The earliest times to the pre-classical age pt.1

Music makes it's appearance in the west in the first centuries of the christian era in such a hamble to think that this was where it began, but in the distant past around thirty-five senturies B.C in the inhabitatants of Mesopotamia played on various kind of instruments there are concert held too. fragments have been discovered of harps,lyres and a sort of double oboe which was probably the predecessorof the Greek aulos.
the Egypt of the Pharaohs is still rich in relics. As early as the fourth dynasty, that is to say 2,700 B.C the paintings and bas-relief found in the royal tombs often repersent group of performers on musical instruments and most resembling our mordenorchestra. egyptology possess numerous examples of flutes,cynbals,sistraand harps of various of design

end of part 1

How to Take Care of Your Flute?

~When handling your flute, make sure that your hands are clean and dry.
~During assembly, remember to always hold the parts of the flute on the edge, never hold it where the keys are.
~If you're not using your flute, disassemble it and store it inside its' case. If you don't have time to disassemble, place your flute where it will be safe from any damage.
~Always make it a point to clean your flute after you use it to avoid deterioration of the pads. Use a different cloth to clean the inside from the outside of your flute.
~Never use metal polish on your flute.
~Do not lubricate or oil your flute.
~Do not try to adjust the setting of your flute yourself unless you have a good idea what you're doing.
~Contact an expert flute repairman if you're having problems with your flute.
~Store your flute at room temperature.
~Don't store in heated or damp areas.
Have your flute checked once a year by a flute serviceman to ensure your flute is in tip-top shape.Assembling the flute

How to Clean Your Flute?

~Use a clean cloth (flannel cloth or a J cloth is good as long as it's not too long or too short) to clean the inside of your flute.
~Fold the cloth lengthwise in half and thread the edge of the cloth through the slot on the cleaning rod.
~The cloth must be wrapped snugly on the edge of the rod so you'll be better able to clean the inside of your flute.
~Wrap the rest of the cloth tightly around the rod and securely hold the end of the cloth and rod with your hand to avoid bunching up and getting stuck when cleaning the inside of the flute.
~Now push the cloth-covered rod all the way inside your flute and twist it as you move in and out. Be very careful when doing this. The head joint is the part of the flute that gets the most moisture so be sure to give it a thorough drying.
~The outside of the flute may be cleaned by gently using a clean damp cloth.
~Now you can store your flute in its' case when you're not using it. This will ensure that your flute will last longer and perform well.

The Western Concert Flute

The Western concert flute, a descendant of the 19th-Century German flute, is a transverse flute which is closed at the top. Near the top is the embouchure hole, across and into which the player blows. It has larger circular finger-holes than its baroque predecessors, designed to increase the instrument's dynamic range. Various combinations can be opened or closed by means of keys, to produce the different notes in its playing range. The note produced depends on which finger-holes are opened or closed and on how the flute is blown. There are two kinds of foot joints available for the concert flute: the standard C foot (shown above) or the longer B foot with an extra key extending the flute's range to B below middle C. There can also be a Bb below middle c foot joint added to the instrument. With the rare exception of the Kingma system, or custom-devised fingering systems, modern Western concert flutes conform to the Boehm system.
The standard concert flute is pitched in the key of C and has a range of 3 octaves starting from middle C (or one half-step lower with a B foot). This means that the concert flute is one of the highest common orchestral instruments, with the exception of the piccolo, which plays an octave higher. G alto and C bass flutes, pitched, respectively, a perfect fourth and an octave below the concert flute, are used occasionally. Parts are written for alto flute more frequently than for bass. Alto and bass flutes are considerably heavier than the normal C flute, making them more difficult to play for extended periods of time.
Other sizes of flute and piccolo are used from time to time. A rarer instrument of the modern pitching system is the treble G flute. Instruments made according to an older pitch standard, used principally in wind-band music, include Db piccolo, Eb soprano flute (the primary instrument, equivalent to today's concert C flute), F alto flute, and Bb bass flute (incidentally, the clarinet and brass families retain this orientation to a Bb, rather than C tonal centre).

Categories Of Flute

In its most basic form, a flute can be an open tube which is blown like a bottle. There are several broad classes of flutes. With most flutes, the musician blows directly across the edge of the mouthpiece. However, some flutes, such as the whistle, gemshorn, flageolet, recorder, tin whistle, tonette, fujara, and ocarina have a duct that directs the air onto the edge (an arrangement that is termed a "fipple"). These are known as fipple flutes. The fipple gives the instrument a distinct timbre which is different from non-fipple flutes and makes the instrument easier to play, but takes a degree of control away from the musician.
Another division is between side-blown (or transverse) flutes, such as the Western concert flute, piccolo, fife, dizi, and bansuri; and end-blown flutes, such as the ney, xiao, kaval, danso, shakuhachi, and quena. The player of a side-blown flute uses a hole on the side of the tube to produce a tone, instead of blowing on an end of the tube. End-blown flutes should not be confused with fipple flutes such as the recorder, which are also played vertically but have an internal duct to direct the air flow across the edge of the tone hole.
Flutes may be open at one or both ends. The ocarina, pan pipes, police whistle, and bosun's whistle are closed-ended. Open-ended flutes such as the concert flute and the recorder have more harmonics, and thus more flexibility for the player, and brighter timbres. An organ pipe may be either open or closed, depending on the sound desired.
Flutes can be played with several different air sources. Conventional flutes are blown with the mouth, although some cultures use nose flutes. The Flue pipes of Organs, which are acoustically similar to duct flutes, are blown by bellows or fans.

History Of Flute(M.A)

The flute has been dated to prehistoric times. It has appeared in different forms and locations around the world. A three-holed flute made from a mammoth tusk (from the Geißenklösterle cave in the German Swabian Alb and dated to 30,000 to 37,000 years ago) was discovered in 2004, and two flutes made from swans' bones excavated a decade earlier (from the same cave in Germany, dated to circa 36,000 years ago) are among the oldest known musical instruments. A fragment of the femur of a juvenile cave bear, with two to four holes, found at Divje Babe in Slovenia and dated to about 43,100 years ago, may also be an early flute. The Bible, in Genesis 4:21, cites Jubal as being the "father of all those who play the ugab and the kinnor". The former Hebrew term refers to some wind instrument, or wind instruments in general, the latter to a stringed instrument, or stringed instruments in general. As such, Jubal is traditionally regarded as the inventor of the flute (a word used in some translations of this biblical passage). Some early flutes were made out of tibias (shin bones). Playable 9000-year-old Gudi (literally, "bone flute"), made from the wing bones of red-crowned cranes, with five to eight holes each, were excavated from a tomb in Jiahu in the Central Chinese province of Henan. The earliest extant transverse flute is a chi (篪) flute discovered in the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng at the Suizhou site, Hubei province, China. It dates from 433 BC, of the later Zhou Dynasty. It is fashioned of lacquered bamboo with closed ends and has five stops that are at the flute's side instead of the top. Chi flutes are mentioned in Shi Jing, compiled and edited by Confucius.

Ensemble Koschka vol. 3 Evening of Light Classical

Mendy, we are proud of you!

KKYB would like to wish Mendy tua pui all the best in your studies. as 2jie said ... another YB has step into the world of higher education & created new history again. you will represent Penang members to do kosen rofu in Johor. remember to share whatever you have learned there with us. we are willing to hear your joy, complaints, obstacles or sorrow that you shall face.

Johor might not be as safe as Penang (thats what i heard from Johoreans) so, don't go out at night if not necessary. we will chant for more shoten zenjin & buddhas to protect you all days long.
and most important thing is to stay healthy always. no more Nando's for you!!!!! hahaha ..... :P

hope all our younger YB members will keep this track record & advance in your studies in future.

Good Luck & Bon Voyage! we love you!

* please take note that we are going to depart to JB on Friday night 11.15pm. therefore, our farewell party will start sharp at 7.30pm & end about 10.15pm. kindly inform your members about the change. everyone must come if not auntie - auntie's food & effort will be wasted. thank you

pix credit: kean leong uncle

Just a little bit of endorphin for everyone...

That day just right before Honbu 3 Kenshukai YB were still practicing our Phantom Of The Opera.

Shiuan Ying's friend commented :" I thought I was listening to CD playing until I walk in and saw...it was actually live band playing it...sounds so nice"

Happy or not???

I know that we players may not have the same point of view because we still have so much spaces to improve but when we receive praises like this, we just can't help but to be happy :)

When Shiuan Ying told me that, there was only 2 things in my mind.
It's either we're not as bad as we thought or her friend is not so sensitive to music.

Somehow it's a delighting comment, right? *smile*

Daimoku and Gongyo leading schedule

Dear all PPs, kindly take note on your days and please be punctual ya ;p
Lets start our every practice with cheerful, determined and powerful D&G!! +oil +oil p ' v ' q

p/s: thanks to Bee Peng for preparing the schedule and thanks to Shi Jia for the execution :p