I’ve been playing a Cameron flute for a few years (the one based on Chris Norman’s R&R, I believe) but recently acquired a Seery polymer because I wanted something I could play outside, and which I can leave put together for grabbing a quick tune at the odd moment.
I’m struggling with making the adjustments to my emboucher neccessary with the Seery, and am hoping that anyone who has made a similar move can make some suggestions.
I find that I especially stuggle with hitting the second octave d and e when jumping around. The d tends to become the next overtone, and the e, well, just sqeeks. I tend to not always lift my top finger on the d, partly out of laziness, but also because there are times when I want to do a cran, or hit the d hard, so need to keep that finger down.
I’ve been playing long tones, octave jumps, etc., but would appreciate any advice (I know, “be patient”, but …).
while not having done exactly what you’ve done, I do have a Seery (I love BTW) but started with the Dixon three piece conical and also play an antique German wooden flute. I’ve also not been playing super long on flute (somewhere nearing 2 years) but have more experience on whistle and sax before that (that’s my caveat about my flute experience).
My Seery has a perfectly fine middle D and E, but the Seery is quite capable of playing well into the third octave. While the Seery overall takes a pretty focused embouchure, I wonder if your embouchure is too tight because it sounds like you’re jumping up towards the next octave to me. I never lift that LH first finger when playing middle D (I do for the third octave D or alternatly I’ll use OXX OOO for that D).
Well, that’s my guess…do with it what you will . Oh, and my other advise is more time with the flute - I didn’t like my Seery nearly as much at first until we properly bonded.
I find that I especially stuggle with hitting the second octave d and e
when jumping around. The d tends to become the next overtone, and the
e, well, just sqeeks. I tend to not always lift my top finger on the d <<
Hi there, I’ve done some similar things - and still do!
I think the 2nd octave d ought to be vented except when you are
purposely needing to keep the finger down.
When I practiced the offending intervals as long tones, this cured the
overblowing into the harmonics and squeaks. To find them I had to
record myself playing as many intervals as I could think of to find where
they were. When I stopped practicing this they returned, which just goes
to show I didn’t practice it enough.
There was also something with my rh pointer finger, which has a curve
and wasn’t covering its hole if I was sloppy. I didn’t know this however, I
only found out when s’one else saw it and told me. To cure this squeak
needed attention on arm position so that my arm would remember.
A final point - there have been a few board discussions on this point which
you might want to check out in an archives search - if you are new and
playing 2 flutes with 2 different embouchures, your muscle memory is
going to get mixed up. Stick to your Seery for awhile and put the other
one away - see if that doesn’t make a difference.
. Oh, and my other advise is more time with the flute - I didn’t like my Seery nearly as much at first until we properly bonded.