just starting out on flute I am curious how you do create backpressure on flute? what is its use and do you always play that way?
berti
If it’s a transverse flute you don’t create backpressure,
I believe. That’s to do with whistles, and the
whistles create it, not you. Best
well I am asking this because flautists create their own backpressure as was said in a former thread so I wanted to know what is meant with that.
berti
Maybe so, but I’ve never heard of it–I’ve been playing
a couple of years. Perhaps somebody more knowledgeable
will enlighten us both. But I don’t think it’s something
you need to worry about in a practical way now, FWIW. Best
I fear to post here, because flute players use weird terminology that they themselves can’t explain, sometimes. Someone will probably react badly to this post.
Anyway, you’ll usually hear people talking about certain flutes having more “resistance” than others. Usually this means that it takes less air to play, but sometimes it means that you can play it harder without the sound breaking. When you’re talking to metal flute players, most players will tell you that flutes with thicker walls have more resistance. So some professional flutists will have a flute with thin walls for playing with small groups, and a thick walled flute for playing with a large orchestra, for example.
I think in wooden flutes the size of the embouchure (blow) hole defines in great part the resistance of the flute. Larger blowholes create more “free blowing” flutes, smaller blowholes more resistant flutes.
Another way to think of this: when you just blow air out of your mouth, without a flute, the air goes away very quickly. When you’re playing flute, the air lasts a lot longer. That’s the effect of the “resistance” or “backpressure”. I have no idea what it means to say that flutists “create their own backpressure”, unless the poster had in mind different blowing styles (tighter or looser lips).
At least that’s how i see it. As i said, i wouldn’t be surprised if someone contradicted this.
g
AHA! thanks for explaining that, glauber, that is something new learned.
so if you have more resistance, you can play louder and you can push harder, aka, use more backpressure?
and I will be interested if anybody will have different explanations.
greetings
berti
i think the answer you are looking for and most beginners are looking for is to have a strong or tight embouchure of the lips to support the air stream as it passes from the lips to the embouchure hole. this varies flute-to-flute and embouchure-hole-to-embouchure-hole. on flutes with a more traditional hole (not big and not square) it probably holds more true.
a rule of thumb (or rule of lip) that i use:
the more vertically orientated that the air column is as it enters the embouchure hole, the more pressure is needed by the lips to sustain the air stream.
an equal and opposing pressure should be applied by the lips to the air column to create sufficient resistance so the air doesn’t disperse and weaken in tone. loose lips won’t provide enough support and so many a novice will blow harder and actually end up overblowing, going on the idea (blow harder = more tone) but really they need stronger lips and more focus not more air. this is key to developing a strong tone especially in the lower notes and is something most beginners lack (and perhaps some flutes lack, they may not be designed to be blown that way). regular practice, with attention given to the embouchure and tone, helps to the strengthen the muscles involved.
i think one reason many of us turn the embouchure hole ‘in’ a bit on certain flutes is because we are actually compensating for a difference in two angles :
a) the angle created by the air column as it leaves the lips (it leaves the lips at a slight angle and not absolutely perpendicular) and
b) the angle of the air stream as it enters the hole… we are trying to shoot the air in the hole in a more vertical orientation so we compensate and turn the embouchure hole ‘in’ to an angle that we can best manage to support the breath and ultimately strengthen the tone. and as always this varies from player to player. hope this helps…
Glauber, rama, those were my thoughts, too: the interaction between a flute’s construction/playability and one’s airstream dictates how one creates “backpressure”. Necessarily it will vary a bit. Good thing lips are flexy and headjoints can be rotated. I remember when I first started getting the sensation that the flute was pressing back at my air delivery, a sort of equal pressure at the best moments. The whole flute vibrates then.
My hat’s off to Glauber for taking the plunge despite misgivings equal to my own, and for airing them to boot. 
part II…
i failed to mention in my previous posting something that i had mentioned in other threads and that nicholson taught. it seems key and in his own words:
"the resistance is in confining the the embouchure of the lip to the exact size of the uncovered portion part of the mouth hole and taking especial care that the upper lip is as close to the flute (as possible) in order that the breath will have as short a distance to travel… otherwise the breath will spread, and consequently diminish in power. "
my guess is that this seems to work well for those embouchure holes that are shaped such that the upper lip can cover it (i.e. elleptical/oval type holes which aren’t too big). and i wonder if their shape and size was a result or determined by how practical it would be to cover them with the upperlip so that they could be blown in a direction that is more towards vertical.
i wonder if blowing more in a horizontal direction suits the bigger less round embouchure holes and as a result might require a deeper chimney.