Need advice for getting a reedy tone

[Thomas-Hastay]

Irish69 (interesting position that )has the correct view on the putty/wax for the "BORE END" hole. It simulates a tapered bore by producing aircolumn backpressure.

Note on embouchure cut/angle: a sharp angle of about 12 degrees expanding inward will facilitate faster register changes and favour high harmonics while a lesser(std) angle of 7 degrees will have more pitch stability and favor the lower harmonics. Pitch bending increases with size while the Reediest tone comes from small round holes..

The permutations of embouchure voicings are Legion. Every modification has pro's and con's that are interactive.

[norcalbob]

Thomas-Hastay wrote:

Pitch bending increases with size while the Reediest tone comes from small round holes..

Interesting post, Thomas. I understand that both the embouchure cut and the individual's embouchure are both involved in creating a reedy tone. But, given that the "reediest tone comes from small round holes," would it stand to reason that by making a small round hole with your embouchure, you would get a reedier tone when playing a flute with a larger embouchure cut? From your experience, considering only the size of the embouchure cut vs the musician's embouchure, which do you think has the most influence on making the reedy tone?

[irish69]

Thomas-Hastay wrote:

Pitch bending increases with size while the Reediest tone comes from small round holes..

Interesting post, Thomas. I understand that both the embouchure cut and the individual's embouchure are both involved in creating a reedy tone. But, given that the "reediest tone comes from small round holes," would it stand to reason that by making a small round hole with your embouchure, you would get a reedier tone when playing a flute with a larger embouchure cut? From your experience, considering only the size of the embouchure cut vs the musician's embouchure, which do you think has the most influence on making the reedy tone?

I think you would probably get a reedier tone than you would if your embouchure was big and loose, but the flute has limitations for reediness too.

[irish69]

Another thing- I always thought that the flutes with wide bores and large holes (Pratten style) were louder, reedier and have more "bark"

[Denny]

[jemtheflute]

Oh boy! High Wood now, is it?

[norcalbob]

Dang, Denny, where can I get me one of 'em?!!!

[Denny]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oboe#History

[irish69]

eh- not reedy enough, that is. Try this one:

[daiv]

eh- not reedy enough, that is. Try this one:

i think that's going from reedy to saucy--that's a WHOLE 'nother ball game.

[johnkerr]

Another thing- I always thought that the flutes with wide bores and large holes (Pratten style) were louder, reedier and have more "bark"

I'd never buy a flute that still had bark on it. For all the money you pay these flute makers and the time they make you wait, the least they could do would be to sand off all the bark!

Especially I'd never buy a Delrin flute that had bark on it. But then what do I know, anyway?

[irish69]

Another thing- I always thought that the flutes with wide bores and large holes (Pratten style) were louder, reedier and have more "bark"

I'd never buy a flute that still had bark on it. For all the money you pay these flute makers and the time they make you wait, the least they could do would be to sand off all the bark!

Especially I'd never buy a Delrin flute that had bark on it. But then what do I know, anyway?

Well you see, the bark serves to insulate the flute so there's a decreased chance of splitting when the temperature changes. It is also being used as a money saving replacement for lining the flute with silver. This way, if the wood cracks, the bark stops air from leaking out.

[norcalbob]

Well, there has been some progress for me, I'm happy to report. I still don't have that really reedy tone I'd like to develop, but I certainly have a more consistently focused, rich tone in the lowest notes and am able to maintain a good amount of volume as well.

I'm a little over three weeks into this little wooden tooter, and I feel like I am developing a sort of muscle memory in my embouchure that is staying more consistent. In the first couple of weeks of transitioning from the Boehm flute, my embouchure was frustratingly all over the place. Now I seem to have a "picture" in my head and a feel in my embouchure muscles that are more in synch with one another. I'm able to adjust more effectively when I begin to lose focus and tonal quality, and I am able to maintain that rich tone in the lowest notes for longer periods of playing.

One of the things that really helped me, curiously enough, was watching video clips of some of the pros, like Matt Molloy, Kevin Crawford, and Seamus Egan, and looking carefully at their embouchures. What I noticed, particularly with Seamus Egan, was a bit of tension at the corners of their mouths, but, in general, their embouchures seemed fairly relaxed.

So I started trying to copy these embouchures from the mental picture I had of them. Again, most often picturing Seamus' embouchure, I would first get a rich tone on a low G with my own natural embouchure, and then try to adjust it with the picture of Seamus' embouchure I had in my head. This usually amounted to blowing more downward by "pouting" my lips a bit, then pulling the "pout" to the sides and slightly downward with a little tension at the corners of my mouth, and then relaxing everything while maintaining tonal focus. From there I would work down to low D while maintaining the tone and volume.

I think there are several posts in this long thread that recommended several of the things I have tried in this process. I'm too lazy to go back and find each of them again, so thanks to all anyway. I'm getting there.

[flutefry]

On the woodenflute.org, under the "Playing" tab is an essay on the flute embouchure. Its instructions are clear, and boil down to what Bob said just above: some tension at the corners, a small opening, upper lip projecting past the lower lip so the air goes down. I agree with Bob that the rest of the embouchure shouldn't be tight, and disagree with the writer of the essay, who makes it sound like a tight upper lip is desired.

Hugh