Resonance, embouchure "hissing"...

[Gabriel]

Daiv, so many thanks for your reply. I think I never saw a more comprehensive guide to tone alongside with excercises and so on here on C&F. Just great!

I'm looking forward to the recordings and will try your approach as soon as I have had enough coffee. Your posting is certainly bookmarked here!

[tin tin]

This may sound a bit snide, but, wow, a thread that's actually about playing the flute, complete with practice tips--instead of recommendations for which flute will make us sound just like our favorite star!

Daiv has listed some great excercises. I would add a few thoughts to his description of throat tuning (humming/singing while playing). It's not necessary to sing the note in the same octave as the note you're playing on the flute--as long as the voice and the flute are in tune, they can be an octave or two apart, whatever fits the player's vocal range.
Here's the four step process I learned: (1) Play the note alone. (2) Sing the note alone (in whatever octave fits your vocal range). (3) Sing and play the note simultaneously (in octaves, if necessary). (4) Play the note while 'singing' silently (hear your voice in your head, keep the throat as it was when singing, but don't generate a sung sound).

Here are a few more basic tone development excercises, some of which overlap with Daiv's advice.

Long tones--play the best middle D you can, then slur it to the C# below, trying to make both notes the best you can. When you're happy with the match, play the best C# you can. Then slur C# to C. Get a good C, slur to B, etc., on down to low D. (If you have keys, you can do this chromatically, if not, just stick to the major scale.) You can also do this in the second octave, either progressing up from middle D, or down from the high B. (Really, one can start this excercise on most any middle-range note.)

The next step is octave slurs. Play a really good low G, let a high G grow out of it (if you want, fall back to the low G then.). Play a good low A, let the high A form from it, then do the same on B. Go back to the G, and do the same thing, this time working down to the low D. (Remember--the middle range is the easiest part of the flute. The high and low extremes are more difficult.) Think of 'reaching out' for the high notes--let your lips increase the airspeed and narrow the airstream--you don't need to blow harder for the high notes.

Then, to expand flexibility and range, play middle D, then C#, back to D, D then C natural (and back to D), D then B, D then A, D then G, D then F#, D then E, D then low D. Then go up: middle D to E, D to F#, etc. The farther apart the notes are, the harder it is. You can start this excercise on any note and work up and down from that "home base" note. For instance, start on low G, work down to low D, then work up from the G (G to A, G to B, G to C natural, G to C#, etc.) Eventually, you want to be able to jump from high B down to low D, and vice versa. Over time, this excercise will give you the ability to jump cleanly between any two notes.

With all these excercises, take your time, play as much as sounds good (your range will expand over time), and make each note the best you can. Also, once you're comfortable, try these excercises at different dynamics: normal, soft, loud. Also, keep an eye (or ear) on intonation while doing these excercises.

One of the best ways to strengthen your lips is by practicing harmonics. Reach out for the harmonics--they shouldn't require contortions, tension, or blowing harder. There are lots of ways to practice harmonics, and Daiv gave a good excercise; here's another one. I think I read somewhere that Jean-Michel Veillon is a fan of this excercise. This can be a little tricky at first, so don't force it. If you can't make it all the way to the top, don't. Eventually you will be able to. Here's the scale: D E F# G A B C# D, starting in the second octave (middle D) and playing up to the third octave D. Here's how it's fingered, low to high:

D xxxxxx
E xxxxxo
F# xxxxoo
G xxxooo
A xxxxxx
B xxxxxo
C# xxxxoo
D xxxooo

The only "real" fingerings you're using are for the first four notes of the scale, then you start playing harmonics, instead of the actual note you're fingering. Don't blow harder for the high notes, just a bit faster (smaller lip opening) and aim the air a little bit higher (not as much into the flute). You may want to begin by using the normal fingering for the note and then switch to the harmonic fingering, like Daiv suggested. For instance, finger the high A xxoooo, then xxxxxx. High C# fingered oooooo will be flat, so don't sweat it (the C-nat key will bring it into tune). The standard fingering for the high D is oxxooo. The standard fingerings vent the notes better than the harmonic fingerings do, which is why the notes are easier to hit (and more in tune) using proper fingerings. This is a pretty good lip work-out, so make sure you balance it out with lower excercises.

Hmmm...perhaps it's time for me to get out the flute and work through some of these myself...

[jemtheflute]

High C# fingered oooooo will be flat, so don't sweat it (the C-nat key will bring it into tune). The standard fingering for the high D is oxxooo. The standard fingerings vent the notes better than the harmonic fingerings do, which is why the notes are easier to hit (and more in tune) using proper fingerings.

More good stuff, thanks Tintin, and well explained, though speaking personally, this was stuff I already knew: Daiv gave me some completely new things. Just one point I want to pick up on though; the "standard" fingering for high C# (top of 2nd octave), most effective/in tune/best sounding for the vast majority of simple system flutes is not ,ooo ooo, (commas to represent C nat key and Eb key) which is the 1st octave open fingering over blown, but oxx xoo, - which is the assisted (vented) version of the harmonic fingering you give in the J-MV exercise, i.e. the 2nd harmonic of F#. The latter high C# fingering also has the advantage of moving very easily to the D fingering, oxx ooo, . Your comment "The standard fingerings vent the notes better than the harmonic fingerings do, which is why the notes are easier to hit (and more in tune) using proper fingerings" certainly applies to this note/fingering too!

[tin tin]

More good stuff, thanks Tintin, and well explained, though speaking personally, this was stuff I already knew: Daiv gave me some completely new things.

My attempts at enlightening flute-dom have failed. Daiv's shoes are too big to fill...
Seriously, Jem, I agree, Daiv has some fresh approaches I wasn't familiar with either...the stuff I listed is pretty standard flute pedagogy. Daiv, if you're reading, where did you glean some of those excercises?

Just one point I want to pick up on though; the "standard" fingering for high C# (top of 2nd octave), most effective/in tune/best sounding for the vast majority of simple system flutes is not ,ooo ooo, (commas to represent C nat key and Eb key) which is the 1st octave open fingering over blown, but oxx xoo, - which is the assisted (vented) version of the harmonic fingering you give in the J-MV exercise, i.e. the 2nd harmonic of F#. The latter high C# fingering also has the advantage of moving very easily to the D fingering, oxx ooo, .

Hey, thanks for the new fingering! Makes sense, given that third octave notes are formed from harmonic fingerings. (And C# could qualify as the third octave, even if one's flute only goes to D, as mine does--I'm just missing the first octave C#.)

[Cork]

Yes, an open throat is a main point to flute playing, vital, but I do not agree that humming could be a good practise technique, simply because humming involves restricting the throat, which is contrary to opening the throat.

In my earlier post I mentioned the difficulty in describing how I shift between the registers. Well, actually, I tune, and shift registers, in my throat, while paying no attention to what my embouchure is doing. As I said, it's not so easy to explain, but that's how I do it.

For similar reasons, in regard to an open throat, I loathe and detest the traditional ITM, glottal stop technique. Yes, this is blasphemy here, on the C&F FF, but an open throat is a key technique to flute playing, and the glottal stop, even worse than humming, simply is detrimental to good flute technique. Please bear with me, fellow flutists.

Oh, BTW, this has nothing to do with the subject of hiss, sorry to be off topic, but it has much to do with "resonance". In other words, without an open throat, it is likely that a player will never develop the full potential of a transverse flute.

[tin tin]

Yes, an open throat is a main point to flute playing, vital, but I do not agree that humming could be a good practise technique, simply because humming involves restricting the throat, which is contrary to opening the throat.

Semantics, perhaps, but I think of it more as singing than humming. Singers can certainly maintain an open throat (which, I agree, is a key to good flute tone). I think the excercise of throat tuning has more to do with the vocal chords than throat openness or closedness. Regardless, if one does the excercise, when one is at what I termed "step 4" above, one should have an open throat.

For similar reasons, in regard to an open throat, I loathe and detest the traditional ITM, glottal stop technique. Yes, this is blasphemy here, on the C&F FF, but an open throat is a key technique to flute playing, and the glottal stop, even worse than humming, simply is detrimental to good flute technique. Please bear with me, fellow flutists.

Coming from a classical background, the glottal stop was alien to me for quite some time. Of course, glottal stops are the opposite of an open throat, but I think this is a case where on can have one's cake and eat it, too, so to speak. The glottal stop is the exact opposite of an open throat, but it doesn't mean that before or after the glottal stop the throat can't be open. With practice, one can articulate clean, light glottal stops and have an open throat at all other times.

[Cork]

...The glottal stop is the exact opposite of an open throat, but it doesn't mean that before or after the glottal stop the throat can't be open. With practice, one can articulate clean, light glottal stops and have an open throat at all other times.

Well, you are suggesting a technique with which I have all but no experience, that of going from open throat, to glottal stop, and then back to open throat, just as quick as that. However, just because you have suggested that it could be at all posssible, I will give it another try.

No promises beyond that, however.

Thanks.

[Wormdiet]

...The glottal stop is the exact opposite of an open throat, but it doesn't mean that before or after the glottal stop the throat can't be open. With practice, one can articulate clean, light glottal stops and have an open throat at all other times.

Well, you are suggesting a technique with which I have all but no experience, that of going from open throat, to glottal stop, and then back to open throat, just as quick as that. However, just because you have suggested that it could be at all posssible, I will give it another try.

No promises beyond that, however.

Thanks.

I think Nano has some clips of Catherine McEvoy demonstrating glottal stops. It convinced me that they are a Good Thing.

[daiv]

Yes, an open throat is a main point to flute playing, vital, but I do not agree that humming could be a good practise technique, simply because humming involves restricting the throat, which is contrary to opening the throat.

In my earlier post I mentioned the difficulty in describing how I shift between the registers. Well, actually, I tune, and shift registers, in my throat, while paying no attention to what my embouchure is doing. As I said, it's not so easy to explain, but that's how I do it.

For similar reasons, in regard to an open throat, I loathe and detest the traditional ITM, glottal stop technique. Yes, this is blasphemy here, on the C&F FF, but an open throat is a key technique to flute playing, and the glottal stop, even worse than humming, simply is detrimental to good flute technique. Please bear with me, fellow flutists.

Oh, BTW, this has nothing to do with the subject of hiss, sorry to be off topic, but it has much to do with "resonance". In other words, without an open throat, it is likely that a player will never develop the full potential of a transverse flute.

you are right about the singing being constricting. however, i find that many players are not opening their throats at all and singing/humming can teach them to find the muscles. i believe its usefulness is as a self-instructive tool, and should be discarded when its lessons are dried up.

i used to not like the glottal stop, but fintan vallely convinced me it could be used well. when he taught me, he classified 6 types of articulation that he uses all interchangeably: t, k, glottal stop, diaphragm push, cut, tap. i would never have considered a puff of air articulation, but if you use it as such, i find it easier mentally to add lift with it. he also does some interesting stuff with combinations, like a hhhk sort of thing.

do you mean to say you switch your registers in your throat, or that you ignore your embouchure? if it's the latter, when i'm in the zone it seems the same. if it's the former... please, teach us!

[tin tin]

I think Nano has some clips of Catherine McEvoy demonstrating glottal stops. It convinced me that they are a Good Thing.

There's a track on her album "Traditional Flute Music in the Sligo-Roscommon Style" where it sounds like she's triple-tonguing, when in fact she is triple glottaling (if that's the term).
She talks about briefly it in her interview on Brad Hurley's site: http://www.firescribble.net/flute/mcevoy.html
A workshop I attended was eye-opening, when the teacher demonstrated that glottal stops are just as quick but even more delicate than tonguing.

[daiv]

i spent some time and made some great recordings. unfortunately my recorder was paused so i dont have any of it! tomorrow night, maybe.

Your comment "The standard fingerings vent the notes better than the harmonic fingerings do, which is why the notes are easier to hit (and more in tune) using proper fingerings" certainly applies to this note/fingering too!

i'll have to try that later this weekend. truth be told, i have not delved much in the second octave of the wooden flute.

More good stuff, thanks Tintin, and well explained, though speaking personally, this was stuff I already knew: Daiv gave me some completely new things.

My attempts at enlightening flute-dom have failed. Daiv's shoes are too big to fill...
Seriously, Jem, I agree, Daiv has some fresh approaches I wasn't familiar with either...the stuff I listed is pretty standard flute pedagogy. Daiv, if you're reading, where did you glean some of those excercises?

the short answer is that i came up with the exercises for 1 and some of 2, but none of the techniques behind them are my own ideas. number 3 is completely from my own head, and is the only one i actually bother with currently.

the long answer:

the idea of humming while playing is fairly standard in advanced flute pedagogy. the exercises are my own.

i got the octave jumping and pouting from "fluteloophost" on youtube, but i have modified it slightly and expanded it a bit as well.

harmonics are pretty standard as well. my old, classical teacher taught me to figure out harmonics (he refused to give me a chart) and to alternate between them and the standard fingering to improve intonation and embouchure.

i taught myself to use the harmonics to increase resonance. i have found that for some reason, the note of a in the second octave resonates the most on the whole instrument.

when i am playing myself, the only things i focus on are the feel of the flute vibrating beneath my fingers, the feel of the air column vibrating in front of my face, and the feel of the air vibrating in my mouth and throat. when my tone is bad, or my tuning is bad, i do not pay attention to my tuning or tone, but instead try to increase the physical resonances i can feel and the problems just seem to go away.

none of those sensations are new, but as far as i know, my fixation on them is my own! if anybody else knows if my approach on resonance is not unique, please let me know, as i would love to learn more about it.

[Cork]

...do you mean to say you switch your registers in your throat, or that you ignore your embouchure?...

Basically, I tend to not think about what my embouchure is doing. It's a matter of first learning how to manipulate the embouchure, to get the desired results, but once those skills are drilled in, the embouchure then seems to work automatically, as a matter of trained reflex. Technically speaking, it's the embouchure which does the fine tuning of the notes and the shifting between the registers, but that's not my focal point. My throat is my focal point, and my embouchure then gets its directives from there. For instance, it seems that a trained vocalist learns how to project their voice from somewhere down deep, at some point well below their vocal cords, and their vocal cords are then used to shape that projection. Similarly, flute "resonance" seems to begin down deep, and the throat seems to be somewhere between the origin of that resonance, and the embouchure.

There's nothing mysterious about an open throat. It's just an open throat. However, it is also a more advanced way of looking at tone production. For instance, it could likely be asking too much of a beginning player to have them concentrate on having an open throat, and the idea of resonance, when at first they could be having enough troubles in learning basic embouchure technique. However, once embouchure technique is functionally understood, and operative, then comes the time to explore other, real improvements, including resonance.

Fortunately, there's no need to wait until a player can play all of the notes on a flute before beginning resonance studies. Indeed, an open throat is an easy concept to understand, and using such a technique can also be of great help to embouchure studies. Simply change focus, away from the embouchure, and more toward the throat, with the understanding that flute resonance originates somewhere below the throat, in a way similar to vocal technique. You may then discover that your embouchure will simply follow along, automatically. Basically, that's how it works for me.

[Cork]

...Semantics, perhaps, but I think of it more as singing than humming. Singers can certainly maintain an open throat (which, I agree, is a key to good flute tone). I think the excercise of throat tuning has more to do with the vocal chords than throat openness or closedness. Regardless, if one does the excercise, when one is at what I termed "step 4" above, one should have an open throat...

There seems to be a lot in common between vocalists and flute players, much in common, indeed.

In my recent post, as above, I touched on projection, as a quality apparently shared by both vocalists and flute players, and the only real difference between them seems to be that the vocalist uses their vocal cords, and perhaps other body manipulations, to shape their projection, while the flute player transmits their projection into their instrument.

There are greater flutes, and there are lesser flutes, apparently, but a good flute player can make a lesser flute sing. That is, there is more to flute playing than just the flute.

[AaronMalcomb]

Regarding glottal stops, if you Google images of the glottis you'll see several alarming photos and drawings which I chose note to post here. Anyways when you see the anatomy of it, the glottal stop makes sense for an articulation technique. When not refined it does create a bit of a harch attack on the note but with practice it becomes pretty clean. Actually the harsh attack can be effective as a dynamic accent.

Keeping the throat opens comes from the epiglottis which is higher in the throat than the glottis. It's the epiglottis that you don't want to constrict. You can constrict the glottis while keeping the epiglottis open and relaxed. At least so it seems to me from looking at the anatomical drawings.

[Cork]

Regarding glottal stops...

I have made a promise to study glottal stops, for two reasons, 1) a respected member of this board suggested them, and, 2) I feel as though I should at least give them a fair try, despite my preconceptions.

Please, wish me success.