Somewhere Duet

[rrayner]

Hi Jane,

To address some of your questions and straighten out a number of things in my own mind, please see the Transposing the Duets thread. I have made a complete revision and hopefully it will be more helpful to you.

Thank you for helping me learn some new stuff about Recorders.

Ralph Rayner

[Sherry C]

Hi folks,

Jane and Ralph, thanks so much for your exchange here. I myself didn't realize that the different recorders (being in different keys) simply used different fingerings rather than transposing for a single fingering style.

I play whistles, and I learned fingering in key of D (or G), and so whenever I've used Ralph's (or anyone else's) scores, I always transpose the part I want to play for whistle to fit my learned fingering. Ergo, I never had a second thought about how Ralph was doing it (I also have no idea if that's "the way it's done" or if I just presumed - most whistle music is in D or G, and a little C.)

Anyway, I've learned something new, and that's always good

Thanks!
Sherry

[aulos43]

I tried to add something to this thread yesterday regarding scoring for recorders, based on the version for Jane, but after examining the file closely, discovered my post was confused and not helpful, so I deleted it.

I've been playing -- and occasionally writing for -- recorders for over 40 years now, and it still is an effort to keep straight the relationship of the concert pitch for the various instruments with the various conventions for notating them. Rather than droning on, I'll just post a version for soprano and alto recorder that is consistent with a typical approach to scoring for them.

Ralph, this was definitely a learning experience for me -- much enjoyed,

Walt

[rrayner]

Walt - I am truly interested in what you have to say and your experiences. I must admit, my scoring for recorders is the equivalent of scoring for saxophones or clarinets, etc. My wife Cynthia and I have been playing recorders for only a little over 4 years, and are having a ball with it. My primary instrument was tenor saxophone, but I am self-taught on recorder and I am my wife's teacher. So, we didn't approach recorder from the traditional training side.

I didn't think your original post was confusing. I had given Jane the caveat that the Alto II part went below the range of the Alto. It was really just for her personal playing as a soloist playing the lead part accompanied by a second voice that I really should have changed to tenor recorder -- just a hurry-up job on my part.

I have a beautiful, mellow, Pearwood Hohner Alto, and I love the lower register. Admittedly, in a concert ensemble setting, the lower register wouldn't penetrate very well, but for just the two of us, it sounds quite nice. Writing for the alto lower register also helps to keep the soprano lower and more mellow.

For a short while at Berklee, we had a recorder quartet, led by my piano instructor. He had a bass recorder as I recall, although it was so long ago, I may be remembering wrong. Perhaps it was a tenor. So the four of us played some Handel and Bach and had fun with it. I imagine I was probably playing a soprano, so maybe it was 2 sopranos, an alto and a tenor. We only played a couple of times due to the other pressures of school work, but that was my only exposure to recorders before our current learning period.

I am glad that you are enjoying the duets. It is good to hear that there are actually some recorder players enjoying the forum. Until I heard from Jane, I assumed that the Forum followers were wind and brass players who would be transposing the parts as they required. The main thrust was to provide a harmony part for a soloist playing along with Notation. I was writing the duets for my wife and I, so why not share them with the Notation community.

Ralph

[JaneLewis]

Thanks Walt

Your file plays as I would expect pitch-wise and is lovely.

However, I would have expected the soprano line (your alto I) to have been written on the score an octave lower with the treble clef showing an octave up (the little 8 at the top of the clef). This avoids all the upper ledger lines and would mean that the first note for the soprano recorder would be written as a middle C although it would sound an octave up.

I took your file and clicked on the Alto I treble clef at the beginning and went through the options that came up. I picked the one with the little 8 at the top and it corrected the score without altering the pitches … so problem solved!

The Alto II line is correctly shown and plays correctly for the treble/alto recorder.

I re-attach your score J

Many thanks, Jane

[aulos43]

Jane,

Of course I uploaded the wrong file.

I get to cranking out various versions of a file, and even though I've got a naming convention, I still get them mixed up more than occasionally. That file is actually intended as an alto duet, though the melody spends most of its time in the challenging range. (I've been working through some of the exercises in "The Charlton Method for the Recorder" by the late Andrew Charlton, so I may be a bit desensitized to seeing so many ledger lines -- even though I still have a heck of a time playing up there with any musicality.)

Attached is the version I intended to share. It is for soprano and alto -- and is essentially identical to your 'retransp' version.

Walt

[aulos43]

Ralph,

I'm enjoying this discussion. I've been away from writing for recorders for a while -- focusing most recently on transcribing proto-classic symphonists from scores in the IMSLP. So this is turning into a valuable re-acquaintance with the issues and techniques of scoring recorders -- plus I'm gaining more proficiency with Notation Composer.

Yes, the lower register can be pleasing, especially in small groups of recorders. This "Somewhere Duet" reminds me of some of the pieces in a book of intermediate-level alto duets by Hans Ulrich Staeps, "Zu zweien durch den Tonkreis" (copyright 1951), and he does not avoid the lower range.

As a further exercise, I've transposed your duet yet again, this time putting the accompaniment as low as possible on the tenor recorder -- getting lots of practice with slur manipulations. This results in a tenor duet, though the melody could be played on soprano. The key signature of Ab results in a low Db, which is not readily available on some tenors. Anyhoo, it sounds nice in NC.

Walt

[JaneLewis]

Hi Walt and Ralph

I have lots of versions of Somewhere Duet now!

This last one for 2 tenor recorders is interesting. Apart from the fact that I am a beginner and cannot manage a key signature with 4 flats (and haven't reached the top notes yet!), there is only one note below the range of the alto recorder in the Tenor I line, as written. Unfortunately it is the very first note!

I have now also acquired a tenor recorder but have put learning this on hold because the fingering is different and I need to become more proficient on the alto recorder first. However, I love the lower register and have big hands and think that I will be able to manage a tenor (eventually). I am wondering if I should have started with the tenor because the fingering is the same as the descant(soprano) recorder.

I am having great fun with music - I just wish I had more time and could learn faster!

The different terminology, which I presume is due to the geographical difference between us, sometimes catches me out. I know the soprano recorder as a descant, the alto as a treble. And Notation Software has lots of unfamiliar terminology which makes using Help difficult! I first learned an instrument 60 years ago and in all those years had never come across the term 'measure' until I started to use Notation Software. Measures have always been 'bars' before! But it is good for keeping the grey matter going, especially the lateral thinking required to use Help when it doesn't understand my terminology.

I will keep the duet for 2 tenors for later

Many thanks for all your posts and duets.

Jane
P.S. Yes, one does get lots of practice re-shaping/re-aligning slurs when doing transpositions. I didn't bother last time