When flutist Greg Pattillo moved to New York and began busking at subway stations, he went a traditional route. "I couldn't find work playing music anywhere," he says. "And so the logical conclusion ...

WHEN he wants to know how a new piece of music will work in front of an audience, the flautist Greg Pattillo takes to the New York subway. ''It's the greatest place to test new material,'' he says.

There’s a pipsqueak of a flute, just a foot long and barely thicker inside than a reed of grass. There are flutes twisted into triangles and other geometric shapes to fit the performers’ mouths. And ...