I just read the most wonderful description of a new Hamilton C flute that a woodenflute message-boarder sent in. It had me fairly drooling in anticipation of the Hammy D I have coming later this year!
And yet, I wonder…
How is it that one wants a flute in C? I know that many of us have Eb flutes, and some lucky ones of us have flutes in Bb, but what of the C? What, besides that great description, would it take to convince a person that they simply must have one?
(Not a particularly serious post here, just wanted to get off the ugliness track of that other post. )
I play along often with Celtic Cds, and occasionally
the C flute comes in handy, e.g.
Cathal McConnell ‘Banks of Strathdon,’
the first cut on ‘Long Expectant Comes at Last.’
I have a Sweetheart C, which is very likeable,
but I wish I had something more.
The CB blackwood headjoint mopane
body would be nice.
Anyhow they can be useful; they’re fun
to just pick up and play; also they
can be played, they’re deeper than Ds
but nearly as responsive. Nice to have
about.
I for one would rather get an 8 key D, which can play just as low as 0-6 key C. It seems alot more useful.
Also, people often say’s that the Boehm flute with standard foot are tuned in C. They have two foot key’s, just like the 8-key simple system flutes. Wouldn’t that also mean that an 8-key D flute is infact a C Flute? The lowest note being a C, and as an 8-key is Chromatic, the natural scale of the instrument (which is D or ##) shouldn’t mean anything.
A keyless C is, of course, much less expensive
than an 8 keyed D flute.
Also I do think, though maybe I’m mistaken,
that it sounds different, more sonorous, than
a D because the whole flute is pitched lower.
Sort of on the way to being a Bb, but
less of a stretch. So my C flute has a deeper
more sonorous tone throughout than my Ds. Best
You can describe it either way correctly depending on your musical context.
For instance the keyless D flute is described in my musical tradition as a G flute because our tonic reference for it is here XXX OOO
rather than XXX XXX.
The line of development of the Boehm can be traced to the Renaissance and Baroque D key flutes. This isn’t my personal hypothesis.
You will find similar info. in flute history treatises.
The core of the Boehm is the D flute.
Putting aside left pinkie for stabilisation (on the Boehm)
on both
OOO OOO = C#
My C flute is made of bamboo and is totaly beautiful to look at. The sound is meditative. Yes it is responsive and sounds good playing trad but I don`t us it much for that. It has a haunting sound that I truely love so we just make up our own music together. Long notes fading to silence and the silence filled by the next note and so on. It is a free for all flute and is completely without disaplin
Yes, I’m glad I have one and would like a better one
than I have. It’s going to be easier to play than a Bb,
it will have its own sound, and it will
be easier to play quickly. And the sound
should be very nice. At the same time
i’m not into spending a great deal of money on
a C, cause the D must be my main flute.
The CB sort of flute in C interests me,
because it would cost maybe 650
or maybe less all mopane.
If you look at the Bb on his site,
well, that could be made in C.
A lot of C designs are more like D flutes than Bb. You can easily get corps-de-réchange from at least Eb to C for the same headjoint. That’s not to say you can’t go up from Bb, of course.
I don’t know how many makers do the same basic bore for Eb to C and switch at Bb, but it would be interesting to find out.
i believe a flute pitched in C provides easier access to these notes: BorBb and Fnat and therefore a few tunes become easier to finger due to the relative position of these notes on a C flute as opposed to Bb or D flutes.
Besides suitability for playing in certain keys, the different flute lengths seem to also have different blowing & tonal characteristics. You can check out some samples on the WFO2 page ( http://www.worldtrad.org/WFO2_CD2.htm ). Most of the audio samples are on D flutes, a Bb, a couple of Cs, an F, and the Eb sample by Joe Skelton is not yet ready. There’s a rough mix which I won’t post, and I’m waiting for the final mix.
There are a few tunes we play in our band that are in Am or even C which when played with a C whistle are easier to play fast (for me). We also play a few tunes in G dorian (Gm with 1 flat) which are much better for me if played on a C instrument (transposed to 1 #)
Yes, we can do G Dorian from XXO OOO on a C key flute
but your statement is confusing.
G major (Ionian) = G A B C D E F# G+
Gm (G Aeolian) = G A Bb C D Eb F G+
but G Dorian = G A Bb C D E F G+
(Taking the major(Ionian) as the stem, the natural minor (Aeolian) has three flattened notes and Dorian only 2. So why do you
describe G Dorian as “Gm with 1 flat” ??? )
XXO OOO is G Mixolydian = G A B C D E F G+
and a cross finger flattened B from here = G Dorian.
So, in effect, an XXO OOO Dorian may be expressed as
a “Mixolydian with an extra flattened note”.
Of course, if you meant your statement,
IN THE CONTEXT, of staff notation which is harmonics
rather than modal biased system of notation:-
Your attempt to describe G Dorian in terms of Gm could be expressed as
“Gm with a permanent accidental E replacing the Eb”
The only sensible way to describe a G Dorian melody
in terms of the stupid key signature staff notation system
is to say:
Gosh, I feel like such a dork ~ I have that CD too, and listened to it repeatedly just a week or two ago
But I’m really talking about the actual feel, touch, pleasure, sound of the flute in my hands kind of thing, you understand… Compared to a D, or an Eb, or a Bb…
Well thats pretty important I feel.
I am required to play a lot of D Dorian
and from XXO OOO on a fifey G flute is too high for my taste.
I want to do a XXX XXO flutey D Dorian.
Unfortunately my flute maker doubts my little mits
would have the reach for a keyless C flute.
Of course what I would really like is a base G
for XXO OOO D Dorian …
The only sensible way to describe a G Dorian melody
in terms of the stupid key signature staff notation system
is to say:
G tonic in F major key.]
Yes, I was referring to the stupid staff notation. A tune with 1 flat and lots of Gm and Bb chords. Thanks for clearing up my confusion with even more of the same
)
