I have vacation at the moment and lots of time so I’ve decided to spent much time in strengthening my first octave and to work on my intonation.
I’ve decided to play some harmonics. There are many great advices here so I won’t come up with a new threat about that.
But allways when I play low D → middle D → harmonic A → high D (all fingered XXX XXX)
all the Ds are perfectly in tune but the A is a few cent to sharp. The stopper is set correctly, I’ve checked that allready.
What should I do now to get it in tune?
Also my first octave B and A are a bit to sharp if I didn’t change the embochure when playing d-c#-B-A-G-F#…
What shall I do to avoid this?
It’s probably because they aren’t actually going to be in tune in 12TET - see some theory on the harmonic series - especially the section on Harmonics and Tuning. Also, design compromises of specific instruments may push them off their theoretical value.
“An illustration of the harmonic series in musical notation. The numbers above the harmonic indicate the number of cents difference from equal temperament (rounded to the nearest cent). Blue notes are flat and red notes are sharp.”
The Wiki examples, rather inevitably, are C-centric - so mentally “think a tone higher” for a D-based sequence.
Whoa, they are scary numbers on that scale! But you only get those significant deviations when you are well up the harmonic series. French horn players beware!
StefD is worried about her third harmonic - second octave A. It’s an octave and fifth above the fundamental, Low D. Octaves are always pure, and ET Fifths are only 2 cents impure, which is a negligible error, so I wouldn’t look there for the source of the discrepancy. (Indeed, you’ll see that 2 cents shown on the third harmonic in the chart, third note from the left.)
StefD, you say your stopper is correctly set - do you mean it’s set to the nominal “one bore diameter back from the centre of embouchure”, 19mm or 3/4", or set to produce the most accurate third octave notes? I prefer the second approach.
You could try pulling the stopper further out to flatten your sharp 3rd harmonic of low D. You might find that strengthens the low D (because of better harmonic alignment).
But be aware that, if you tend to play higher notes than 2nd octave B, you might find this flattens them unacceptably. For example it will probably flatten the fourth harmonic of low D. But, depending on the range of notes you need, you might find a better compromise on your particular flute than the nominal setting gives.
Also my first octave B and A are a bit to sharp if I didn’t change the embochure when playing d-c#-B-A-G-F#…What shall I do to avoid this?
Are 2nd octave A and B also too sharp? If so, perhaps the scale length of your flute is a little longer than ideal to play at A440. You might be able to compensate by reducing the size of the holes slightly with wax. Always work from the bottom up - i.e. do the A first, as it will affect the B. Be aware that this fill flatten the 2nd octave faster than the bottom octave.
Good information there, Terry - I second your stopper position approach. Funnily, for me a distance of about 17-18mm works best, depending on day form, but both for tuning and tone. Scrambles the often-heard theory that thou needst a big stopper distance to make a honk…
One little cue, though - Stef is, even if the name does suggest it to native english speakers, not female. At least he wasn’t when I last met him.
I’m wondering if there might be more than one way to skin a cat involved in this - that the best stopper position might depend on your blowing approach. Specifically, that the downward approach will benefit more from a short-to-nominal distance to get well-aligned harmonics, but that the blowing across approach might benefit more from a greater stopper distance. I think to follow that up sufficiently rigorously, I’ll need to build the flute blower first.
One little cue, though - Stef is, even if the name does suggest it to native english speakers, not female. At least he wasn’t when I last met him. >
Whew, thanks for that Gabriel, I’ll quit flirting.
Sorry, Steve, maaaate! You’re on your own from here on!
I haven’t changed that until now, even not at carnival! (But I have changed my signature!)
But Terry, no matter! At least it took me two full month till I found out that Steph Geremia was not a man
But maybe I should upload another avatar…
I’ve set the stopper with a little guidance of your fabulous page. (Which I found at least through one of Gabriel’s post )
I set it to produce the most accurate third octave. (On my flute it’s about 20-21 mm from the center of the embochure…could that be possible?)
I have to check if second octave A and B are to flat, too, but I shall wait a few hours because it’s 2:00 am here.
Ignorant flatmates. tssss…
Belive it or not but my first whistle teacher had a moustache like that and this fuzzy sound you could hear when he was playin a flute I associate with the irish flute sound since that day.
Sigh, probably won’t help me - I didn’t even notice the avatar you have. (And you can see how imaginative my avatar and my user name is.) I’ve come to the conclusion over the years that I am a fairly non-visually-aware person. I can see OK, I just don’t tend to notice. It probably explains my career choices - they were all related in some way to sound or other invisible forces. I can read the dots if I have to, but I have to go back to Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit and recalibrate where I am every time. I’m just lucky there are jobs like flutemaker available for the notice handicapped!
I’ve had some time to check it out.
The stopper is set correctly - all three Ds are in tune.
When I play a scale, trying not to change the embouchure, first and second octave A, B and Cnat are to sharp.
Also when I play harmonics the harmonic A (xxx xxx) is to sharp. A but not B (xxx xxo)!
What can I do? Practise more? Change something with my embouchure? Saw up that little tune-bazooka? Practise even more?
Well, having A, B and C natural sharp is not uncommon at all. And you probably have F#, C# and maybe Eb all flat. Why don’t you want to change the embouchure? Controlling the pitch of the notes with your lips is a very important part of flute playing, you’re supposed to do it.
I haven’t changed that until now, even not at carnival! (But I have changed my signature!)
)
great! Where can I buy the moustache section?