I’ve taken the plunge and invested in a Baroque flute (technically, my Christmas present from my wife). I knew it would be quite an adjustment, and an hour or so on it yesterday has confirmed this.
I began on a couple of Rudall-style flutes. I think to some extent this ruined my lip for Prattens – I’ve never gotten the hang of the bottom couple of notes on either Pratten-type flute I’ve owned, and I’ve played a couple of others with similar results. So my question is, for those of you who have played Baroque flute and Irish flute, do you find that the experience on the traverso, with its tiny embouchure, helps, hurts, or don’t do nuthin’ for your Irish flute playing?
I had an aulos for about a year. I found it didn’t hurt my irish flute playing (I’m a pratten guy), but going from irish to baroque was a bear and I think the irish playing slowed by baroque progress significantly. I’d bet fife and baroque would reinforce each other, though!
I found that playing the Irish flute significantly improved my tone on low notes on the baroque flute. I played too much “across” the embouchure, rather than blowing into it before, and my tone became more robust just because I was used to trying for more volume.
Talasiga pointed out that he found playing a round embouchure acted as a restorative when tone when missing on elliptical embouchures, and I have a similar experience. Put another way, if one get get a good tone on a small round embouchure, then this transfers back very well to larger embouchures.
Baroque flutes, and the need to tune most notes by lipping/rolling/head tipping also makes one more aware of the need to tune when playing the Irish flute.
I’m not sure if I’ll be playing Baroque music per se, certainly not until I’ve mastered the cross-fingerings and intonation. I’m more interested in sort-of parlor music – O’Carolan, Baltimore Consort type of stuff, etc.
I got the von Huene A. Grenser copy that Loren listed for a friend a few weeks ago. It’s really quite a nice piece of work.
After playing it exclusively for a couple of days, I picked up an Olwell last night. Wow, them Irish flutes are loud!
I guess pretty soon you will be able to tell us whether it helps or hurts your playing.
I wonder if keeping the music that you play separate (one set of music for the Irish flute and one for the baroque) will help you to keep the playing styles different. This may help you get use to the subtle differences.
I had expected to be getting pretty good tone before getting a handle on the cross-fingerings and all the lipping to bring it into tune. But just the opposite is happening. The lipping is coming pretty instinctively, and I’m slowly getting to be able to play, say, in Eflat. But the sound is spotty at best. I played for some friends last weekend, and they remarked that I wasn’t generally getting a good tone, but when I did hit it just right, the sound is gorgeous.
I don’t think it’s hurting my playing, except that it’s taking (a lot of) time away from my ITM repertoire. I think I’ll have to make an effort to play jigs and reels more regularly just so’s not to completely lose it.
Another possibility is just to play ITM on the baroque flute when you are practising. Then you can be practising two things at once. I did this a lot before my Irish flute arrived, and this really helped my tone on the baroque flute. As you are coming from ITM to baroque, it might help you as well, to have something you can do instinctively with your fingers, while you are working on getting tone.
I mulled this over, as well as ID’s idea above. I think I like the idea of keeping the types of music separate, so that I’m not trying to get an Irish sound out of a Baroque flute. I’m planning on at least initially playing O’Carolan and Blind Rory O’Cahan and some stuff from old Irish tune books. The thing that I’ve found most instructive is to transpose tunes that I know well into Eflat or A (Morgan Magan was originally written in A). This gets me using most of the cross-fingerings.
I’m actually alternating days on them right now. I think I’ll eventually gravitate to the A415. I just LOVE the additional bit of throatiness in the slightly lower flute. Of course, the additional brightness in the higher one is nice, too, and I think I can get a little purer sound out of it at this point.
Another thing I’ve found interesting is that when I’m just playing notes in front of a tuner to practice lipping them up and down, I always have to put a lot of effort into it. But when I just play a tune that I’m comfortable with, most of the notes are bang on – I think that as long as it’s subconscious, it works a lot better. Except for that pesky F/F# thing, and the C#.
Question: It’s easy to get 50c flat out of this thing by blowing softer or more downward – is that because of the small embouchure hole? It seems at least double what I can get from a later flute.
Well, I think I had an epiphany this afternoon. After a day of pulling up wall-to-wall carpet (we all have allergies; this is the last carpet), I played the traverso for a couple of hours. I was getting wonderful tone – reasonably pure, very sweet, and very woody. What I discovered is that I was trying to get too much volume before. The flute is damn quiet and wants to be played that way. I’d compare it to being used to playing a Susato whistle and then switching to a Hoover or Oak. The Susato takes air (both pressure and volume), whereas you really have to lay back on a Hoover or an Oak.
I’m on vacation this week, so I will be spending plenty of time with this flute.
Yep- and some pieces call for two flutes in unison particularly if there is a singing part. Might seem odd to those of us that are accustomed to modern flutes, but when you consider the volume a singer can attain, well it’s not hard to imagine you’d need two baroque flutes or it’s not a fair dual, er um duo.
Did I forget to mention it wasn’t a Grenser after Pratten
Funny but true story Charlie: We have several people at the shop who play Baroque flute. I put a Hamilton in one of the girls hands today and said “have a wack at this” After several minutes without much luck (low volume, poor tone, she says “Geeze, I just can’t figure out what do with my embouchure on this thing!” Pretty funny because this was coming from a person that everyone else in the shop says blows to hard.
Definately different beasties, eh charlie? Glad to hear you’re getting the hang of it.
