At our massed playing session this evening was conducted by Tom Beets, our Belgian tutor. His first piece was a great arrangement called ‘The River’, based on a traditional South American song. The 125 recorder players had to combine playing their instruments in the usual way with all sorts of other unusual techniques and Tom had the staff playing the percussion parts. As we don’t have any percussion instruments we improvised and ended up using a couple of plastic bins, a dustpan and brush, a tea cup and a fire extinguisher. My instrument for the evening was a beer bottle, filled with water so it played the note D. I got some priceless photos of the players in rehearsal but can’t really publish them here so instead I thought I’d feature my musical instrument for the evening!

great detail...nice shot and post ????? · 2011-08-04: 17:52

great shot Lynda · 2011-08-04: 18:03

This shot has such interesting composition and focus, Helen...and the colors absolutely glow! lookagain · 2011-08-04: 20:46

I like that angle, makes me feel as if I drank it ;-) Jarvo · 2011-08-04: 20:50

Love the composition, detail and the colors..super shot Helen!! :) Nukee · 2011-08-04: 20:54

I just love your narratives Helen! The bottle has a perfect tilt to it. Is the UK term jaunty?? I have heard that quite a bit! danrav · 2011-08-04: 21:52

excellent story Helen - did you get to drink the beer before refilling the bottle? McMommy · 2011-08-04: 22:19

Darn! Wish you could have published the photos of your bandmates. And I would have loved to see you play your beer bottle Helen. How did you get the top of the bottle out of focus and the bottom so crisp and clear??? HOW?? And I had to laugh at Marjorie's question. liveandletlive · 2011-08-05: 00:30

great focused details! Davorka · 2011-08-05: 00:49

Improvising can be such fun, I have never heard 125 recorders played at the same time, but I bet it sounded pretty amazing... Annbramwell · 2011-08-05: 02:40

It would have been nice to see you playing the bottle, but your photo is completed as usual ! josy63 · 2011-08-05: 03:20

Now thats what I need today nice capture mystic1 · 2011-08-11: 13:03

Tagged: bottle glass beer