So, with those bamboo flutes I am still having trouble having the octaves match. If I can have a bell tone of D, I have C# as the 2nd octave. I even tried using a cork and adjusting it, but I can’t get both in tune with the rest of the flute. Anybody have any ideas?
Have you tried rolling the flute away from you for the upper octave notes as well as seriously tightening your embouchure? Also,How long have you been working with the flute?
Practice is probably the key here, but the ideas above may help, too.
Eric
I worked with each section of bamboo for about 1-2 hours trying to get 3 consecutive notes (bell tone then the two ascending holes) and their octaves in tune, it didn’t work well. I guess I will try again.
I guess it depends on who made your bamboo flute. Most of the ones I’ve played, with the exception of those by Patrick Olwell and Chris Dawson, were badly out of tune with themselves.
The thing to keep in mind with bamboo flutes is that they’re cylindrical, unlike the conical bores in simple-system wooden flutes. This means that some of the notes in the second octave will be flat relative to the first, particularly the G, A, and B in the second octave. This is exactly opposite of what happens in a conical-bore flute, where those notes tend to be a bit sharp (esp. the A and B).
If I remember right, these are bamboo flutes you are making yourself, right?
Try this: make a flute with no tone holes, just an embouchure. It should overblow at the octave–if the bell tone is D, it should overblow to d.
–James