![]() If you can keep the bend direction consistent, the player will be able to achieve at a faster tempo. Lip-bending to achieve a quarter tone from one non-chromatic tones to another Will not carry as well.īending up: possible to get a half step if the bend is accompanied by a crescendo. Generally much easier to bend down than upīending down: able to almost always get a full half step. General rule: the longer the tube, the less drastic the bend a fingered quarter-tone if you are looking for a very specific color of sound (this is usually only needed if you are asking for a very specific fingering.) Generally, a player will choose depending on which they are most comfortable with/what works best on their instrument. One can lip-bend to some extent, but it is not as drastic, and can sometimes be quite difficult to get the desired pitch. There are no fingerings for quarter tones for the lowest notes on a flute (all fingers are down.so there's not much one can do to alter). The bass flute does not have tone holes, so quartertone fingerings often do not apply. The alto flute does not have tone holes, so many of the quartertone fingerings from the regular flute do not apply.īass Flute: Similarly to the alto flute, lip bends are possible, but have an even more limited range (basically as the tube gets bigger, it is harder to bend further). Piccolo: Great at lip bends - you can do some very large bends (up to a minor third), but because there are no tone holes, one cannot do the same quarter tone fingerings as the modern flute (some are possible, just not all.)Īlto Flute: Lip bends are possible, but will not give you as large of bend as on the smaller flutes. Quarter tones on auxiliary flutes often use entirely different fingerings, and are very different, and sometimes quite difficult to achieve. Quarter tones are possible on the flute largely due to the open tone holes. However, modern flute players are able to achieve quarter-tones through lip-bending notes, or using specific quarter-tone fingerings. Theobold Boehm designed the modern flute as an extremely accurate 12-tone, chromatic instrument that eliminated (as much as possible) the ability for large pitch variation in favor of incredible pitch stability that could match equal temperament instruments. It is also quite difficult (and sometimes impossible) to do in the 2nd and 3rd octaves, because the loose embouchure will mean that the pitch will not have enough air speed to get to the 2nd and 3rd octaves. This can be hard for professional flute players to do because they have literally spent years trying to get the air out of their sound. You keep your lip muscles loose enough that the sound gets muddy and airy. Basically, it’s the same idea as listening to a beginner or a saxophone doublers on the flute. Half pitch/half sound : This can be accomplished at varying degrees of severity. ![]() ![]() Open vowels are harder, but can produce soft attacks (these often have to have some sort of S involved that helps to keep the air “dirty”.) Bonus is, you don’t have to make a true “sound” on the flute in order to make an air sound.įull air/Syllabic air sounds (will have residual pitch, but no “real” pitch : Hard consonants work really well here, especially if you want a hard articulation: Ch, Sh, K, P, T, Shu. There are many air sound possibilities and you will be able to write down what you want if you can achieve it yourself. Figure out what works/doesn’t work by testing things out yourself. I recommend that if you are writing for the flute and want to use air sounds, make yourself a PVC pipe flute, or buy a cheap metal $100 student level instrument (readily available on eBay) and experiment. ![]() Air sounds are some of the most effective extended techniques on the flute and encompass a lot of different types of sound that can be created by both shaping the mouth, using different syllables, and altering the direction and amount of air that enters the tube. ![]()
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