Below D

Irish Flute
1

Today I learned Master Crowley’s reel (http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/281).
Obviously the flute can’t get down to low B and A, but by playing them an octave higher is easily done. That’s why, to learn the tune, I changed those two notes in the ABC notation, to make it a bit more easy to the eyes. Then, as always when learning a tune, I compared the version learned with a recording of the tune, prefered the sound of the latter and adapted to it.

But here comes the interesting part. After learning the new version, I tried the old version again and discovered that the fingering of the two was almost identical! The real difference was my approach to those low notes. The first time i was thinking of those notes as they were high (because I changed the ABC and the midi played them high), the second time as they were low (because the fiddle in the recording played them low). And it took me 10 minutes the learn the new, identical version!

So I thought that it was just something happening in my head, that’s why I played with the two approach in front of my sister and asked her if she heard any difference, and she answered that one time i was going high, while the other i was going low. But that’s technically impossible on the flute, that can’t go below D. Shocking!

2

Hmm…interesting. You probably use your embouchure to amplify the fundamental/cut the harmonics of the notes. That way it might sound lower than it is, psychoacoustical. The “typical” wooden flute sound has lots of harmonics (barking!), and by cutting those harmonics you might create the illusion of playing a low note lower than D.

3

It’s funny, I’ve always thought that Matt Molloy does a great job of masking those notes when he is playing with another instrument that can hit the low notes - particularly a fiddle player. You can almost trick yourself into thinking that he really is hitting those low notes. I think Gabriel is right that it is just something in the tone that mimics the other instrument. The set with Dowd’s on Contentment is Wealth is a good example.

B

4

Well I guess the trick is in cutting the high harmonics of the notes that should sound lower while enhancing the high harmonics of the rest of the notes. It’s really cool that is comes automatically when you think of how the tune should go when playing.