Talk:Flute/Archive 1

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Contents

How to Choose a Flute

I've learned flute for three years, and I am thinking to buy another flute (currently I'm playing the Gemeinhardt flute). Sankyo, Muramatsu, Powell are all famous in manufacturing flute. Are the former two brands more suitable for Asians? Needless to say, Powell is perfect (in terms of quality & money :-D)!

Thanks.--144.214.54.86 09:06, 3 Feb 2004 (UTC) Karen

I'm a little concerned that this generic flute page doesn't disambiguate enough. It starts off stating that that flutes are technically transverse flutes, which is plainly wrong. Transverse flutes are a subset of flutes. Further, it goes on to say that flutes are woodwind instruments, while woodwind is classification of western instruments. In China, instruments are classified by materials, like 'bamboo', etc.

It gets into the 'history' of flutes, without disambiguating which flute is being discussed, etc. In short, the whole article takes the view modern western concert flutes, and ignores everything else except as footnotes in history that share some common features.

I think this should be fixed. But I'm not claiming to be an expert on this stuff, and I certainly don't feel qualified to start chopping without any input. Anyone interested in helping me clean this up?

--Jel 13:35, 26 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Sure, I even have some authoritative refs to help. To avoid getting bogged down, use this page to sketch an outline. Keep in mind that the modern western concert flute is by far the most familiar to English-speaking readers, so it will tend to get the most content no matter what. Also check out the "competition" - print encyclopedias - take note of how they organize. Stan 03:57, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Remarks on some edits, 09 Oct 2004, 10:41 UTC

I edited the caption. It is _not_ necessary for flute technique that the flute be parallel to the floor! Tell that to Rampal! The important thing is the relationship between the lip plate and the lips and tongue, not the floor.

I also edited some of the comments on flute technique. You do _not_ need to blow more air to play loud; you need to angle the air lower (more into the lip plate) to play loud. If anything, soft passages sometimes need more, or at least as much air - angled so that it barely glances the far edge of the lip plate.

I also don't recommend trying to move your chin around. I never do that consciously, though I'll readily admit that there are muscles in the chin that relate to lower lip movement. But what I'm conscious of is moving my lips, tongue, and hands. The important thing is that the lip plate has to be securely on the lips but also placed in such a way that the player can have flexibility to move the lower lip as necessary to change the angle of the airstream. I always tell my students that playing the flute is like blowing across a thousand bottles, with a different angle for each pitch and each dynamic level.

I also edited the part on vibrato, though perhaps my emendments there may not be controversial. It is indeed a pitch oscillation, but I try to keep the pitch variation very small and emphasize the breath pulsation aspect.

Like it or not, matters of tone production and technique are controversial and it's difficult to write an article on such matters where there will be total agreement by consensus.

By Michael

Michael, I won't change it, but i believe that the reference to having the flute parallel to the ground is correct, because for proper breathing it is essential. it also prevents the pads from getting sticky to some degree. it does not affect tone directly, but it is proper technique. User:Daiv

Daiv, do you believe that Rampal used inefficient breathing technique? I certainly don't! I don't believe I do, either. You might also want to run your point of view by Keith Underwood, an internationally renowned New York-based teacher and performer who has spent countless hours analysing videotapes, still photos, and recordings of great flutists and figuring out precisely how they produced each note in every context. In terms of preventing pads from getting sticky, I'd love some documentation of that but consider it much less important than a relaxed and efficient posture, in any case.

By Michael

All, this is all correct. For more points of view and information reguarding "How to Choose a Flute" go to http://www.flutetalk.com by Mark

More wiki definitions.

Flute sounds are typically open and hollow as a result of relatively weak upper partials. As a result, flute tones are sweet in character and blend well with other instruments. The flute's timbre, pitch and attack are flexible, allowing a very high degree of instantaneous expressive control.

I don't know what upper partials, timbre, and attack mean musically.

Oh yeah

The 30,000 year old flute is pretty controversial. This should be noted.

Article organization

I eliminated the list of famous flautists since it's redundant with the list at flautist and there's no sense maintaining slightly different lists in both articles. The list took up probably half the vertical space on the page and is much more appropriate at flautist than here. I also changed the flutist link to flautist since it was a redirect, and removed the alternate spelling since it's discussed at the link. I'm planning on eventually adding discussion of simple system flutes including the Baroque flute and Irish flute, but I have to think through the taxonomy first. Folks, please remember to sign your comments (use the signature button on the toolbar to insert a signature code). --Craig Stuntz 15:49, 24 August 2005 (UTC)

A lot of the material in the section on "the Western concert flutes" seems to me to be (at best) redundant with Western concert flute. Since there are a lot of different kinds of flutes, including many not mentioned in the article at present, wouldn't it make the most sense to have this article cover flute acoustics in general and then have a one or two paragraph summary of each type of flute with a "main article" link for the individual types of flute? As an example of what I mean, look at the Instruments section of the "Music of Ireland" article. Do note that I'm not in any way suggesting that the Western concert flute have reduced preeminence in the article — it is, after all, what most English-speaking folks think of when they hear the word "flute." --Craig Stuntz 12:57, 26 August 2005 (UTC)