anatomy of the irish flute....

[missa]

hi all....
i love my keyed blackwood irish flute...but i don't have a teacher or anything, and i was wondering if someone could tell me about the anatomy (?!) of the irish flute...or just information about it in general? like i said, i love playing it, though i don't know much about the actual flute...thanks!
marissa

[Unseen122]

Do you mean the names of the different parts?

[AaronMalcomb]

Ah, another Pacific Northwesterner. I'm with Avery, could you clarify a wee bit?

Cheers,
Aaron

[missa]

yeah, the parts of the flute...i also read somewhere something about different was to have keys put on or something? :S sorry if that's not much help! do i make any sense yet?
marissa

[jim stone]

Headjoint contains the embouchure hole.
tuning slide connects the headjoint to
the heartjoint. The foot is the last joint, the end of the flute.
There are tenons that connect the sections,
sometimes there is no metal tuning slide
and so there is a tenon there instead.

Tenons are either cork or thread wrapped.

Keys are either block or post mounted.
Blocks are wooden blocks that are left
when the flute is carved. The key is
fitted through a slot in the bar.

Don't know much about post mounting.

Metal Rings reinforce tenons to prevent
cracking.

Some flutes have metal lined heads,
which often makes for a louder sound;
these always have tuning slides, but
some flutes with tuning slides
don't have fully lined heads.

Other flutes are entirely made of
wood.

There are often six keys, but sometimes
eight; sometimes fewer than six, e.g. four.
Of course many have no keys.
Whether keyed or not, if there
are six open holes the key is
called a 'simple system' flute.

Typically these are conical.

Hope this helps; corrections welcome if I've got
it wrong. Searches on these terms
will get you more.

[missa]

wow, thanks so much jim! that's exactly what i was looking for what kind of flutes are there besides the "simple system" flutes?

[AaronMalcomb]

You're too fast Jim. Here's what I wrote while you sped away:

Well there's the "headjoint" where the embouchure is. The "end cap" is naturally at the end of the head joint. The "barrel" is where the tuning slide is. Where the fingerholes are is sometimes called the "body" and the very end joint is usually called the "foot joint." "Tenons" are the bits with cork that connect the joints. Keys are either "block mounted" or "post mounted." Block mounts are blocks of wood carved from the flute's wood and the keys are mounted to them. Post mounts are metal posts attached to the wood. Keyed flutes usually have an Eb key (by the foot joint), long and/or short Fnat, G#, Bb, and Cnat. There are sometimes C# and Cnat keys on the foot joint. That's all I can come up with for now.

Do you play at any sessions in Vancouver?

Cheers,
Aaron

[missa]

thanks as well aaron! you guys helped a lot well, i live on vancouver island, so i don't really play a lot of sessions in vancouver, though i know there is stuff that goes on over there, my band has played there a few times...when we go on tour in canada, all the good sessions are in pubs, and we aren't old enough to get in ....when we tour in europe, we can go almost anywhere to jam anyways.... (i'm getting a bit off topic here, sorry!)...there are usually good sessions up and down the island. there's a fiddle group that meets every tuesday in courtenay, sometimes i head down there with my guitar....now, for the foot joints on flutes. mine has 2 holes on them....but why?! i can't reach them!! they do me no good. help!

[AaronMalcomb]

Oops, I missed the "island" part of your location.

The holes on the foot joint are there for tone's and balance's sake. Some believe the bottom notes are better with them and that the flute is more balanced with that extra bit on the end. Some flutemakers have what's called a "short foot" which ends just before where the holes would be.

I'll have to check out your website, Marissa.

Cheers,
Aaron

[Unseen122]

I would have explained something but was too busy with my new iPod. Got it today for my Birthday well techniquly yesterday as it is 12:30 in the very very early morning.

[Terry McGee]

hi all....
i love my keyed blackwood irish flute...but i don't have a teacher or anything, and i was wondering if someone could tell me about the anatomy (?!) of the irish flute...or just information about it in general? like i said, i love playing it, though i don't know much about the actual flute...thanks!
marissa

Heh heh, you'd be amused at the number of requests I've received over the years for information like this. Often going along the line: "Hi, I'm from Iowa (or insert name of other well-away-from-the-hustle-and-bustle place) and I've just heard some Irish flute on the radio and I just have to be able to make that sound. Um, I've never actually seen one so I wondered what they look like..."

The other tricky thing with flutes is that because they are so long and thin, it is very hard to make out much detail in most photos, such as on album covers. Consequently, I've put a large image on my introductory page at:

http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/irishflute.html

Plenty of other information about modern Irish flutes and their 19th century (largely) English predecessors elsewhere on the site.

Terry

[ErikT]

Terry, I love that picture that you have on your site. I remember looking at it quite a while back and it just seemed sensual. A perfect mating between metal and wood... it doesn't get much better than that.

Erik

[andrewK]

A permanent link to such an illustration placed at the top or the list would be handy,perhaps showing the eight key alternative as well, if only to repel boarders with metal flutes.

[Dana]

Aw, now you done went and hurt my feelings.

[Doug_Tipple]

Hello Missa,
I took the ferry once from Vancouver to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. I felt like I was out to sea, having just come from the desert of Arizona at the time. Anyway, I can see why you don't go to Vancouver often to spend the evening. When I was on your island, I spent several days in Tofino, which is a beautiful little fishing village on the Pacific side. I loved it there in the summer, however, the extensive clear-cutting of the forests was upsetting to me.

Best wishes with your flute and whistle playing. Soon you will be old enough not to be stopped at the door of where you would like to enter.