I have an old Baroque flute…not a very high end one, it’s a maple flute by Ralph Sweet made a long time ago…and occasionally I break it out and play it a bit.
Today and yesterday every now and again I would really hit a “sweet spot” where the dang cross-fingerings actually worked reasonably well. That’s a new one for me; I’ve been playing that flute (on and off) for years and I’m used to rolling it in and out and doing all sorts of breath gymnastics to make the weaker cross-fingerings (like F-natural, for instance, or the first octave G-sharp) work.
But when you hit it just right, they actually work pretty well.
Seems to be a combination of rolling in quite a bit, blowing with a very tightly focused, very small embouchure, and with a good bit of breath pressure.
It doesn’t produce much volume–an alto recorder seems a lot louder–but the tone quality seems more consistent across the cross-fingered notes, and the pitch of those notes seems much better.
I’ve never had a chance to play another traverso, so I can’t say if what I’ve found applies to pretty much every Baroque (-ish) flute, or if it’s unique to this one.
I just aquired RedoxMusic’s Cherry Sweatheart Baroque flute.
I must admitt, initially I thought it was rather anemic. But two “simple” modifications have greatly increased the tone & projection.
First I greased the “felt” on the tennons, this helped to properly seal the joints and produced an immediate improvement. Second I fitted a tuning cork with brass disk (could glue a dime on the cork). This further improved the power of the flute.
The flute now has a fairly strong tone. Though it won’t compete with a good Irish flute.
I’m enjoying mine, the intonation is quite good (better with the 440 section than the 415). Though the accidentals don’t come out very true, I’ll keep working on it! The small embouchure takes some getting used to. I position my upper lip with the top of the embouchure and this leaves my bottom lip off the embouchure and down on the wood (will take some getting used to). I now like the tone and the flute can be pushed quite hard without faltering.
I believe I’ve concluded my cylindrical flute phase and now my flute odyssey is headed towards traversos!
First I greased the “felt” on the tennons, this helped to properly seal the joints and produced an immediate improvement.
I actually replaced the “felt” (i.e. red knitting yarn) with cork years and years ago.
Best I remember, it did help the sound quite a bit.
That said, if you do have instruments with wrapped tenon, you need to grease the tenon anyway so that the joint doesn’t stick and also so that water won’t collect under the wrappings, which is a Bad Thing.
I don’t have any recordings where I’m hitting that “sweet spot” just yet…here is a recording done the way I usually “just play” the thing:
I played a couple of Ralph’s traversos when I visited him a couple of years ago. I hadn’t played many at that point (it was before I owned any), and I thought they played quite easily. As I had no idea how to play one, I didn’t really know any cross-fingered notes to try.
I’ve found that the different traversos have very different playing characteristics, especially for the cross-fingered notes. This is even for flutes nominally based on the same flute. I just lucked into a Cameron Grenser, which plays VERY differently from the von Huene Grenser. It’s different to the point where some of the optimum third-octave fingerings on the one don’t even sound on the other. That one surprised the hell out of me. Even the first-octave cross-fingered notes have to be lipped differently. On the vH, you really need to back off on the veiled notes, but the Cameron is happy being pushed a little.
I appreciate your web-page. I remembered your Sweet Baroque Flute and popped by your site for a parusel, prior to sealing the deal on the Cherry flute. THANKS!
Hey Chas,
Cameron Grenser!
I think of you every time I play “Chase me Charlie” except it’s the other way around. Everywhere I go on my Flute Odyssey seems you’ve already been there!
I appreciate your web-page. I remembered your Sweet Baroque Flute and popped by your site for a parusel, prior to sealing the deal on the Cherry flute. THANKS!
You are most welcome! And thank you…your kind post has brightened my day.
Take a look at several fingering charts, including the Quantz book if you can find a copy. 1-key flutes vary a LOT and depending on what tuning system you’re shooting for one of the other fingerings might work better for you/your instrument. Remember that there are often different fingerings for enharmonic notes like Ab and G#, and depending on who you’re playing with you might actually want to use the Ab fingering for a G#!
Some flutes have really different embrochure requirements. Someone once taught me an exercise in which you lift your upper lip, then bring it down and play a note. Fooling around with this can help figure out how to make a different instrument play better.
Cameron Flutes !! I need to get our local bunch to play some C tunes so I can use my Cameron 392 Chevalier!
I need to get our local bunch to play some C tunes so I can use my Cameron 392 Chevalier! 