Häisd'n'däisd...vomm mee!

Häisd'n'däisd...vomm mee! is a German folk and regionalist band. They perform in their region — the Franconia – which is located in the northern Bavaria.

Häisd'n'däisd...vomm mee!, in Franconian dialect, means 'Hüben und drüben... vom Main!' in German, i.e. 'On both sides… of the Main river!', which a geographical description of the Franconia.

The band has recorded several CD, amongst which, in 2013, 'Nä, ich hald mei Goschn ned' ('No, I don't shut my mouth') featuring 24 (!) songs. The #6 is named 'Concertino für 3 Nasenflöten' (in German. Schade! I would have liked to learn how to say 'nose flute' in Franconian...)



The piece is played with three wooden nose flutes, an accordion and percussions. After a short intro, there is an a capella sung stanza (Big thanks to the Nosy Diva for the translation!):

Sicher staunt und fragt ihr euch
Warum blast ihr net auf Schläuch
Oder gar auf langen Rohren
Dafür seid ihr doch geboren
Weil wir euch beweisen wollen
Nasen sind viel mehr als Knollen
Und das ist ja grad das Schöne
Uns’re produzieren Töne.

which means:

Surely you are wondering
Why are you not blowing (on) hoses
Or even (on) long rods
Because you are born for that.
The reason is that we want to prove to you
Noses are much more than conks
And that is the beautiful part
Ours produce sounds.

Fränkischer Tag, Mar. 25, 2013:


Here an excerpt of the Concertino (just a shorty, for copyright reasons. The total piece is 3'25" long):





Here is another excerpt found on Youtube:




You can order the CD from Häisd'n'däisd...vomm mee website or from Zachmuzic-shop

Mauricio Kagel (1931-2008) : Hall of Fame!

Born in Buenos Aires in 1931, Mauricio Kagel moved to Cologne, Germany, in 1957 where he became one of the greatest post-second world war avant garde composers.

« Among the contemporary composers Mauricio Kagel more than any other explored the instrument concept and expanded it. Especially in the sixties and seventies, he created works in which in addition to conventional musical instruments, vacuum cleaners, rubber tubes, walkie-talkies and turntables were used. » [source: Der Schall, Mauricio Kagels Instrumentarium, PFAU, 2008]

Mauricio Kagel in 1968 and 1985:


Among his prolific work, one piece of 1968 particularly retained our attention: Der Shall ('The Sound'). Indeed, and as you can imagine, it contains some nosefluting. Der Schall is a ±40 minutes long piece, written for 54 instruments, played by 5 musicians. [You can listen to the whole piece here, or go directly to the nose flute part here.]

Here is the text written by M. Kagel and printed on the back cover of the LP. You can notice that the nose flute is part of the instruments of group V, played originally by Christoph Caskel:



And here, the front cover, and a portrait of the percussionist Christoph Caskel, who played the Nasenflöte on the record:



In 2007, the Music R&D dept. of the University of Basel (Switzerland), 'reactivated' the original sound objects (kept at Basel Historical Museum) or some replicas in a performance in which the musicians recreated Der Schall. They recorded their experiment, and the CD was published along with the book Der Schall, Mauricio Kagels Instrumentarium, PFAU, 2008. This books contains lots of info and reproductions of original documents.

The font cover already shows a Nasenflöte in a box (rather well hidden though :):



The books is subtitled 'Mauricio Kagels Intrumentarium', and is an opportunity to show in detail the list of the instruments originally used (and preserved at Basel museum). They are categorized in several sections: Conventional Instruments, Historic Instruments, Extra-European/Exotic Instruments, Special/Non Classical Instruments, Percussion/Home Made Instruments and Signal Instruments.

That's among the Special Instruments that one can find a nice paragraph (p.81) about the nose flute…



… which says something like (edited Google translation):

« The nose flute perhaps constitutes the most striking example of the aforementioned contrast between the modern Western European form and the Asian or South American forms of the same instruments. While the variants from Southeast Asia, Oceania and Polynesia are usually whistle-like tubes made of natural materials that are blown with air from one nostril, the breath of the nasal air has a special symbolic meaning as the bearer of the soul, the Western European Nasenflöte is a quaint, almost funny-looking structure made of plastic (see photo inventory p.98). It is found to be extremely effective in many toy stores music, hardly anyone knows then, however, how the nose flute has to be played. The upper gap is for nose air entrance, while the lower opening stands for the lips, so that the pitch and timbre can be determined by the opening of the mouth and tongue. The nose flute can therefore be quite compared with the Jew's harp, with the difference that the pitch is changed freely and the sound is similar to a whistle. The plastic nose flute therefore requires a radical reconsidering of wind instrument players for unfamiliar tongue-mouth-acrobatics. Like the cuckoo clock Kagel gives a solo passage in which come the special capabilities of the instrument to bear. »

And page 98, between a tortoise shell and a straight mute:



Well, well well... Look at the bright and shiny red on this Schwan... This definitely is not the original Kagel's Nasenflöte, but a new one (the reference # begins by 2005...). I suppose the vintage one has not been preserved in Basel museum... Schade!

The book also offers lots of copies or original notes and execution sheets in which the Nasenflöte part is specified:



We can also find some great pictures of the 2007 'musical happening', and see the Schwan nose flute on the right desk of Matthias Würsch, the percussionist in charge of section V:

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Now, it is very interesting to compare the 1968 and the 2007 interpretations and recordings. I isolated the two 2 minutes nose flute parts:

1968 excerpt:


2007 excerpt:


Which one do you prefer ?

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It is very rare to find some nose flute in the work of a serious composer, that is, used as a real instrument, and not regarded as a carnival toy.

For having included a nose flute as a real instrument in his 1968 composition Der Schall, Mauricio Kagel has been inducted to the Nose Flute Hall of Fame, in the 'Promoters' section!

The Oberkreuzberger Nasenflöten Orchester at TFF-Rudolstadt

Here is an "old" CD, dating of 2003 of the TFF Rudolstadt. The Tanz- und Folkfest (TTF) is the largest German folk, roots and world music festival which takes place annually on the first July weekend in Rudolstadt (Thuringia, Germany). It exists since 1991 and have been gathering an audience over 75,000 spectators in the past 3 years.



In 2003, the TFF welcomed the Original Oberkreuzberger Nasenflöten Orchester (Das Grindchor). The Grinchor performed a great cover of Tip-Toe Through the Tulips (Joe Burke, 1929), and its recording features on the compilation published after the festival. The Berliner noseflutists were 9 on stage, accompanied by an electric guitar and some light percussions. The performance was great, very soft and neat compared to the post-apocalyptic punk sound the Grindchor generally develops.

Here is a sample (not complete to respect the copyrights), but you still can buy the CD here:






Here is what says the Nasenflöten Orchester page in the booklet:

« The nose flute is a plastic thing, "a very cheap and rare instrument and you can hardly buy it anywhere. As said in the name it is blown through the nose". In the nine nosed Original Oberkreuzberger Nasenflöten Orchester who plays the works of world literature in an inimitable manner, it is taken care for a liquid way of playing (specially in times of influenza), nice smelling arrangements and the right brand of beer (Schultheiss und Kindl). Nosebears of all countries unite!

Wonderful! Nine sturdy men, not exactly teenagers anymore, with plastic nose-flutes. The repertoire says it all: « My Way » and Beethoven's 9th, « Apache » and Khatchaturian's « Sabre Dance », « Harry Lime Theme » and « Je t'aime », « Zorba The Greek » and « Somewhere Over The Rainbow » — the list is endless, and so is the fun you'll have!

Concertos for Nose Flute

As far as we now, there has been 4 concertos composed for nose flute:

Concerto for Nose Flute and Muted Saxophone (1926?)
George Antheil (1900-1959), performed by Edmund Dulac (1882-1953)

George Antheil was a very famous composer in the Avant-Garde years. When in Paris, he was used to frequenting James Joyce, Ezra Pound, Man Ray, Erik Satie, Fernand Léger and many other. His most famous work is Ballet Mécanique.



Edmund Dulac was a french (British naturalised in 1912) famous illustrator. Besides his orientalist drawing and paintings for books, he also created stamps, notably the ones with king George VI effigy or this great one to commemorate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. But Edmund Dulac was also a nose flute player, who performed in many occasions. Unfortunately for us, it appeared quickly in our research that Mr. Dulac was used to playing traditional kinds of nose flutes, notably from Malay Archipelago.

In June 1926, Mr. Dulac performed the Concerto for Nose Flute and Muted Saxophone, composed by George Antheil. We didn't find the music sheet.



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Gross Concerto for Divers Flutes (1961)
Peter Schickele (born in 1935), with the pseudonym P.D.Q. Bach

Peter Schickele is the famous American composer who invented the fictional and humorous character of P.D.Q. Bach, alleged last J.S. Bach's son. The whole P.D.Q.'s story has been published in 1976 by Schickele, in a hilarious book: The Definitive Biography of P.D.Q. Bach



In the book, the nose flute is said to appear in P.D.Q.'s musical life through Thomas "Peeping Tom" Pollex, a young nose flute virtuoso. Soon after, Bach's "only forgotten son" composed the Gross Concerto.



In the section dedicated to P.D.Q.'s works, a double page exposes the Gross Concerto history and the "divers flutes" used to perform it. And at the right bottom corner of the picture, we can see a plastic Humanatone.



And in the book glossary, a small article describes the nose flute with a certain dose of humour:



But as usual in Peter Schickele's work, while P.D.Q. Bach's story is fictional, the Gross Concerto is real. It is a real concerto composed in 1961 and performed many times (and at least until 1993) by Schickele's ensemble, with the composer playing himself the "divers flutes".



I have not been able to find a recording of one of those performances, nor a video. In the DVD The Abduction of Figaro (by P. Schickele), the bonus contains very short excerpts of the Gross Concerto, but none with the maestro at the nose flute. But then, the bonus features a 1972 interview of Peter Schickele by Gordon Hunt for his TV program Hour Glass (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.).



A real archive, with Peter Schickele presenting the nose flute principle, with a shiny red Humanatone in his hand.

Note that the Gross Concerto is not the only work featuring a nose flute in Schickele's work. At least another piece, from the CD Portrait of P.D.Q. Bach (Vanguard ed.), named Angus Dei (no typo there:) is played with many instruments including nose flutes. Anyway, I was not able to clearly discern their notes in the ensemble.



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Concerto for Bassoon and Nose Whistle (1966)
Warrick L. Carter (born in 1942)

This is the most mysterious nose flute concerto: I don't know nothing about it. Its composer, Dr. Warrick L. Carter made a great career. Starting with musical teaching and composing at University of Maryand in the late 1960's, Dr. Carter successively became Dean of Faculty and Provost at Berklee College of Music, Director of Entertainment Arts at Walt Disney Entertainment, President of Columbia College in 2000, among many other functions.



According to his biography published on Answers.com, Warrick Carter composed a Concerto for Bassoon and Nose Whistle in 1966. I tried to reach Dr. Carter to get more info, but nobody answered my requests to be put in touch with him...



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Concerto Pomposo (2000)
Ulrich Nehls (born in 1959), with the pseudonym Jean-Marie Hottetotte

I will not much say about this concerto since I already did in this post.

Let's just say that the Concerto Pomposo is the most documented concerto for nose flute. Indeed, not only Ulrich Nehls generously published the sheets on imslp.org (and thus in public domain), answered all of our questions about this work, but the concerto was performed by the Brethren Bass ensemble, but also by Kentucky T. Dutchersmith and the Maple City Chamber Orchestra:

Aniada A Noar

Aniada A Noar (literally "Each one a fool" in Styrian) is a folk music band born in Styria, a South-East state of Austria. The group was formed in 1981, and is composed of high talented musicians, playing violin, guitar, accordion, bagpipes, jew's harp and several other instruments, among which the nose flute plays an interesting role. Aniada A Noar has published 16 CDs and tours in many countries.

The band is now composed of
- Wolfgang Moitz: flutes, bagpipes, accordion, Jew's harp, nose flute, Piffero. He sings and composes.
- Rupert Pfundner: violin, mandolin, jaw harp, musical saw, bagpipes, nose flute, Piffero, singing
- Andreas Safer: accordion, guitar, mandolin, harmonica, nose flute, vocals. He composes and writes.

As you can see it, all three of them play the nose flute...

Photo: Johannes Gellner


For sure, being from Styria too, the Aniada A Noar members play the wooden Nasenflöten made by Heinrich Handler:

Photo: Marliese Mendel


I don't know when they began to play nose flute on stage or in recordings, but it is at least in 2003, since the instrument features explicitly on (at least) 4 CDs by Aniada A Noar.


2003: Tanzl
2007: Polka Potente
2012: Gott und die Welt
2013: Khult



Anyway, in the 2 first records mentioned above, the nose flute is almost not distinguishable, because mixed with too many instruments and flutes. But the 2 songs featuring Nasenflöten in Gott und die Welt and Khult are really pushed on foreground.

The nose flute on Stolperer (from the CD Gott und die Welt) is a bit weird because played in a very folkloric way. You can listen to it here: Stolperer

And here is a video showing Romanze, the only song in Khult played with nose flutes. But no less than 3 of them! Enjoy:



There are also 2 other versions of this song that you can watch here and here.

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To read more and/or buy Aniada A Noar CDs and books: www.aniada.at

Stereo Total - Tour de France

Stereo Total is a German-French electro-pop-punk duo based in Berlin, Germany, comprising Françoise Cactus and Brezel Göring. The band was formed in 1995, and has released 15 albums (13 CD) since.




In their 2010 album Baby Ouh!, the Original Oberkreuzberger Nasenflötenorchester appeared as guest star on one tune: Tour de France. Indeed, this funny and joyful song about the famous french bicycle competition includes a nice choir of nose flutes playing between the verses. It is a Kraftwerk cover (I personally prefer this cover to the original...)



You can listen to an excerpt of Tour de France (and of the other Baby Ouh! CD songs) on this page. However, if you have iTunes installed on your computer, I suggest you click on the link at the right of the line in this page, in order to be able to listen to a much longer (1'30) excerpt.



You can buy the song on iTunes, or the physical CD Baby Ouh! at this webshop.

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[EDIT] : Our friend Hiroshi Tachibana found this video (not official, but song in full...):

Tim Flood inducted in the NFoF!

Mr. Tim Flood passed away on 3rd of July, and many people are plunged into mourning. Indeed, Timothy Flood had several lives, and many people knew him through the different facets of his gifted personality.

Tim Flood (8 January 1927 – 3 July 2014) was an Irish celebrity. He was famous for having been six times an Irish National Champion of Hurling, a typical Irish sport, kind of a Gaelic field Hockey.

Flood first excelled at hurling in his youth. He arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of twenty two when he first linked up with the Wexford senior team. He made his senior debut in the 1947-48 National Hurling League. Flood went on to play a key part for Limerick during a golden age for the team, and won three All-Ireland medals, six Leinster medals and two National Hurling League medals.[2] He was an All-Ireland runner-up on three occasions. Wikipedia.

Besides his successful sportive carreer, Tim was a musician, and particularly a tenor banjo player (you can hear him playing with his son in this video)

Tim Flood played music all his life and was the mainstay of the well known Castleboro Céili Band. He, along with Larry Harrington, Larry Joyce, Bill Simpson, Jack Nolan, Noel and Ramie (Buzzer) Ryan and Paddy Joyce and later with Jim Murphy, Knoxtown kept the flag flying for Irish Music in our parish and outside it. He played and competed at all the fleadh ceoils around the country and sometimes adjudicated at competitions all over Wexford and beyond. Cloughbawngaa.

But what does interest us here, is Tim Flood's third career. Indeed, after his retirement, Tim became again a multiple champion in ... sheepdog trials! Tim was one of those handlers who use a nose flute as a shepherd tool.

Since his retirement from hurling Tim has been heavily involved in sheepdog trials, and he has represented Cloughbawn, Wexford, Leinster & Ireland on numerous occasions, on TV shows such as 'One Man And His Dog' and has travelled the world in his interest in this discipline. Cloughbawngaa.

In his book "One Man's Way... The Interviews" (WSN publications - York, UK, 2006), Austin Bennett interviews famous sheepdog handlers, and notably Tim Flood. In the excerpt below, we learn that the instrument was made by late Owen Humphreys, Talysarn, Wales.
(You can get the book here : allsheepdogs.com)



And, for our biggest pleasure, several pictures showing Mr. Flood with his nose whistle hanging around the neck (please notice on the last picture, that his left neighbour also carries a nose whistle around the neck).

Copyrighted pictures by Austin Bennett and Barbara Collins (no infringement intended):

It is very difficult to see the details of this nose flute on the pictures. However, I found a precious footage in which the instrument is closely shown. The interviewer, John Jude Doyle was the local pub owner.



As you can see, the nose flute - full brass - is from "Humanatone type", but has a huge air hole in the nose shield and has a flat mouth shield (no bending there). It is difficult to be affirmative, but it also looks like having a double wall nose shield, (as on Bernard Visser's vintage flute)

I also found an interesting RTÉ radio program (Farmweek - July 27, 2007). In the first part, Tim Flood mostly talks about his dogs, but from 3'23 till the end, we can hear the "herding nose flute" and From 4'46 until the end, Tim deals about the nose flute itself:




May Mr. Timothy Flood rest in peace.



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For having used and promoted the nose flute as a herding tool, Tim Flood is inducted to the Nose Flute Hall of Fame, in the "Promoters" section!

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