Terms used to describe flute tone

[talasiga]

........pushy, jumpy...........

may i suggest that these adjectives go more towards rhythm than tone?

[LorenzoFlute]

........pushy, jumpy...........

may i suggest that these adjectives go more towards rhythm than tone?

You may be right but i'm not too sure. Could it be that this way of playing does affect the tone...?

[talasiga]

yes many things may affect tone i suppose but generally would it not be be better for the tone related adjective to describe the result rather than the alleged causation?

[jemtheflute]

I like "fat" as suggested above. Also I forgot "meaty" &/or "beefy". And "hard" oughta be in the mix, so presumable "soft" too. Even "heavy"?
"Harsh", "grating", "uneven", "insipid" would all get used with clear negative connotations.

[benhall.1]

Two from me and one from SO (in that order):

Turgid
Pregnant
Wambly

[Kirk B]

Also, other adjectives would be needed to describe the tone of northern players such as John Mckenna or Harry Bradley, but my knowledge of english words isn't enough. Maybe something like pushy, jumpy, breathy (but in a different way from how it was intended before, can't find the right word)...

In his book, Grey Larsen refers to it as "heavy pulse breathing". That's more of a term though as opposed to an adjective.

I have a nice Italiano term for my tone. "Porca Miseria"

[Kirk B]

yes many things may affect tone i suppose but generally would it not be be better for the tone related adjective to describe the result rather than the alleged causation?

True, and in the case of players like Bradley and Clarkson the heavy pulses of breath produce what I call a "barking" or "chirping" sound. If we want to split hairs, that only occurs on certain notes so it's not really representative of overall tone.

Regards,

Kirk

[Denny]

this is rather an exercise in hair splitting, innit?

[Kirk B]

this is rather an exercise in hair splitting, innit?

Mmmmmm, could be.


- Pyroclastic flow leads to well done steak & taters.

[rama]

if you have access, rockstro's treatise contains a concise sprectrum of opposites somewhere buried in it's large volume.

Access? Never leave home without it!

i thnk they were labelled constituents of tone. 'full' vs. 'hollow', 'shrill' vs. 'sweet', 'dull' vs. 'brilliant' etc. i used that as a guide for labeling what i hear.

Well remembered, rama! OK, for the record, here they are (expressed as antonyms):

Power/Softness
Volume (or Fullness)/Thinness
Brilliancy/Dullness
Sweetness/Harshness
Clearness/Impureness
Acuteness/Gravity

He has some additional terms in his analytical passages defining the terms above, but I won't go into them just yet. I'm impressed by the range of ideas coming forward, so let's exhaust that vein first.

Terry

thanks and good for you terry, apparently that's a hard book to come by. i browsed through it on a weekend many years ago and was sruck by that (although as you can see my memory is a bit twisted).

i wonder what acuteness/gravity is all about?

[hans]

i wonder what acuteness/gravity is all about?

i wondered that too.
Perhaps it is the degree of responsiveness, how fast/slow a tone can get started.

[s1m0n]

And "hard" oughta be in the mix, so presumable "soft" too.

I can think of a several ways to be hard, but not all pair with soft. There's something of a "blat!" sound that I'd call hard, but it's opposite isn't soft. It might be about the speed of attack on the note; this might be what others are calling 'push'.

[greenspiderweb]

words I've used to try to describe flute tone:

a flute that has a lot of stuff going on in the overall tone:
colorful, musical, fruity, rich, full, round

a flute that has a more singular tone but still distinctive in a certain way:
sparse, dry, melancholic

2nd octaves that are sweet and full or strident and thin

bottom ends that are full or fat, and weak or airy

certain notes that are strong, loud or veiled, quiet

if you play a flute a certain way by embouchure control: reedy, airy, full of chiff or clean, clear, round

when you play without enough embouchure control: airy, flat, sharp, dull, weak dead....or loud and piercing, or all added up even sorry and dreadful.

woods (or metals) that lend their qualities to the tone, such as soft, warm, hard, cool

and if you play more than read or write about flutes, then some people get to have a tone that is even amazing

that's all I have to say about that.

[lingpupa]

A lot of what we are suggesting has more, I think, to do with the full approach to a bit of melody - teasing out the tone alone is a tricky thing to ask of the ears.
But how about "snarky"? That would, of course, be meager and hollow, but crisp.

[talasiga]

i wonder what acuteness/gravity is all about?

i wondered that too.
Perhaps it is the degree of responsiveness, how fast/slow a tone can get started.

this sort of inquiry about a term goes to the question of meaningfulness of a term to others and ready understandability (as far as reasonably possible). its not about "hairsplitting" which is an unfortunate choice to descriibe this topic on account of it being mostly a pejorative label.

although i didn't start this topic i hope iit woont become a simple listing of everyone's favourite adjectives without query, interaction, analysis and sharing of reason for choice of term.

i personally appreciate the sort of interaction as per the hans/rama quote above. its not hair splitting unless one has hairs the thickness of a drum stick .........