I'm mad at my flutes today

[Whistlin'Dixie]

They're all naughty



M

[eilam]

that's a perfect time to pick up the guitar, just for the day.
is it embouchure? fingers? tuning?
i had that at St' Paddy, could not get a solid tone, as if the flute was leaking air....
played one flute at the farmers market, then a different one at a gig in the eve', but could not get a very tight embouchure............lucky, the gig was miced, and i could be playful with air, even though the tone was crap.

BTW - what i did to "work" on my embouchure problem, and it seemed to work, was, go to Maurice Reviol's website and drool, and "think", yes, i did a lot of "thinking" (still am, if you know what i mean

[kayaal]

I had a bad tone all week,especially at sessions.I don't know why.The week before I was playing the best I'd done in ages and suddenly this week I can't hold a good tone.I could start playing a tune and a few seconds later I'm struggling with the sound to the extent that I sound like a beginner.I oiled my flute earlier and still tone trouble.Its hard to deal with especially playing in public.

[Aanvil]

..........lucky, the gig was miced.... even though the tone was crap.

Well there you go right there.

You had a mouse in the bore.

I hate when they get in there!

[eilam]

yes, i do as well, but with all those holes, especially the big two on the foot.........i can't keep them out !!
good think though, they have nice fur..........pull them by the tail through the flute and they really polish the bore.
the fatter they are, the cleaner the bore comes.

[Coffee]

I've been at it off and on for ten years now. One thing I've found is that the more relaxed I am and the less I care how I sound the better I seem to sound.

Does that mean that "don't worry about it" is the best advice?

[Bart Wijnen]

Does that mean that "don't worry about it" is the best advice?

IMHO it does!!

[Whistlin'Dixie]

I have one specific flute that I am "working with" and I guess you could say I am getting to know it's ins and outs, but boy, it just sucked, and then when I took out my other flutes, well, some of them may be "easier players" but they all sucked, too.

Later, after dinner, they all seemed to play a bit better.

Plus, I am tired of playing the same tunes I know, but don't really know, if you know what I mean.

I am tired of my CD's

I am lacking people in my vicinity to play tunes with

So there!!!!!!

M

just having a bad flute day in general. not unknown, in these parts.

[cocusflute]

When things aren't going just right - play a waltz, concentrating on tone, or an easy hornpipe - slowly and with great rhythm and tone. Try to concentrate on enjoying the flute rather than trying to conquer some obstacle.

[Cork]

When things aren't going just right - play a waltz, concentrating on tone, or an easy hornpipe - slowly and with great rhythm and tone. Try to concentrate on enjoying the flute rather than trying to conquer some obstacle.

Bravo!!

However, on the flip side, a well known flute player and instructor, Trevor Wye, once offered another bit of advise; to not play unless you want to.

[Jack Bradshaw]

A waltz is good....just don't sweat it, play for fun...

( I pretend that I'm Jackie Daly....wild huh !!)

[Cathy Wilde]

Sorry, Mary. I hate those.

Cocus speaks the troof. Lad O' Beirne's hornpipe will cure what ails ya.

How's the humidity?

Meanwhile, it could have been worse ... you could have thought you were having a GREAT flute day only to then hear a recording of how awful you sounded! I REALLY hate that!!!!!

P.S. You should come to Tionol in St. Louis. You can play with others, PLUS hear how wretched I sound and then you'll feel just grand.

P.P.S. Oooh, guess who's having a bad flute QUARTER?

[Wormdiet]

Oddly, I find that that the best thing for me to do on a B.F.D. is to play in public. It's weird but it works. I try to play in a public park downtown. . . not to busk exactly, but just to play where I know people can hear me. This basically forces me to cut down on mentally criticizing my shortcomings. It also forces me to really play through entire tunes. I end up going through big chunks of my (small) repertoire, and realizing that I really enjoy a lot of tunes that don;t get enough time. I almost inevitably enjoy this type of 'practice' more than sitting at home.

The other thing - if it's a bad 'tone' day in particular, I'll try blowing my nose. Works wonders during cold and allergy season.

[eilam]

Westphalia Waltz, and Far away (not a waltz but a killer nice tune lilke Snowy path)

[Cubitt]

When things aren't going just right - play a waltz, concentrating on tone, or an easy hornpipe - slowly and with great rhythm and tone. Try to concentrate on enjoying the flute rather than trying to conquer some obstacle.

Let me add my voice in support of this solution. Always works for me. I play a lot of songs (as opposed to slow airs), many of which take me down to low C. I try to get as full and rich a tone as possible, whilst not having to worry about playing fast or with great dexterity. It's relaxing, soul-satisfying, and gets me past the feeling that my tone has packed, left the house, and taken its family with it.

Flutes are like cats - they test you from time to time just to see what you'll do.

If all else fails, however, I direct you to just south of these notes to my sig line for help and inspiration.

Cheers.