Flûtes traversières en bois
I was born in a little village - Fréhel - which is part of a peninsula on the North-East coast of Brittany. Even though my family was not particularly into traditional music or even into music in general, we were aware of the Breton dance and music tradition. Along with one of my brothers and two of my sisters, I joined a Breton dance-band (with costumes and all) and started as a dancer when I was 11. When I turned 14, I picked up the bombard (double-reed oboe from Brittany, the loudest oboe ever to exist on this planet !). I started to play here and there in Brittany, which was a good thing, because I met many other Breton musicians (singers -kanerien- or bombard/biniou players -sonerien) who taught me things. This is also when I started to listen to Alan Stivell and some of the early Breton bands like Diaouled ar Menez, Kouerien St Yann, etc...
Around the same time I began to listen to Irish music and met some Irish musicians among which was Desi Wilkinson (flute player and singer from Belfast, now playing with Cran). The flute always sounded strange and haunting to me. My interest for it was not really a passion at first, but gradually became a passion !
From 1979 to now, I played with the following bands : GALORN, KORNOG, PENNOU SKOULM, BARZAZ, DEN, CELTIC PROCESSION (JACQUES PELLEN), L'HERITAGE DES CELTES (DAN AR BRAZ), ALAIN GENTY GROUP, DUO VEILLON-RIOU, and a new band called TOUD 'SAMES... I also play solo from time to time, which I like also.
Question 2:
Can you tell us about the instrument(s) you played in order of appearance, and what you think of them? (brand, type, material, sound, possibilities, limitations, frustrations)
As I said I first played the bombard. It was an old model made of african blackwood. I gave it back to the dance group when I left. So I am not too sure to remember very well who made it : I think it was Dorig Le Voyer (one of the founding members of the Bodadeg ar Sonerion - the bombard & biniou association - created in the 50's), or maybe Lanig, another very famous maker. Such bombards are not easy to find today.
When I started the flute, I played for two years on an old french flute made by Holzapfel in Paris around 1820.
It was pitched very flat so I "tortured" it until it more or less played in tune, or rather in the tuning I wanted.
Then I bought a flute made by Bruce Du Vé, a great maker from Australia who was living in Spiddle (Co. Galway). It was quite difficult for me to adapt to the embouchure (much bigger than the Holzapfel one).
So I got another headpiece from Hammy Hamilton (still living in Belfast at that time, but now in Coolea Co.Cork). That headpiece worked really well and I kept it for years. Honestly, I don't think I've ever heard a louder flute than that Du Vé/Hamilton, the volume I could get out of it was truly uncredible. But the problem was that it could absolutely not be played softly. Very few people could play it apart from me and I never understood why. Unfortunately it got broken by accident and never sounded the same, even though it was repaired . That was for me the end of a first period in flute playing !
After that was a long "reeducation" period, I started to play other flutes (Bb, Eb, F, G), not only because of the groups I played in -Barzaz, Den...- but also because Gilles Léhart, an excellent instrument maker, also musician and singer, started to make flutes. I still play his flutes.
I started to change my blowing, searching for more nuances in my playing. I also decided to develop the use of harmonics, which not only allows different colours of sound, but also helps to improve your own embouchure.
This said, I wasn't really happy because I couldn't find a D flute which would really fit me. Finally I called Chris Wilkes (flute maker in Herefordshire, England) and he made me a great D flute, inspired by Rudall & Rose early models. I play it most of the time, but I also have an Eb (Pratten model) and another D (Pratten model) made by Chris. All I can say about his flutes is that they make me work, because I often think they are too good for a rough self-taught man like me !
You mention material in your question : I reckon it is a very difficult problem. Flute-makers, flute-players are often opposed to researchers who say that material has no importance at all ("only the air column is vibrating").
Really, I don't know what to say about that. It is true though that we should be aware of the deforestation caused by the heavy exploitation of African blackwood . I agree entirely with flute-makers -like Sam Murray in Belfast- who are trying other material than just wood to make flutes. I've tried them and they sound great...
Question 3:
You play Breton
music. Please tell us what makes the music Breton, what is specific for Breton
music?
(and
make it clear for people who play mostly classical flute)
What makes Breton music is first of all the history of the Breton people; its origins, but also its influences, its common struggles, sufferings, joys, sorrows... There is nothing particular about that because this is certainly true for every local music on this planet. Of course this music was originally not written, like any other traditional music, which partly explains why it displays such an amazing variety.
Talking about the musical forms, Breton music is generally on small scales, often pentatonic (to the difference of much of the Irish music). Untempered scales were also very common, and even though they almost disappeared, they are now strongly appreciated : singers like Erik Marchand or musicians like George Bothua explored and kept this very haunting aspect of our music alive.
Breton music also loves variations : learning a tune doesn't mean much if you can't play it without proposing something special with it. But to do that, you need to know how. To know how, you need to know what has been done before on similar tunes , you need to soak up Breton music for a while, you need to feel how it works. Then you've got to try your own way.
Like in many other musical traditions throughout the world, singing is the most respected form of expression.
Remember that Brittany has a unique form of dance-songs : kan ha diskan (sing and response) which is found in the Breton-speaking area (Breizh Izel/Western Brittany) as well as in the Gallo speaking area (Breizh Uhel/Eastern Brittany). You can hear it at any fest-noz (big dance nights, gathering from 200 to 5000 people, sometimes more).
Question 4:
Would you call it traditional music? Is it mostly dancemusic, like the Irish , and what are the differences/conformités with French and Irish music? What is the usual place of the flute in this music, compared with the other instruments? Other instruments, please describe them.
Traditional music ? If I refer strictly to what traditional music is, Breton music nowadays is not traditional music anymore. Neither is Irish music. There is not much traditional music left on the planet. Playing traditional music would mean that you play for a small community of people, and you play every time they need you : weddings, funerals, religious celebrations, rural events, etc... As you know, the type of society where such events would happen naturally has been totally crushed in the western world, Brittany or Ireland are no exception. Community events involving traditional music can be artificially recreated, but whatever nice they can turn out, they remain artificial. So-called traditional musicians go on tour now, sometimes very far from their native land, and have to use tricks to present their music in order to have it well accepted by foreign audiences, or even at home !
Maybe the word "traditional" is now inaccurate to describe the evolution of this enormous quantity of old tunes and songs !
The second (and longest) part of your question is directly linked to your question n° 3 :
most of the repertoire of Breton music nowadays is dance music. But it would be a big mistake (very common though) to believe that it used to be like that in the past. Two centuries ago, dance music was maybe only 20% of the whole repertoire in Brittany. Even though Breton people were probably always the most tireless dancers among all "celtic" people, the majority of the Breton repertoire was composed of sonioù, or gwerzioù, or complaintes or marches, songs in fact which were created to tell new stories to an audience listening carefully ! Now about differences/conformités with French and Irish music, I can't answer, there are so many differences between different parts of France ! But if you mean between Breton and Irish, all I can say is that there are many differences : rythms, scales, etc... As I said before, Bretons and Irish people had different destinities, different neighbours, different influences, which could explain why their music sound so different. I personnally tend to think that they sounded probably much more alike several centuries ago.
Now the Irish music definitely influenced Breton music from the 50's to today. This is why instruments such as the flute, bouzouki, (which are not originally Irish), bodhran, etc... are so often heard in Breton music now. Being one of the first musicians to use the flute in Brittany, I can tell you that it was always well accepted and well appreciated. Maybe it's just because flute is a "liquid" instrument, it is after all just a column of air, without even a reed ! The flute is universal, the flute is the most uncredible instrument ever...
Not to forget other instruments in Brittany ! Some very ancient, some renewed and revitalized, some imported : bombard, biniou koz (a small one droned bagpipe playing one octave above the bombard), biniou braz (adapted from the scottish pipes), treujenn-gaol (clarinet), violin, button accordion, hurdy-gurdy, telenn (harp), guitar, bouzouki, irish pipes, etc... I hope I am not forgetting any.
Question 5:
You play (only?) wooden flutes now, why?
I don't play only wooden flutes. I still play bombard although very occasionnally (at friend's private festoù noz parties).
I also play -just at home- a bit of bansuri (bamboo flute from North-India). I started to learn it with a great master called Harsh Wardhan, but I realised that playing raga was out of my reach : I have to much to do with Breton music ! I love this music though, and it obsessed me almost dangerously for several years.
I never played silver flute, never wanted to, even though I have recently developped my ability to listen to classical music.