Slappyfeatherwhistle Blog

Noseflute @ Firefly

2011-03-01T18:34:00.000-08:00

So as I am back in Canada doing the magic thing schedules worked out and we were able to perform with Firefly Theatre in there show Up to Here. It was a "best of"......and though we were missing a member due to the flu the Ensemble did a great job re-playing/dancing Mozart Symphony #40 in G Minor. Our public domain hit! Lots of great comments on there performances after the show. We even had an alumni member Grace Bogowicz join us for the first time since 1882....ok well not that long ago but last time she was 9 and now she is 21. Yikes! Other members included Karyn Mott, Scott Shpeley, Olivia Felicitas, Victoria Felicitas, Ryan Sigurdson, and we were sadly missing Jon Manning and Kelley Mckinlay.

Anyhow, in the next little while I will be putting up some Alumni Members biographies on the blog. It would be interesting to see what and where past nosefluters are up to now a days. Hopefully they still have there nostrils in good working order for upcoming shows.

In the mean time check out www.fireflytheatre.com

Adios Amigos.

Nose-Flute @ the Vancouver Olympics!

2010-03-09T19:51:00.001-08:00

Yay! So nose-flutes were somewhat exposed to most of the world. Fellow Nose-Flute friend and amazing musician Tim Tamashiro has informed me that the Nose-Flute was used at the Vancouver Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony to introduce William Shatner. Well done Tim. Keep spreading the Nose-Flute love to the world my friend.

Please check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em9snMKmHp8 or http://bit.ly/9U1tfb.

Anna Biernacki's Teaching Adventures

2010-02-27T19:23:00.000-08:00

Fellow Ensemble member Anna Biernacki went on a trip to Fiji. On the western side of Fiji's main island there was a little village called Abaca. It was there that Anna taught some of the village people all about the Nose-Flute. Well done Biernacki. Keep spreading the word!

Cousins and Cameron

2009-11-21T09:01:00.000-08:00

So one of my aunts has 8 kids in Montreal. Yes 8 KIDS!!!!! Not sure how they handle it but fellow Nose-Flutists Natanielle Felicitas went to Montreal not too long ago. Luckily she had a million nose-flutes on her and distributed, taught, and corrupted my cousins into playing Montreal style. The photo depicts 6 out of the 8 as the other two had nose bleeds for playing to hard. Totally Hard Core!

On another note Nose-Flute alumni Cameron Mckinlay has been shaking his skinny ass with Cirque du Soleil in LOVE in Las Vegas. He has made a video of behind the scenes and I encourage everyone to vote for it as he could win 5K!!! Do you know how many Nose-Flute that could buy???? Anyways congrats to my man Cam as we all know without his hard core Nose-Flute Choreography training he might not have ended up with Cirque du Soleil. right?

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/about/25/americas/community/cineweb/all-weeks/other_side_of_the_sun.aspx

Educating Japan

2009-06-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

Just heard word that the SFW Nose-Flute Ensemble have some fans in Japan. Well, a teacher originally from America is teaching a musical theatre group in Japan. His name is Gart and apparently he had bought a wack load of nose-flutes back in the day. Came across the ensemble and now has future plans to teach the japanese kids of Komatsu Japan the nose-flute with intentions of putting something together in their theatre shows. This is great news. The more we can inspire to blow through the nose, the better. Nose-Fluters Unite!!

http://osugimusicaltheatre.com/

Natanielle heads to Ottawa

2009-06-08T14:46:00.000-07:00

Natanielle Felicitas, a long time member is heading to Ottawa for an internship at an art centre somewhere in the nations capital. After writing paper after paper about arts, management, grants, Nose-Flute, etc...she is finally putting her schooling into practice. She had a fare well party at Circles in Edmonton. It was a great turnout. Because of my travels across the globe it was a bit of a rush to get some Nose-Fluters together for a rehearsal for the gig. And I really wanted to play a new song. Something catchy, something that is so lovely to hear you never want it to end......

Well over the past year, Emma Hooper, fellow nose-flautist and I have discovered an old Ukulele song called "Tonight you Belong to Me" by Billy Rose and Lee David in 1926. It was made popular by Steve Martin's movie The Jerk. There is something about this song that everybody loves. Truth be told, I have played this song at least 20 times a day in my flat. I felt a bit better when Emma told me the same thing. In the end the four of us that could make it to the party put our Nose-Flutes to our faces and infected the crowd with this beautiful ditty. At the end of the show, somebody came up to me and said that she was just listening to the song in her car and that she too can't get enough!!!! Seriously, play it, sing it, listen to it.....LOVE IT.

Playing Through The Nose by Emma Hooper

2009-05-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

Emma wrote a paper on the Nose-Flute for University.

Musicologists generally agree that we’re not likely to see noseflutes in symphony orchestras anytime soon. Anne-Marie Felicitas, founder of the Slappyfeatherwhistle Noseflute Ensemble of Alberta, Canada, however, would beg to differ.

Felicitas, a fast-talking eccentric with electric hair, founded her nasally driven ensemble four years ago “because no other instrument made me as passionate about music.” At first, the group was mostly made up of Felicitas’ younger sisters, who she “made join.” Their first gig was in a “boiling hot tent at a children’s festival, with an audience of about ten, all under the age of ten.” Their second gig was an infomercial for toilet paper. Humble beginnings for a humble instrument.

But what is this instrument, exactly? The noseflute, despite its current cultural standing, has a rich history, with roots in many nations. The instrument employed by Felicitas’ musicians is based on the traditional Brazilian style, a flute originally used to emulate birdsong in hunting. This style is distinct from most other noseflutes in its roundish, surgical-mask-type shape. Players hold the flute directly over their nose and mouth, blowing air through it with their nose and changing the embouchure with their mouths. “It can be tough,” explains Felicitas. “You have to blow really hard to hit some of the high notes. If you’ve got a cold it’s not pretty.”

Apart from hunting, the noseflute was once also popular as a courtship tool. The Hawaiian “Ohe Hano Ihu” flute would traditionally be played by a man for a woman he wished to woo. If she liked what she heard, their relationship could progress to the next level, if not, he would return home alone. This type of flute was also used by lovers to communicate in the night, and was therefore often banned by missionaries in the region. Unlike the Brazilian flute, the Ohe Hano Ihu is a more traditional long flute, made from bamboo. Despite being notoriously difficult to play and curate, this is one of the few styles of noseflute still being actively manufactured. “I ordered three online, from Hawaii,” Felicitas recounts, “when they arrived two of them had already cracked irreparably from the dryness. A week later, despite the special little humidor I made for it, the third one was cracked as well.”

There are dozens of noseflute types around the globe, with uses ranging from courtship rituals to funeral processions. (In Malaysia they were used to communicate with the dead.) While the history of the noseflute is impressively diverse, its current situation is increasingly depressing. “It’s disappearing,” explains Felicitas. “The modern world has no respect for this ancient instrument, and it is fast heading towards total extinction.” Hence the impressive persistence of her Kleenex-handy ensemble.

Despite lowly beginnings, Felicitas’ noseflute-preservation message has begun to spread, and with it, the popularity of her group. The ensemble soon expanded to eight full time members and several part-timers. (And that’s not counting the pianist, cellist, saxophonist or rainstick-player they cart around with them.) They have appeared on several high-profile television spots, recorded professionally, and preformed in some of Canada’s leading concert halls. So why the sudden appreciation of a long-dormant musical form?

“What we do is simple. We begin with an introduction to the instrument. A speech which I give, while the group does choreographed tableaux in the background. Then we pass Kleenex around the audience, in case anyone gets sprayed. Then we

play…. The audience is generally struck stupid. They can’t believe such beautiful, moving music is coming out of our noses. There’s almost always a gasp or two. That is why I love my job. I believe that no instrument capable of such beauty should be ignored by the musical world. My goal is to pursue this cause until the Noseflute is accepted into the pantheon of noble musical instruments. And I hope to educate as well as enrich the lives of people musically at the same time.

“Once a guy sent us an email after a show saying that he couldn’t stop crying and that we changed his life. We’re not sure if it was a joke or not, but we like to think not.”

END

Teachers Convention

2008-12-04T17:37:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the major delays in blogging. Not too good at this. Anyhow, fellow Nose-Flautist Natanielle Felicitas did our first teachings of the Nose-Flute for the Christian Schools Teaching Convention.

Here is her report:

" On Oct 24th, 2008 I had the pleasure of hosting a nose-flute workshop for the Edmonton Christian School Teachers Convention. It was held at a beautiful, new structure on the north side of the city.

The challenge of the day was competing with 12 other workshops that ran at the same time.

I had six people in attendance, not the 50 I had hoped for, but they were all music teachers who had a keen interest in learning about the nose-flute. The participants were from all over Alberta; Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer and Lethbridge.

The organizers granted me use of a great music room, where I hosted the workshop.

I started off the session with a viewing of our segment on Careers Television. I gave a brief history of the flute and its origins. Many skeptical giggles were maded at the head-hunting story and some shock that the Missionaries had banned the flute in some corners of the globe.

The fun began when they had their first attempt at playing the nose-flute! It was a challenge and only a few whole notes were produced-but they were a determined bunch. I had to remind them to take breaks because I didn't want anyone to faint.

A few of them took some flutes home to share with their students and communities.

It was a fun morning with lots of laughter. Just goes to prove the power of the nose flute to break boundaries and barriers, open communication, and have a fun time learning something new."

.....Great job Natanielle. I'm sure the teachers loved it and will continue to pass on the Nose-Flute traditions.

Nose-Flute Encounter

2008-07-30T17:24:00.000-07:00

This past March I had an interesting Nose-Flute encounter. I was stuck in Toronto for about a month. The only job I could muster up in the middle of winter was a babysitting job. In fact SFW alumni Kristen Mcgregor gave me the contact of Cathy Nosaty and Mark Korven. They are the parents of two great and talented kids. The whole family is very musical and Cathy and Mark are actually musicians/composers for theatre, film and television in Canada. Upon my arrival they took me into their basement (music studio), and pulled down an instrument which I recognized immediately.....The Hawaiian Nose-Flute.

They were on vacation in Hawaii and noticed a local playing the instrument. Mark went up to him and asked where he might buy one. For some strange reason the musician just gave the instrument to Mark as a gift. And what a very special gift it was. It makes a beautiful sound. I wish you all could have heard it.

I have to say it was a very strange coincidence.

I will eventually put up a video of Mark playing the nose-flute.

And here is a link to Marks website www.markkorven.com

Enjoy!

Nose-Flute Blog #1

2008-07-15T03:50:00.000-07:00

Hello Nose-Flute Fans!!!

Hard to believe that for the past 7 years the Slappyfeatherwhistle Nose-Flute Ensemble has been enriching the lives of people through , well the Nose-Flute. In the past year I have been travelling the world meeting with other Nose-Flute Enthusiasts. In Miami Florida I came across a musician by the name of Tom Proctor. He has been playing the Nose-Flute since 1975. He conducts choirs and ensembles and edits music. Great guy. He mentioned to me that the small mysterious hole in the Humanatone instrument was to do vibrato with your free hand. I have heard this method before although SFW members have been able to produce vibrato without useing their free hand. I still call it the mysterious hole.

Tom also sent me a link to www.noseflute.de for those of you interested in purchasing a flute from Germany in wood.

Anyhow, at the moment I'm in Bath, UK. Great music scene in this town. I already know of some musicians here who incorporate the Nose-Flute and the Ukulele together. Until further posts....keep your noses dry and let the music fly!