Ian Clarke - Deep Blue (2012) 

I'm glad you enjoy it! The piece is one of my favourites too

Thank you so much!! Professor Ian Clarke is inspiring in so many ways; I feel truly blessed to be able to learn from him. Thank you for listening; I really appreciate it!🌻

Thank you for sharing your story. I can only imagine what this piece means to you. I am sure that when Ian hears about it, he will be moved 🤍 I feel truly honoured that you have chosen my recording. Thank you.

Aw thank you so much 🫶🏻

Haha thank you! 💛

Thank you so much 🥺💛

Wow, thank you! 🥹 I'm glad you like it!

Thank you so much! ✨

Merci beaucoup!! ✨✨

It's actually my mistake! Well-spotted 😅

Hello, thank you for your comment! This is definitely me playing the flute in the recording :) However, I understand that many people aren't used to hearing the flute's tone like it is in this piece. Deep Blue uses a few contemporary techniques which make it sound different to when played just classically. 1️⃣ One of those techniques is extended/alternative fingerings: they can transform the tone by resonating different overtones to the extent that it sounds like an ethnic flute. Ian Clarke's pieces are particularly well-known for using alternative fingerings in very imaginative and clever ways. 2️⃣ Another important technique used in Deep Blue is called "pitch bending", which is achieved through either fingers sliding over the open-hole keys, or controlled changes of the embouchure. This is how the glissandi between some notes are produced. 📚 Robert Dick talks about the two mentioned techniques (as well as many others) in his exercise book "Tone Development Through Extended Techniques for Flute", which I whole-heartedly recommend of course! Hope that's helpful! ✨

I love this Piece im a young flutist and ill be playing it soon Think you for this masterpiece ❤🎶

Hello, I'm sorry to have taken so long to reply! That's a tough one! Listening to the recording two years later, I wish I could re-record that note now and play it better actually 😅 Personally, I think the secret to sustaining it all the way through is playing it very quietly, as then, the embouchure hole between the lips is so small that the air stream is thin, and one is using very little air to produce the sound (little, but "fast" air, of course). If played in real piano, sustaining the note for longer is achievable way more easily. B4 is an "uncomfortable" note on its own, especially if to be played piano, and as Ian told me when working on the piece, it requires advanced technique. What you can hear in the recording was the best I could do at the time, and even though it's far from perfect, what mattered to Ian the most in the end was me going for it and not being afraid of trying. From a two-years-later perspective, I also think that it's what really matters the most not just with that B4, but in the general process of perfecting one's skills. So, remember to go for it and to not be afraid of splitting the note in the practice room! It's gonna get better with time. Hope that helps somehow:)

​@@JustynaMariannaSzynkarczyk wow very sincere and encouraging reply! i recently purchased sheetmusic of this piece (i knew i would buy it someday since the first day i heard your recording here😊) and today i opened the sheetmusic and started sightreading... goodness the difficulty. (i am just an intermediate hobby flutist) yeah i jumped into the unknown😂😂 still i think i will get some fun out of trying the piece! 😊❤ your reply to this flutist is also precious to me😆👍

Thank you for sharing! I bet you will sound amazing. Hope you have fun learning it!! 💪🏻❣️

Bonne chance! I hope learning the piece is as rewarding for you as it was for me 💙 I bet it will be amazing