I still have my flute. I can still remember the fingerings for every note from C4 (it hasn't got a B footjoint, by the way) up to B6, including the alternate fingerings required to play high trills. I haven't actually played it in years, but I'd expect the muscle memory of the embouchure to return to me pretty quickly if past experience is anything to go by.
What I don't have is the ideal microphone for recording such an instrument, nor the knowledge of where to place said microphone. Thus I realized it was far more efficient, in every way, to bring in an extra player for the flute part in "Escapade", rather than playing it myself. Enter Yuri Villar (via Musiversal). His phrasing is certainly more refined than mine would be, which helps out in both relevant passages: the nearly ambient intro now takes on a slightly exotic character (hints of Toru Takemitsu, perhaps?) while the jazzy phrases in the "After the Party"-based section are just that!
Incidentally, I originally wrote the instrumental obbligato in "After the Party" with saxophone in mind, not flute. I have a vague recollection that "Last Day", the song created at Dartington 2006 that inspired "After the Party", featured dramatic saxophone solos. Whether that was the case or not, the baritone sax near the end of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Pts. I-V" was certainly then among my favourite moments in all of rock. (It still is.) Anyway, when it came to recording "After the Party" in its excruciating entirety for Escapade 2, I drew the line at trying to synthesize a saxophone, and didn't want to outsource anything for reasons already discussed, so I ended up making the lead instrument a (real, for once!) flute instead.
I did consider transferring the line back to saxophone for Chronicles, but felt that since another part of "Escapade" (the song) features the flute anyway, the piece would gel better if I didn't.
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