By Andrea Fisher aka
Fluterscooter
 |
| Fluterscooter (Andrea Fisher) |
I recently did a Skype clinic for the Southeastern Pa. Flute
Festival from my apartment in Tokyo, speaking about what it takes to be an
entrepreneur in the music world.
The
term “flutrepreneur” was coined, and it can apply to my career and many
flutists’ careers nowadays.
I recently
performed my Japanese debut, where not only did I perform, I also acted as
producer, arranger, booking agent, publicist, stylist, you name it!
Putting together a show from start to finish
in a foreign city is no easy task, and it can be very frustrating at
times.
As much as I wished I could just
be practicing my music, I had to do the jobs of contacting press, designing
flyers, advertising, finding local musicians, technology, scheduling, and
arranging music.
However, in the end, I
was proud that I did it all myself and that it was a success!
Goal: to build a concert program that will entertain people
who have never listened to classical music and they won’t realize they’re
listening to classical music. Also to
collaborate with other forms of art, such as visual art and dance. “Fluterscooter presents: The Fast and the
Fluterious: Tokyo Drift” was anything but a typical flute recital.
When putting together this show, I first searched the web to
find an eclectric group of Tokyo-based
artists. I knew I wanted to work with
live art so the concert-goers would have a visual experience as well. I found a light painter, who actually used
LED lights to paint pictures, live, while I played. I had always wanted to play with a Taiko
drummer, and I picked up the Japanese shinobue flute on my last visit to
Japan. We played an original piece for
shinobue and Taiko. I had met a
beatboxer/“mouth musician” on my last trip as well, and we stayed in
touch. I arranged Flight of the
Bumblebee and Paganini’s 24th Caprice for us to play in a hiphop
style, also with a DJ scratching. I also
wanted to include music written by flutists, so I chose Greg Pattillo’s “1st
Beat,” and Flutronix’ “Aware,” both written in the past year. I wanted some minimalist classical to go with
the art, so I arranged Arvo Part’s Fratres, originally for violin, for
flute. I also threw in some covers,
opening with a tune from dubstep producer Skrillex and finishing the show with
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” complete with backup dancers and choreography.
I wanted the concert program to be a fluid, flowing piece of
art, with virtually no stopping between pieces.
All music was memorized to avoid any clunky music stands on stage. I believe that a show must be both sonically
and aesthetically pleasing. I had a
beginning “electronic” section, then a “hiphop/beatbox” one, then a minimalist
interlude where audience members could actually play with the LED lights and
draw while I played, and ended with pop music.
I like audience participation so the audience does not feel removed from
the music and musicians. This is one way
to break down the traditional stereotype of classical music, which is that it
is inaccessible to the public. It’s like
doing a concert in the format of a Lady Gaga show and tricking the audience so
that they don’t realize they just saw a FLUTE show!
Incorporating technology is equally as important in today’s
world when doing a show. Since I was a
student at Juilliard, I’ve been an advocate of using technology in
performance. For my graduation recital 8
years ago, I was already making videos to accompany me (I played Steve Reich’s
“Vermont Counterpoint” with a background video showing all the flute parts I
played in nature) and learning programs such as MAX and Ableton for live and
Protools for producing background tracks.
Lets talk about arrangements. We all know what music speaks to us, and
sometimes it’s not always flute music!
There is great repertoire for string instruments, piano, pop music that
can work really well with flute. You
just have to be creative. I’ve always
loved Michael Jackson’s music. For
“Thriller,” I bought the instrumental track from ITunes and played the vocal lines,
and the flute actually sounds really great in that song. Who knew?
Find some songs you love and make unique covers out of them.
Adding extra artistic elements to the performance such as
live art and dance also adds to the value of the show. I learned choreography and worked with backup
dancers for the first time. I actually
played flute and danced at the same time; yes, it’s possible! It definitely took a lot more rehearsal time,
but if you want to achieve a certain look, it must be done.
After putting the music and performers together, it was time
to do the “busy work,” aka the tedious stuff.
Working with Photoshop, IMovie, writing press releases, etc…
First, start with a title and logo. Coming up with a catchy title and graphics to
match, like “Fluterscooter presents:The Fast and the Fluterious,” gave
potential concert-goers an idea of what to expect at the show. Would as many have come or paid attention to
it if I had named it “Andrea Fisher in recital?” with no graphics attached? I
had a brief introduction to Photoshop in order to achieve the look I wanted for
the online and physical flyers. After deciding on the title and graphics, it is
important to write a good description of what the show is about, as well as who
you are as a performer, especially in a new city. Combining the description, a good photo, and
show flyer is a press release. Always
keep it simple as possible.
The next step was something I actually learned from hiphop
artists. Many of them post “behind the
scenes” videos on youtube to show fans their process for writing a song,
rehearsing, and their day to day life. I
filmed 2 of my rehearsals as previews of what to expect at the show. They showed myself rehearsing and talking with the beatboxer and
Taiko drummer. By doing behind the
scenes videos, it also makes fans feel that they know you better. Of course, I had to learn IMovie for editing
the footage! I then promoted them mostly through facebook, twitter, and blogs.
After the press release and videos are done, contact the
press! This was not easy at first, as
most online newspapers, magazines, and radio do not include personal emails of
the writers. So I went to twitter and
facebook to look them up. After
facebooking/tweeting them, asking where I can send my press release and video
clips, they were happy to give me their email addresses. My first interview was for a popular podcast
called Tokyo Metpod. After I had the
footage from the podcast, I sent out to newspapers and magazines, and I ended
up with features both in Time Out Tokyo and the Japan Times.
The importance of networking played a large role in the
success of this show. I had the Apple
Store in Ginza as the venue. Since I had
played there before, I kept in touch with the event coordinator through
Facebook, and when I told him I’d be interested in doing an event in Tokyo, he
was more than welcome to book me. I
think it is always important to stay in touch with the event coordinators from
any gig you may play on, because you never know when you will need a venue for
your own show.
I made sure to have the show filmed by a videographer, and
he then made a short documentary-style video from his footage that I can use to
book future shows. As far as future
shows, I will produce them in the same vein as my debut, but on a bigger level
each time. With all the technology at
our fingertips, there is so much we can learn and add to our art.
