Aspies For Freedom

When people ask me if I'm musical, and I tell them I play the recorder, that invariably prompts two questions: "Which one do you play?" and "Do you play in a group?". The answer to the first is: descant, treble, tenor and sopranino. The second is less easy to answer, as it all depends on what you mean by a group.

I belong to the Devon Society of Recorder Players. What that means in practice is that I go along to their monthly meetings when I'm free and sightread one part of a piece of music. A couple of years ago Devon SRP set up a separate "Exeter Recorder Orchestra". It is supposed to be distinct from the main SRP in that its stated aim is to practise (not just sightread) a selection of pieces with a view to performing them. But in the event we have given only two concerts during all this time, pretty poorly attended at that. And we only meet once a month, so on the face of it it doesn't seem that different from Devon SRP. Most of the other members of Devon SRP and/or ERO play in smaller groups, some with other instrumentalists. At the very least this means meeting up in other people's houses, but some of these smaller groups have also given performances. I once spoke to someone who'd played in a group in mediaeval costume who provided background music at Buckland Abbey (a National Trust property on the other side of Dartmoor). Unfortunately groups such as this don't have auditions as such. It's more about playing with friends, or friends of friends. Indeed this person's advice to me was to make myself known, invite people back to my flat to play ensembles and maybe this just might lead to greater things. I objected, saying that my flat was far too small and untidy, and besides I only have a very limited collection of consort music. Another issue is that I hardly know the names of anyone in the SRP and/or recorder orchestra; I've probably been told any number of names but it's dificult to retain the information if I don't see the other person for another month at least. And this is after three years in Exeter.

There's a lady at the Quaker meeting I attend who's had recorder lessons. When I once suggested that we should play together some time (emphasis on play, not perform) she was totally against the idea, saying that "You're far too good for me - you play in a group?" Eh?! This despite the fact she has never heard me play a note. There are people like that lady among my office colleagues, people who've never bothered to attend my once-in-a-blue-moon concerts and yet who still think I'm really good. Maybe I should take it as a compliment and leave it at that, but I am a tad tempted to grab them by the shoulders and say "If you think I'm so bloody marvellous why have you never come to hear me play?"

Not all my colleagues are like that. My closest colleagues (as in my team mates, not close in any social sense) know nothing about my life as an amateur musician. Well I can only suppose they know nothing. In all the time I've worked with them (just over 2 years) I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times they've asked me how my weekend was.

Nope I dont, but I play a diff. instrument (maybe that should have been plural)

in order of proficiency
-bass clarinet
-b flat clarinet
-bari sax
-tenor sax
-trombone
-bassoon

I also belong to my local SRP- go along to the meetings, and enjoy sight-reading through lots of music.
To play in a recorder orchestra is something I have yet to have done, I usually stick to smaller groups. As I am still at college, I managed to set up a small recorder consort, with/after asking 2 teachers, and some first year recorder players- most of whom are very enthuastic. I was lucky in the sense that the teacher who taught music was able to provide music. Some of us have taken grades, some of us have continued with lessons (one is a recorder as principal instrument music scholar- even better for my duet playing!) and we have been known to perform occassionally.

Getting other musicians to play with is difficult, I spend most of my ensemble playing, when on recorder, playing duets- at home with my mother. We have asked other people to join us, so we can encorporate more instruments, but it is very difficult due to other people's lives/structures/previous commitments.

Finding people willing to play with you is not easy, though I guess if you are interested, then maybe find a performance that a recorder consort are doing, then try and engage them in conversation at the end? Presumably, they will know you then, and may be able to offer you a "place" with them to play.

When I was at Oak Lodge (a school for kids with autism and AS) me and two friends formed a group called Digital Orgasm - we were heavily 80s/electronic influenced.

Are you a full paid-up member of SRP nationally - in which case you may have seen my anonymous mention in the spring issue (the one with Flautando Koeln on the front cover), as quoted in my as-yet-unanswered thread on online music communities.

You may not be missing much! Seriously, I often wonder to myself whether recorder orchestras are worth the effort. My dad once said, apropos of something else: "It reminds me of a scale model of St Paul's Cathedral made out of matchsticks. The end result may be impressive, but you can't help but wonder, 'Why bother?'" I for one wonder it is worth the trouble of trying to sell a novel, untested musical form to the general public. It would be different if there were well-known professional recorder orchestras, but I've never heard of any. As it is, we're stuck with performing either rearrangements of popular classics or special pieces for recorder orchestras composed by people unknown outside the recorder-playing world (Colin Touchin, Steve Marshall et al). This doesn't really help to shift the popular perception of the recorder as being more of a primary school teaching aid than a proper instrument with its own repertoire.

But if the consorts aren't looking for new members, they're not going to offer me a place even once they know me. Last year I happened to see a feature on John Craven's Countryfile programme about a Dartmoor-based maker of wooden flutes who makes a point of using local sustainably-sourced timber. Having tracked down his personal website I emailed him, asking if he knew of opportunities for me to play with other instrumentalists. He gave me the email address of "a lady who plays in an folk cum medieaval ensemble in Newton Abbot" so I emailed her next. Then two months later at a rehearsal of the recorder orchestra, a lady whose name I didn't know (I hardly know anyone's name in the group) came up to me and said: "You sent me an email. I've been meaning to reply for ages." As I didn't know her name, it took a while to register, but then she explained that I'd mentioned Nigel Shaw the flute-maker. She went on to state that she'd been playing in her group with the same people for 15 years and they're not looking for new recruits, thank you very much. (I subsequently checked the email I'd sent her, and I did not ask "Please may I join your group?" but "Do you know of any opportunities...?")

What, the group who had a hit with "Running Out of Time"? I remember the Chart Show prudishly referred to them as "Digital O", despite having had no qualms about showing the videos of Color Me Badd's "I Wanna Sex You Up" and Salt-n-Pepa's "Let's Talk About Sex".

Nope, not that one - we just liked the name, or more to it, I liked the name. I still use it sometimes for my own music!

Yes I Play Recorder And Harmonica And I Want to Play in an All Aspergian Band. It's Very Hard to do I Have Been Trying With Church Though.  

I've been taking lessons to learn how to play the Great Highland Bagpipes this summer. I'm not really sure who I can play bagpipes with except other bagpipes, though, because they are so overpowering.

An all Aspergian band? I'm don't care where my fellow musicians are on (or off) the autistic spectrum. Talent is the key!

I've never even figured out how to seek out other people to play with.  There was a music program I was in, but once I aged out of that there wasn't really anything else.