I thought I would open this “can of worms”, I don’t recall ever seeing it addressed before on the forum.
Lately I’ve been venturing into the realm of larger bored flutes (larger holes too) A.K.A. Prattens. They possess a big open sound (nutshell assessment). I’ve found that when I play with others (CD’s I’m a closet case) I can hear myself better on the Healys (till now) than any other flutes. This allows me to adjust my pitch, timing and attack with greater ease and enhances my playing experience.
I prefer the tone of Rudall type flutes for solo play, but have a harder time hearing them with others.
I just acquired a McGee Metzler (in lovely Gidgee with a MK I tuning slide). For me this is the easiest to hear play-along flute I’ve yet found, plus I really like the tone and response!
Just wondered if anyone else has had similar experiences?
Thanks. The decorative rings on that flute (blown
up in pictures on the site) are especially lovely.
I keep finding new treasures on Terry’s
website, the nooks and crannies of which seem to
elude me.
Hi Jordan! It’s sure been awhile since you left the old closet and came out to play with us. How’s it going?
As to your question, I’ve played both a Seery (and Sweetheart original, pratten based flute) and an M&E out in many sessions. Based upon my experience, a pratten is a bit easier to play with others right off the bat…it’s more consistently in tune with other instruments, and has a tone that somehow is easier for you, the player, to hear which does make it easier to adjust to other musicians.
It has taken me longer to play as well with others on the Rudall based M&E. It has a slightly darker sound, which I always loved for solo playing, but I couldn’t distinguish it’s voice as well when in session. It’s definitely not a volume issue (the M&E can be plenty loud). However, something clicked in my little brain - perhaps I retuned my aural pathways - and now I can hear the M&E as well as I could the Seery in the past.
My first post! But I’ve been lurking for a while.
I thought that a flute can sound loud to the person playing it but not necessarily loud to somebody else. Is this true do you think?
Nobody seems to be answering this question, although Julia Delaney (may I call you Julia? ) came the closest, so I’ll give it a shot.
I’ve played a Hamilton for the past seven, eight years - one of the louder Pratten types about - with all the tone and bass end you’d want in a Pratten flute. Always heard myself, even against pipers and accordian players. However, I switched over recently to a Rudall style flute (Hernon), which I greatly prefer playing for personal reasons, and it is equally as loud and easy to hear in session as the Hammy ever was. They have different qualities, both good, but the focus of the Rudall (or the Hernon, to credit the maker, rather than the style) cuts quite well against the usual suspect in a session.
As most posts on this topic have agreed before, ‘volume’ has more to do with the player, and the purity/clarity of the notes, than sheer volume alone. If you are not a loud player, and want to work on this, playing in a session or with other musicians is the only way to really do it. If you prefer playing one flute over another, your playing will be sharper and smoother. This is the one you should play in public. If you can’t quite hear yourself, sit farther from the loudest instruments - chances are others can hear you just fine.
Personally I find that the Flute doesn’t matter too much, I tend to play loud and have never had an issue hearing myself or others while playing the Flute, except in really noisy pubs. So to fuel the age old argument I say that it is simply the player and if you can play louder on a Pratten that isn’t really that surprising, but there will be people who can play equally loud on a Rudall. Yet at the same time a listener may not have the same opinion as the player, I sound equally loud to myself on pretty much any Flute, but listeners usually don’t agree with that. For instance my Doyle D and my Copley Eb sound like they are the same volume to me, but everybody tells me the Eb is louder
Now Mandolin is a completely different story I can never hear myself in a session.
I’ve harped on about this before, but I think it’s crucial to distinguish between volume and projection. It’s up to the player to learn how to control projection, which is not directly related to volume. Of course this has more to do with others hearing the player than the player hearing her/himself. For that, wear a broad-brimmed hat, I suppose…
I’ve noticed that some flutes seem a bit louder to the player compared to others. At my session we have folks who play a Hamilton, a LeHart, Seery, M&E original, and I play a Rudall-style flute made by Jon C. My first flute was a Casey Burns std.
We swap instruments around. All of these seem to be loud flutes, but the Lehart is noticeably louder to the player. No idea why, but maybe it’s the lined head? My flute is just a comparitively quiet to the player but is just crazy-loud to others (no matter who plays it) The Burns flute was interesting. Moderate volume to the player and nice and blendy in a session sound, but the feedback on tone was quite tactile. It had such nice backpressure that I could feel when pitch is going sharp or flat, or when close to breaking the octave. Probably makes no sense, but it was like a flute you could play well even if you were going deaf (or unable to hear yourself easily in session).
FWIW, Mike
Sorry, I think my description of the Burns flute should be “having a lot of resistance”, not high backpressure. I think that those are two different qualities.
Projection is a actually poor term since there’s no consistent or scientific definition. Sorry folks, no matter how hard we try we’re not ventriloquists-- we can’t “throw our voices” or somehow localize it to the listeners’ ears so that it seems “louder”, as the word projection would imply. Yes, projection can mean “penetrating” or “cutting”, but then what do those mean?
Besides raw amplitude, a flute’s loudness is largely dependent on:
The note that’s being played (frequency). Human hearing is generally more sensitive to higher notes.
Harmonic content. A bright and buzzy tone is easier to hear than a soft, smooth, hollow, or breathy one.
Tuning. Play out of tune with yourself or with others, and there’s a good chance you’ll be heard. It’s an old trick for the solo violinist to play slightly sharp relative to the orchestra.
How’s it going?
