Please help me with the low D note.

[gerardo1000]

I finally received my Copley and Boegly delrin flute, with traditional elliptical embouchure, and I am so happy with it. The flute looks great, extremely solid, it has a wonderful sound and I find it easier to play than the (also great !) Tipple I had before.
However, even if I can get a decent sound when I play higher notes, I still have a bit of a problem with the low D note. I also had problems with this note when I had the Tipple. With the Copley it's just a bit easier, but I believe that my technique (if I have any... I am a beginner) is not the right one to get a solid low D out of the flute. Put it in other words: when I find the right embouchure to play well all the other notes, I notice that the same embouchure does not work as well with the lower note: it comes out weaker, less solid.
As already said, I am 100 % sure that the flute has nothing to do with it, because I had the same problem with the Tipple and also with a cheap wooden flute (bansuri) that I had for a while.
Can someone help me ? Is it a matter of changing the lips position when I go to the lower note ?
Thanks ! And...Happy Christmas.

[Denny]

aim more into the hole

futz about with yer lips

[Gabriel]

The low D is a very special note, not easy to get that one "right".

When I was practising to get it, Denny's tip about aiming into the hole helped a lot. You should also breathe more from the diaphragm to support the air column better. Think of aspirating, not blowing. You can also try to open your lip aperture a bit more.

Remember that tone production is not restricted to doing certain things, it is also thinking of certain things!

[Terry McGee]

Gerardo

Try this. Play the low D (or any of the other note in the low octave). As you play, push out your top lip, withdraw your chin, or do both at the same time. That deflects the jet from aiming straight at the edge to aiming to miss the edge by a few mm. As your breath is aimed more and more "towards the centre of the flute", you should hear the notes harden. At this point you can now increase the airflow without risk of the low note overblowing into the 2nd octave. You should then be able to refine your embouchure shape to get the best signal to noise ratio.

You will have to let the jet come up a bit for the second octave, and will soon establish the jet directions needed for the range you want to cover. The difference between the two octaves is but a tiny twitch of the embouchure, so small as to be hardly noticeable.

For historical instructions on the same topic, see http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/Gunn%20on%20Tone.htm

Terry

[daiv]

try rolling the headjoint in a bit. a good rule of thumb is to have the farther edge of the embouchure meet up with the center of the holes. dont hesitate to change the angle of the embouchure, and rolling in less than that shouldn't be a problem (or not at all). some people recommend not rolling in more than that.

[crookedtune]

Also, fortunately for most of us, much of learning is subconscious. Over hours of playing, you'll hit some good low D's. Even though you may not be concentrating on how you did it, your muscles will remember and start to seek that shape. A lot of your technique will be develop "magically".

That said, don't ignore the conscious practice needed to master cuts, taps, rolls, etc... You won't learn them properly without consciously setting out to do it!

[deisman]

Hi Gerardo,

Congrats & Merry Christmas you your new C&B flute!!!

I'm still waiting for my Forbes to show... so it's Tipple, Tipple, Tipple for me. ; )

Hey - lately I've been kind of studying what Seamus Egan does in this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu26Y0DXyT8

The other posters advice sounds true in my experience, but in addition, I find for me, lower register notes sound stronger if I keep loose (relaxed) lips. Seamus Egan looks about as relaxed as a guy can be playing flute so I try and imagine what he is doing when I play. Hope it helps,

Best,

Deisman

[Bothrops]

Also, fortunately for most of us, much of learning is subconscious. Over hours of playing, you'll hit some good low D's. Even though you may not be concentrating on how you did it, your muscles will remember and start to seek that shape. A lot of your technique will be develop "magically".

That's so right.

When I started to play flute, I wasn't even able to get a tone out of the flute. Now, there are days and moments in which I have a pretty good embouchure, and days that it is really bad.
Now I received a Forbes flute, which is supposed to have a powerful tone, and a strong low D. Today I was practicing the low D, and in some moments I'm capable of producing a very strong low D, although it's still hard to get it while playing a tune.
With a lot of practice it will come. I don't know if there's a 'rule' or a 'trick' for getting it, I think it's just matter of practicing.

Cheers, and congratulations on your new acquisition, I'm also an owner of a Tipple flute, and after getting my first delrin flute, I'm so amazed with it as well!

Martin

[plunk111]

Gerardo:

I'm a relative newcomer as well (about a year). My advice is this: don't give up! I posted a nearly identical note about a year ago and got some of the same advice. In fact, one of our fellow members offered to help via the internet - I won't mention his name, but thanks! I ended up sticking it out on my own and it all fell into place after a few weeks. It has been a year now and I am finally getting to where I can almost (I DID say "almost") "honk" the low D!

Just keep plugging!

Pat

[Akiba]

I've been working on low D as well lately (I guess, haven't we all). I find the air should be directed for my Burns at 7 o'clock if your lip is on 1-2 o'clock. Then, this is key for me that others haven't mentioned, make sure the inside of your mouth and throat are wide open (as opposed to your lips) so that the air flow can hit 7 o'clock, bounce back in your mouth, resonate and then maybe bounce back out in a cyclical flow: out of mouth, through lips, in hole, bounce back, resonate in mouth. I find that big low notes take an open inner mouth, throat, even sinuses/nasal passages. I believe these affect tone greatly but are rarely mentioned.

FWIW,

Jason

[AnthonyBeers]

I have a question about the low D or rather a "hard low D". What is it is supposed to be harder than? say the E beside it or G, or is every one talking about just a good steady D?

[Gabriel]

A "hard D" is a special way of playing the low D, derived form the irish piping tradition. It is not possible to play a hard D on the flute that sounds to the same effect like on the pipes, but you can get near to it. Basically you adjust the tone in a way that boosts the first harmonic (i.e., "middle D" oxx xxx) and mutes the fundamental a bit. The result is a low D that wants to overblow, but you don't allow it to overblow.