountain to the east and the silhouette of Navajo Mountain to the west. Navajo Mountain is also visible at sunset from Cedar Mesa. It is sacred to the Navajos and like all the mountains of the Four Corners a fixed point on the landscape

To be honest, there aren't many bad spots to catch the end of day in southern Utah, but one of the best is in Arches National Park. So many elements come together there, vast open spaces, playful arches, balancing rocks and views of snow covered mountain. There are so many places in the park where the line between the last rays of daylight and the first shadows of night is a razor sharp line. As if you could move from day to night in a single step as you watch night take over day and swallow the earth whole.

Sunset is also one the most popular time to visit Delicate Arch, the Park's most famous feature. The last time I was there it felt like I was at some ancient temple of stone. As the sun set the arch began to glow gold. Suddenly the moon appeared behind the arch, rising over the La Sal mountains. I climb into the slick sandstone bowl that lies below Delicate Arch, risking a nasty fall, and got a shot of the moon shinning through the arch hole. Nature's Stonehenge.

Views also abound at Bryce Canyon National Park. The elevation at Sunset Point is 8,000' and the canyon, really a series of amphitheaters, tumbles down to the Paria valley 1,000' below. Once again Navajo mountain is visible, if just barely. This time it lies to the east.

From Bryce bands of color are seen in the sky to the east during the last minutes of daylight. They become lighter as they climb higher in to the twilight sky. These bands are the thin layers of the earth's atmosphere made visible, and are the last breath of daylight.

These are but a few of the locations that I love so much during this special time of day. Others happen without warning or expectation. All of them Twilight Journeys.

TWILIGHT JOURNEY is the latest free MP3 download available to memeber of my e-Mailing List. It features a Pat Haran E bass flute made of curly Port Orford Cedar with accents of Redwood and Padauk. Orignially recorded as an improvisation during my concert the Nixon Library in July of this year. Later in my studio I added textures, loops and piano to add to the mystery and emotion of the piece. To listen or download it follow the link below. Then sit back and let your mind and imagination drift.

In Harmony
-Scott August

Join Scott August's free e-Mailing List to listen to TWILIGHT JOURNEY

All © Cedar Mesa Music. All rights reserved.

New Fire wins Indian Sumer Music Award!

2006-09-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

New Fire has won a Indian Summer Music Award (ISMA) in the Native Spirit category. The awards were part of the Indian Summer Festival which celebrated their 20th anniversary September 8, 9 and 10, 2006 at Henry Maier Festival Park on Milwaukee’s beautiful lakefront.

The winners were picked by judges who are professionals in the music and entertainment industries. All judging is conducted independently of the ISMA Committee and consists of a two phase process to determine the winners in each category.

Fore more details on the visit their web site. Indian Summer Festival .

Storm over the Island in the Sky

2006-09-09T09:47:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge

Playing/Composing from the Heart -part 2

2006-08-15T17:43:00.000-07:00

Whenever I teach a song writing class for Native American flute players one of the biggest frustrations I hear from my students is that they have a real difficult time not ending everything on the bottom note of the flute. This is a common complaint and in this article we'll give you some ideas about how to deal with this.

Untimely many songs do end on the bottom note, the trick is to delay this so that when you finally do it land on the bottom note it will have a stronger sense of closure. Delaying an ending on the root note sets up some nice tension in your musical ideas and gives your songs a sense of progression and resolution. Like taking a little musical journey and then returning safely home.

Here is what we're going to look at:

Why All Notes Lead to the Root
The Weight and Gravity of the Notes of the NAF Scale
A Look at Each Note
How to Apply This: Some Simple Exersises

As I teach in my classes, one of the best ways to Play from the Heart is to really understand the NAF pentatonic minor scale and the implied harmonies that can be found in the notes. Each note in the scale has it's own weight, or gravity, relative to the other notes in the scale. Those with less weight tend to move to those with more. Knowing and understanding these relationships will allow you to exploit this natural phenomenon and will help give your tunes an implied harmonic motion. Normally an instrument that can produce chords plays harmonies, but you can create the illusion of harmony by the notes you choose for your melodies, especially at the ends of phrases.

Click here to read all of PLAYING FROM THE HEART, part 2.

Moki Dugway

2006-08-02T22:12:00.000-07:00

Another panorama from the top of the Moki Dugway. You can see all the way to Colorado, on the left, to Arizona on the right. Sleeping Ute Mountain, Valley of the Gods, Mexican Hat, the Goosenecks of the San Juan river, Monument Valley and the southern tip of Cedar Mesa can be see from here. ...of course we're on Cedar Mesa, from which Cedar Mesa Music gets it's name.

Comb Ridge

2006-08-02T22:10:00.000-07:00

Comb Ridge from Hwy 95. This south tending monocline streches over a 90 miles from just east of Kayenta, AZ to just west of Blanding, UT. This photo does not show that in person the cliff slightly wrap around the viewer rather than tapering away to vanishing points.

Grand Canyon sunset

2006-07-30T08:04:00.000-07:00

Panoramic Sunset

Playing from the Heart -part 1

2006-06-28T18:50:00.000-07:00

One of the beauties of the Native American flute is that it is within reach of people who have no musical background at all. The majority of Native American flute players have no formal musical training. I say formal because I believe that most human beings innately have music inside them. We respond to rhythms, melodies, and harmonies from birth, or even while still in the womb. It is all part of being human.

However, I meet many NAF players, or people that are thinking about becoming one, that worry they don'’t have any musical training and therefore they lack something when it comes to making music. In my opinion, nothing could be further from the truth. I’m not saying that musical training doesn't help, but a lack of it is no reason to avoid playing the Native American flute. Music is a basic expression of human emotional. If you are drawn to music that desire for expression is already stirring within you. Besides, there are plenty of people with little or no musical musical training that are world-famous musicians. Many rock, blues and pop musicians have very little musical training and yet we hum their tunes and buy their recording all the time. They must have something in their hearts...

The music is already inside you, you just need to get it out.

WHAT IS PLAYING FROM THE HEART?
Playing from the Heart is what the Native American flute world calls improvisation. To improvise is to make something up while performing...

To read all of Playing from the Heart, part 1 click here.