flute chords

[Nanohedron]

Speaking of giving one the willies, an online board where I lurk banned starting a post with 'Uh' or 'Well' because of the implied tone of rudeness. Not to poke at JessieK or sidetrack the thread, but does starting a post with those make anyone else cringe?

Uh...not at all.

I find "uh" to often preface a difference of opinion or a correction of facts, and implies to me a polite unwillingness to seem abrupt about it. Well, usually, that is; I certainly use it that way. "Well" can work in much the same way, as I just tried to demonstrate with the preceding sentence. Both are very conversational little constructs. That such words would be banned as beginning words seems a bit shrill, and tells me that it was more likely done due to the content of the posts of those using them that way, or someone's brought the specter of PC behavior to new horizons. But that's just me.

[glauber]

"Multiphonics" - now, that's something I didn't know about the metal flute.

Is this just a harmonic (upper and lower octave notes sounding together) or is it an entirely distinct note? Got me curious enough I'd like to hear something that uses the technique.

Entirely different note. For whatever reason, most of the intervals are dissonant, but there are a few consonant ones (e.g.: F and C, D and F). I think octaves are possible too, but it's a different trick.

Robert Dick
http://www.robertdick.com
is the guru on all sorts of modern things on flute. See also
http://www.larrykrantz.com/multphon.htm

[artsohio]

and implies to me a polite unwillingness to seem abrupt about it. Well, usually, that is; I certainly use it that way.

I can see that. Personally, I tend to read it as "Uh, <you're an idiot for even asking such an obvious question or having an opinion that flies in the face of common sense>" and "Well, <I acknowledge that even idiots can have opinions and your post has certainly shown that the internet is the place where most of them are expressed>".

I didn't read your post that way, at all. That's just what I tend to read into those syllables. I'm sure the reason is a) a miserable lacking in my own character or b) one of those things that, since you can't see the person or hear the expression of their voice, you read into it based on your own experiences.

The board where it is banned is at televisionwithoutpity.com which can have some pretty spirited and witty discourse on bad TV programs. They are very particular about propriety, though. No cutesy abbreviations, use the best grammar and spelling you can and be prepared to be corrected if it is subpar, etc.

It still gives me the willies. So does beggining a sentence with "and" or "but". It may be grammatically correct, but my 4th grade teacher raised such a ruckus about it that it still makes me cringe (thanks Ms Shannis. Thanks a bunch.).

[vomitbunny]

I remember a piece for trombone I worked on in college that involved singing a note through the horn while playing. I never really got the hang of it on trombone, and the piece was'nt mainstream, more artsy fartsy. But I did play around with humming notes while playing on recorder. Just a fun thing to do.

[Nanohedron]

I'm sure the reason is a) a miserable lacking in my own character...

Janet, please!!

...or b) one of those things that, since you can't see the person or hear the expression of their voice, you read into it based on your own experiences.

Yes. I do weigh their use, as the "Uh, (jeezyou'resuchathickheadedknob)..." factor is always there if I'm not careful. I'll use it that way if I'm poking at someone in good humor, too.

[bradhurley]

It's possible to get chords (multiphonics) pretty easily on some tin whistles. I have an old Generation C from the 1970s with a chipped mouthpiece that can get some very clear multiphonics on certain notes. I can also get them on a salgflojt (traditional Swedish flute with no toneholes that plays natural harmonic scales), by playing softly.

I watched the Robert Dick videos...amazing stuff, though it seems like more of a party trick than music.

[glauber]

The "glissando" headjoint is cool, isn't it?

YOWZA! I just listened to "Piece in Gamelan Style". It blew me away. It was cool to see how he mikes the flute too.

There are some nicer gentler Classical tunes in there too, the stuff on bass flute is very pretty. The Telleman things, and Syrinx, especially. In Syrinx there is a place where he does the 2 octave trick.

[glauber]

I thought the written flute music showed 3 notes in a chord form.

You see that sometimes. The meaning varies. It could be harmony notes (for example, if you have 3 players playing in unison, but at a certain point they switch to harmony), or could be optional notes (you pick which one you prefer), or it could be meant for you to play the 3 notes in sequence, as if you were arpeggiating them. With 2 notes, it might also be a tremolo (kind of like a trill), but not with 3.

[Doug_Tipple]

I will preface my remark by saying that I know very little about what I'm about to say. That kind of lets me off the hook, in case what I say is stupid. As has been said before, one way to get a chord from a wind melody instrument is to hum or sing one note and play the other note on the flute or whatever.

With regard to throat singing (singing multiple notes at the same time), I have heard the Tuva throat singers in concert. I was impressed! I especially liked their bowed instruments with the horse heads. I've been looking, but you don't see those come up on ebay very often. My 1/4 size Chinese cello seems lacking in character by comparison.

Throat singing, in my opinion, is quite easy to do at a beginning level. I like to practice when I am driving down the highway, especially when I finally get tired of looking at all the fields of corn. I like variety, and mono-crop agriculture is boring, even if profitable. The interior of a car is a good place to practice throat singing. You have to be careful though with all the overtones floating around the interior. This hasn't happened very often, but I have noticed that the dash board lights started to blink and malfunction when I hit certain notes.

Best wishes and happy fluting.

[Nanohedron]

Doug, was the band named Hun Huur Tu (something like that spelling, anyway)? They're great.

If you want a Morin Khur (Mongolian horseheaded fiddle), "Shark" in the Morning sells 'em for around $700USD last I checked. The quality of their upper-end items tends to be good, although better bargains could be had elswhere, I'm sure.

[oleorezinator]

No. The flute is a melody instrument only.

Bartolozzi, Bruno. New Sounds for Woodwind. Translated and edited by Reginald Smith Brindle. New York: Oxford University Press.
Dick, Robert. The Other Flute: A Performance Manual of Techniques. 2d ed. New York: Multiple Breath, 1989.
Howell, Thomas. The Avant-Garde Flute: A Handbook for Composers and Flutists (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1974). i own or owned a copy of the howell book.there are 3000 or so fingering combinations which work on most french keywork boehm system flutes to produce chords/multiphonics. some of the fingerings don't require the french style. one fingering i can remember is d3 but blow it as d1 and if you open the g# key it climbs a 1/2 step. try it, that is if consonance is not the rule of the day. ahhh, my misspent youth!

[Julia C]

That Morin Khur at "Larkinthemorning" is SO COOL. Do you play it tucked under your chin? Love the figurehead.
Once I saw a video of a session in Frank Zappa's house where he had the Chieftains performing with the Mongolian Throat Singers and Johnny Guitar Watson, all at once. How "World" can you get. Zappa was very ill at the time and it certainly cheered him up.

Julia C

[oleorezinator]

That Morin Khur at "Larkinthemorning" is SO COOL. Do you play it tucked under your chin? Love the figurehead.
Once I saw a video of a session in Frank Zappa's house where he had the Chieftains performing with the Mongolian Throat Singers and Johnny Guitar Watson, all at once. How "World" can you get. Zappa was very ill at the time and it certainly cheered him up.

Julia C

and l. shankar on violin.

[michaelS]

Hi everyone,

I use multiphonics sometimes. As well as messing around with my own fingurings, I found the virtual flute site very helpful in finding out the fingerings. It models the physics of 3 boehm flute designs to work out what a given fingering will produce. It also does microtones!
The link is

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/music/flute ... /main.html

(I must buy Robert Dicks book, it is almost never in the university library, which indicates how useful it is if you are into this "extreme" stuff!!)

[Nanohedron]

That Morin Khur at "Larkinthemorning" is SO COOL. Do you play it tucked under your chin? Love the figurehead.

Too big for that. Although not as large as a cello, it has a similar spike-type foot, and the player stuck that in the front of his knee-high boot to secure it as he played it upright. All the more cool and romantic, eh?

What I loved about the Tuvan music was that it was unmistakeably that of a horse-focused culture. The rhythms reflected those of equine gaits, and the sense of unbounded freedom in the music was wonderful. By the way, the name of the group I heard, Hun Huur Tu, refers to sunlight as it plays in shafts upon the plains, and is an analogy for throat singing. Mind you, this is as I have my facts down and memory serves.