re overtone flutes

Hello Petr-

I had some experience myself with overtone flutes a few years ago, and will try to remember my observations from that time. I made pvc flutes around 8 feet long, some shorter, some longer, and only open-ended, not stopped-ended. (8 feet would give you a flute with a fundamental of low C (more or less), and you can calculate other fundamentals using ratios (for example, A-flat a 5:4 below would be 10 feet). With a rather roughly cut notch-end model I was able to reach approx. the 22nd-23rd overtone on an 8-foot flute (not bad!), and a few observations suggested it would be feasible to reach upwards of the 32nd on a lower pitched flute. I don't remember the tube diameter I used, I think it was 3/4" or 1". Of course, a narrower or wider diameter will favor higher or lower overtones, respectively, which is something you can experiment with. For examples, you can have flutes of the same pitch but different diameters designed for different regions of the overtone series (rather as natural
horn players specialised in different registers).
Flute (standard flute) is one of my principal instruments, so my results may have been a little better than they would be for an non-flute player; on the hand, my overtone flutes were very rudimentary and better results would probably be obtained with a better design
(say with a precisely cut or ground end-notch, or with metal tubing instead of pvc).
As far as pitch, I did observe that pitch level varies slightly with the dynamic level. I didn't
measure exactly how much, or what the effect is with multiple parts. Hopefully, this is something you might be able to allow for compositionally (having multiple parts at the same dynamic level, or avoiding using them in tuning-sensitive conjunctions with other
instruments). Of course in solo playing the overtone-series "effect", so to speak, is very striking and doesn't require much apology.
I hope this is helpful, Chris

---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages!

From: Christopher John Smith

> I had some experience myself with overtone flutes a few years ago, and will try to remember my observations

> from that time. I made pvc flutes around 8 feet long, some shorter, some longer, and only open-ended, not

> stopped-ended.

The flute itself, of course, is always open. But the player can close the other end by his hand, which gives a new series of complementary overtones. Maybe you were not doing this - I actually can't imagine how this could be done on an 8-feet-long flute. But if you consider the overtone flutes used in folk music of Slovakia (together with "fujara") or Norway (there it's called a "willow flute") or even somewhere in east Africa (mostly accompanied by "ilimba" or other percussions), they are usually no longer than about 90 cm. In these cases, it's quite common to close and open the other end by hand while playing, which allows you to switch between the two sets of overtones, if your right hand is long enough (I don't assume you're a left-hander). The largest flute I could play this way was 1 meter long and, therefore, the length from the embouchure hole to the other end of the flute was about 95 cm (this gave a fundamental of F3 when I left the other end open). However, it would be very interesting to make, for example, an 8-feet-long flute and bend it in some way so that you could reach the other end with your hand. Then the tone would become a bit darker (something like the Slovak "fujara" but with no finger holes, of course). Do you thing something like this may be possible?

Thanks.

Petr

PS: Do you have some recordings with these? Overtone flutes are my passion and I love listening to their sound, especially of the large ones.

Hi All,

Denny Genovese used to make overtone flutes out of aluminum tubing,
which he simply called fipple pipes. IIRC they appear on the
recording _New Music for Ancient Instruments_ by his ensemble of
the late 90's, The Exotic Music Ensemble.

Denny writes:

"Actually, I used Gill soprano recorder mouthpieces (made in Isreal)
until they changed to a one-piece design, which ruined my business.
Several hundred were made and sold, mostly in California. I worked
out all the lengths for a complete Lambdoma. Articles appeared in
Interval and Experimental Musical Instruments."

-Carl