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This is where you can read about new and current things in the works: Grey's ideas for new projects, tours, recordings, books, and collaborations.

Please share your comments, questions, ideas and feedback with Grey by clicking here.

Grey's Six Books with Mel Bay Publications

Grey's first two books came out in December 2003 and April 2004. The third book comes outin March 2013.
For more details and excerpts, click here. To order one of the books below, click on the title to enter the online store.

1. The Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle

Published December 20, 2003.
480 pages, with two companion CDs. List price $45.99.

"Grey has, through his research, patience, and diligence, completed a work on Irish flute and tin whistle that I feel is essential reading for anybody interested in getting it right."

- Matt Molloy, flute player with The Bothy Band and The Chieftains

2. The Essential Tin Whistle Toolbox

Published April 2004.
187 pages, with one CD. List price $29.99.

"An essential set of tools for the beginning and intermediate tin whistle player. I highly recommend it!"

- Joanie Madden, whistle and flute player with Cherish the Ladies

3. 150 Gems of Irish Music for Tin Whistle (formerly this had the working title "Celtic Encyclopedia for Tin Whistle")

Coming out in March, 2013. 140 pages and two CDs. List price $29.99.

Much more than just a tune book, this book/CD collection contains 150 traditional Irish tunes, with suggested ornamentation and breathing places. All the tunes are on the two companion CDs. Also included are three chapters on Grey's ornamentation notation system, modes, breathing and phrasing. While composed mainly of "whistle-friendly" tunes, there are also tunes of non-wind origin and tunes for playing on non-D whistles. Grey addresses the issue of notes that go too low for the whistle and options for making needed adaptations.

Many of the transcriptions pay homage to recordings by famous Irish musicians and groups such as Matt Molloy (of the Chieftains), Mary Bergin, Kevin Burke, Martin Hayes, Sharon Shannon, and Altan as well as early 20th century recordings from revered Irish masters Michael Coleman, Willie Clancy, Bobby Casey, Paddy Killoran, Dennis Murphy, Paddy Canny and others.

4. 150 Gems of Irish Music for Flute (formerly this had the working title "Celtic Encyclopedia for Irish Flute")

Coming out in 2013. Approximately 140 pages and two CDs. List price $29.99.

This book/2CD collection contains 150 Irish tunes, with suggested ornamentation and breathing places. All the tunes will be on the companion CDs. Also included are explanatory chapters on Grey's ornamentation notation system, modes, breathing and phrasing. While composed mainly of "flute-friendly" tunes, there are also tunes of non-wind origin and tunes requiring the use of keys. Grey addresses the issue of notes that go too low for the flute and options for making needed adaptations.

Many of the transcriptions pay homage to recordings by famous Irish musicians and groups such as Matt Molloy (of the Chieftains), Mary Bergin, Kevin Burke, Paddy Keenan, Jackie Daly, the Mulcahy Family and Altan as well as early 20th century recordings from revered Irish masters Michael Coleman, Bobby Casey, Paddy Killoran, Dennis Murphy, Paddy Canny, Paddy Cronin, Lucy Farr and others.

5. 300 Gems of Irish Music for All Instruments

Coming out in 2013. Approximately 140 pages. A set of CDs containing all the tunes will be available as an additional purchase.

For those who wish to have the tunes from the two "150 Gems" collections without ornamentation and breathing suggestions, this book combines into one volume such “blank slate” versions.

These tune settings leave low notes (below the flute and whistle’s low D) in their original register, making them more useful to players whose instruments have such low notes. This also makes it easier for wind players to make their own decisions about how to accommodate notes that fall below their instrument’s range.

6. Down the Back Lane: Variation in Irish Dance Music

Coming out in 2013. Includes one companion CD.

The suggestions shown in the "150 Gems" books represent only one out of many ways a player might spontaneously ornament and phrase a tune. Down the Back Lane provides transcriptions and recordings of several of the tunes found in the "150 Gems" collections, but played three times through (instead of once). Each repetition of a tune is notated independently, showing complete details of how one repetition differs from the others with respect to ornamentation, breathing, slurring and tonguing, vibrato and melodic variation.

This collection reinforces the fact that traditional Irish tunes are always changing and that there is no such thing as a definitive setting of a tune.

Terry McGee's Grey Larsen's Preferred model Irish flute

In April 2003, Grey travelled to Canberra, Australia to collaborate with the great Australian flutemaker, Terry McGee. Terry was intrigued by his unusual Irish flute preference. They carefully studied Grey's flute and compared it with a variety of other (mostly English) instruments of the period. Terry was so convinced of this instrument's fine qualities that he now offers his own Grey Larsen Preferred model, based upon his meticulous measurements and examination of Grey's Firth, Pond & Co. flute.

Terry writes of the Firth, Pond & Co. flute:

"It's a delightfully easy flute to play, reminiscent of the pipes or whistle in agility and economy of air. It would suit anyone who, like Grey, values crisp ornamentation highly. Despite the small holes, the flute produces a very impressive volume of sound."

Grey loves Terry's Grey Larsen Preferred flute and recommends it without reservation. It plays just as beautifully as his original Firth Pond & Co. - plus it has superior intonation. He says that if he were to lose his flute, he would go to Terry for a replacement.

 

Grey Larsen Preferred six-key

The photo above shows a six-key Grey Larsen Preferred flute by Terry McGee, in African blackwood and silver. (The B-flat key, operated by the left thumb, is difficult to see in this photo.)

 

Grey Larsen Preferred keyless

The photo above shows a keyless Grey Larsen Preferred flute by Terry McGee, in African blackwood and silver.

Click here to hear Grey playing the Irish reel The Torn Jacket on a Terry McGee's Grey Larsen Preferred flute.

Normally, there is a substantial waiting period when you order a flute from Terry. However, we will keep a limited supply of Terry's Grey Larsen Preferred flutes on hand to sell here, with no waiting period involved.

Terry will keep Grey supplied, as he can, with a small number of Grey Larsen Preferred flutes in these two configurations:

  • Keyless, in blackwood
  • 6-keyed, in blackwood
  • These flute models are also available in Delrin from time to time

Click here for more information on these flutes and on buying them from Grey.

A CD of Michael J. Kennedy?

We hope to find a way to reissue on CD Michael J. Kennedy's 1977 LP "65 Years of Irish Music", which has been long out of print and unavailable. We also have additional recordings of Kennedy which could be added to these tracks to make a more complete collection.

To keep abreast of developments with this project, join my email list.

For some information on Michael J. Kennedy, see the additional liner notes to The Green House, and read the notes to track three. Also, The Green House contains three bonus track recordings of Michael himself, playing melodeon and reminiscing about his youthful years in Ireland, 1900-1923.

Root Crops & Ground Cover?

Fans of the band Metamora (Grey, Malcolm Dalglish and Pete Sutherland) may recall that they sold a cassette at their concerts called Root Crops & Ground Cover, which was tucked into what looked like a seed package. They made several editions of this recording over the years, using both studio and live cuts. It included Pete Sutherland's folk-operetta "Monster", about the Lake Champlain monster, among other concert favorites.

It is out of print and has never been issued on CD, but if enough people express interest in that, we may be able to rectify the situation.

However, several Metamora recordings are available here, including Metamora and The Great Road.

Metamora's 1987 Windham Hill release, Morning Walk, is unfortunately out of print. But a few of the last LPs are available at the store.

Metamora was included on three of Windham Hill's sampler albums, Winter Solstice II (available on CD and LP at the store) and Windham Hill Sampler '89 (available on LP only at the store). The latter contains Grey's original "Through the Woods". Sanctuary is Windham Hill's 20 year best-of retrospective. It includes Grey's original piece, "Siri's Arrival".

Grey Larsen Mastering

Grey is a very experience mastering engineer. He specializes in acoustic music, and has mastered over 100 CDs.

If you are a recording musician, you may want to consider Grey as your mastering engineer.

To learn more about his mastering, and mastering in general, go to the Mastering section.

There are many reasons to master your mixed material.

  • Mastering is the final creative opportunity in the recording process.
  • Mastering enhances each mix globally, improving clarity, depth, and definition. Often it's as if a veil has been lifted, one that you didn't realize was there, making the music more clear and three-dimensional.
  • The careful use of multi-band EQ, compression and limiting improves the frequency spectrum balance and increases the overall volume of the music so that it stands up well next to anything else on the radio. All major label releases are mastered. Why not yours?
  • Though mastering is not remixing, it is often possible to bring out certain elements of a mix (vocals, bass, etc.).
  • Mastering brings a set of experienced and discerning ears to your project for a fresh perspective on how you are presenting your music to your audience.
  • Digital editing can be done in the mastering process. The basics can include fade ins, fade outs, crossfades, and cleaning up noises. Many other possibilities exist as well, such as splicing together parts of different mixes, adding or removing whole sections of music, stretching or compressing time, raising or lowering pitch, adjusting the volume of certain parts of the mix relative to other parts.
  • PQ codes, such as index numbers for the CD and ISRC codes (International Standard Recording Code) are added in the mastering process. ISRC codes place a "digital fingerprint" on each song that can't be removed, identifying you as the song's owner and making digital piracy more difficult.

Songs from Walden Pond, a collaboration with Dillon Bustin

In 1991, Dillon Bustin received a commission from the Museum of Our National Heritage in Lexington, Massachusetts to do a staged adaptation of Walden. He composed a song cycle with monologues, closely following Thoreau's text, and asked me to arrange the music for an ensemble of wooden flute, piano, cello, French horn, and percussion.

I dove into this project with a great passion. Dillon's song melodies and lyric adaptations are so natural and gorgeous, and the lyrics represent to me a masterpiece of wisdom and insight. I found the challenge of bringing this inspired material into full bloom irresistible. In scoring the songs, I called upon my love of classical counterpoint and my decades of folk music experience to produce a score that integrates both. I dearly love this music.

The piece was first presented in Concord over a weekend in October 1993, complete with set, props, theatrical lighting, and dancers. I directed the musical ensemble and played the flute parts (as I will be doing on June 4th) on my 19th century wooden flute, the type of flute that Thoreau himself played.

Also in 1993 we performed the piece, and did a studio recording of it, in Bloomington, Indiana, where I live. That recording has not yet been issued. Since that time, Dillon has performed the cycle as a recital piece from time to time, usually with piano accompaniment, but it has not received the full treatment since 1993.

I feel that this collaboration with Dillon represents some of the very best musical work I have ever done. For years I have been hoping that Dillon and I could bring Songs from Walden Pond to a wider audience. On June 4th, 2005 we once again performed a selection of songs from the piece in Concord, MA with the full ensemble.I hope that performance will be the first step in reviving Songs from Walden Pond.

Grey would like to mix and master the 1993 studio recording and make it available to the world. The scores to the song arrangements are all written out and could be compiled into a full score, and individual parts, which others could use to perform the piece.

Are you interested in funding these endeavors? To discuss this, please contact Grey.