Hi all,
anyone seen/heard this tutorial flute book by Solas flute wiz Seamus Egan? Any good?
http://www.custysmusic.com/mall/CustysTraditionalMusicShop/products/product-752501.stm
E.
It’s just a CD-ROM rather than a book plus CD. Some people on the board have criticised the fact that it doesn’t really cater for beginners (no pointers on embouchure or tone etc) - and I’d agree with that. If, however, you have a firm grasp of the basics and want to learn a few more tunes and pick up some more tips on ornamentation, then I would recommend it.
What he plays is often not exactly what’s written on the score, which I think is actually a good thing. It encourages you to listen more than relying on the written music.
Hope that helps you,
Graham
Is that the same tutorial he did for Mad for Trad?
I’m pretty sure it is.
Thanks! I’m so bad about those things. I bought that one, spent a couple of hours with it one Saturday and … I don’t know. :roll: Laziness, I guess.
The next reply thought it was. if that is the case its very good. There is minimal on embouchure but there. The CD goes into the computer (I don’t say “PC” as I’m iMac) and enables you to watch him play and also print out the score - if you’re a reader as I am and need that.
Its a go if it IS the same.
BillG
Oops! I cross-posted with you, Bill, and you made some very good points. So I second you that it is good, very well set-up, with lots of good tunes. I think it’s the lack of back-and-forth that I miss; i.e. what you get working directly with a tutor. But since lots of us don’t have that opportunity …
Incidentally, I’ve also heard really good things about the Scoiltrad one with Conal O’ Grada, so that’s worth checking out too. They actually do have it set up so you can send sound files for Conal to critique. I’ve been toying with giving that one a try …
I also went this route but had some problems recording to send back in mp3 or whatever they needed. I wasn’t able to merge my iMac with their PC formating so I just printed out the tunes listened to them without getting back for comments. That’s when I went for Seamus E’s stuff.
BillG
Ooh, thanks for the tip, Bill! I have a Mac, too. Part of why I haven’t gotten going on that were the technical issues of even figuring out HOW to record myself for the lessons. I’ve since seen a thread or two about recording oneself here; but basically haven’t dealt with it yet. Anyway, thanks again! 
After having recorded myself for the lessons, my questions involved “WHY” did I bother? Ouch! my ears! The tape recorder, like the camera, can be a very unforgiving medium.
Lads,
Don’t let the recording issue stop you doing the assessment portion of the classes…this is the best bit and by far the most valuable part of the lesson. There’s not an issue between Mac & PC formats (hey..the classes are created on a Mac!! although most people use the PC version). If any of you have any difficulty please drop me an e-mail at info@scoiltrad.com and we will work with you to sort it out…really its not that difficult and I’m sure we can get everyone going in no time.
Beir Bua
Conal
Oh, no, Conal, I am not commenting on the value or benefits of recording your own music. That in and of itself is an excellent training tool. I was only commenting on the talent(or lack thereof) that recording my own music demonstrated. As I said, there is a looong road ahead for this old boy. 
Conal, let me see if I get this right, regarding the beginners COURSE:
- every lesson covers a single tune and sheds light on a single issue concerning the beginner.
- each lesson is downloadable in its entirety; ,enaning that I, who choose not to have a connection at home, can simply carry a file home and do it all from there?
- you buy the entire course. Cannot buy single lessons.
- how do you control the pace of your course. Can I do an assessment whenever Im ready?
I would be nice if you could pay only for those lessons you choose to take, although I see this might make the entire course more pricey when I look wt the single CLASSES.
Please shed light on the above, Conal
Eivind
PS. Quicktime is kinda crappy. I’d rather this was ditched and that you used something else, like divx etc. that could be played in e.g. the Windows media player (for windows users), and some other divX player for the Mac users… They would all only have to download the appropriate codec once. Just like with QT.
Since I’m doing the course right now (in fact way behind doing the next lesson) here are my thoughts and my thoughts only…
-
one lesson one tune
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yep, it’s a self-contained set of html/images/video/audio files. only time an Internet connection is needed is to download the files and send the mp3 back.
-
you can buy the whole course or single lessons.
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Conal isn’t pushing me to do the lessons faster, even though I probably should. I’m taking a month or two between them because work is killing me right now and I don’t have any spare time and also I want to improve a bit on my own before going on to the next tune.
I’ve gotten a great deal out of taking the courses and need to get back to it, and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone. Obviously sitting down and taking face to face lessons is going to be better, but for someone without access to a teach fulltime this is the next best thing.
Eddie
…and I thought the main usefulness of Macs was for doing multimedia stuff like audio recording!
- you can buy the whole course or single lessons.
…but the whole course is “put-in-your-shoppingbasket” at $130…???
E. 
I think the biggest strength of Macs is in publishing software, though Windows has done some catchup work in this regard over the last several years, Macs are still the gold standard.
The biggest strength of Windows is in its massive installed user base, and really in the wonderful selection of games that run on this platform. When you look at major hardware innovations on the PC side, you quickly realize that gaming drives this industry.
Don’t discount Linux, though–we’re going to be seeing a lot more of the penguin before this is all said and done. I think when most of our current systems now have gone the way of CP/M, we’ll still have some form of Linux hanging around. The biggest strengths of Linux are security, scalability, the high-quality software that runs on it, and of course its pricetag: it’s hard to beat “free.”
–James
Yeah, the beginner’s course is $130 and if you do it on per lesson basis it’s $19.99. I think that’s reasonable price considering you get an evaluation. It would be too much for just the video and sheetmusic but the evaluation makes it worth, IMHO.
Linux is definitely coming a long way, there are several audio packages being developed that are pretty darn good. The author of Transcribe is going to do a Linux release eventually, that’s a great package for using to slow down and isolate fragments of a tune. Very well written and very easy to use.
Where is still lacks a bit in on the ease of use side. Some distros are better than others and it can be frustating at times, but it’s fine if you’re moderately adapt at computers.
Plus I’m a geek.
Eddie
Hello Eivind
The course consists of 10 classes which are paid for at start. Each class features a new tune and two new ornamentation techniques (plus variations etc.). Each class builds on the learning from previous classes and the student sends in an mp3 of their playing after every two classes. At the end of the course the student will have covered all basic ornamentation techniques used in traditional flute playing (cuts, pats, triplets, glottal stops, breath patterns, rolls etc.).
The classes are downloaded in pairs…the first two being downloaded upon purchase with subsequent pairs of classes being downloaded after each assessment.
The is no Mac/ PC incompatibility issue in relation to the assessment…you simply record an mp3 on whatever computer type you happen to use and send it as an e-mail attachment.
Why don’t you like Quicktime…as far as I know it now ships as standard on all PC’s as well as Mac’s.
I hope this helps but if you have any more questions let me know.
Beir Bua
Conal