Is the low D on a Böhm flute and the low D on a low whistle the same note, or are they in different octaves?
They’re the same note. Boehm flutes evolved from the ‘Low-D’ Flute.
I thought the lowest D on a high D whistle was the same as the lowest D on a boehm flute.
oh well.
I trust daniel more than myself, so go with what he says.
Thank you!
The first ‘D’ note on the piccolo is the High-D on a high whistle. I’ve put whistle heads on Boehm Flutes and Piccolos before. It makes them into nice chromatic whistles
Hmmm… alright. Flute and Low D are about the same length, so they should have the same bell note, right?
The thing that always made me blindly assume that (without thinking about it) is that both flute music and whistle music are in the treble clef, and both’s lowest D is the D below the clef.
Is whistle music really written “for” low D whistles and playing it on a high is transposing an octave? Or am I missing something stupid?
On orchestral flute, Irish flute, low D whistle, and tenor recorder, low D (the bell note) is one whole step above middle C on the piano keyboard.
The bell note D of a high D whistle is one octave higher than that.
–James
A typical Boehm flute has a bell note of Low-C. Some of them have an extension foot that descends down to B or A below Low-C, but the most of them start at Low-C. If you notice, it grew up from the 19th century flutes, which are now popular in Irish music and dubbed the title ‘Irish Flutes’. In fact, the Low-C note is played with the pinky finger, the ring finger lands right on your Low-D note - so basically the fingering has some similarities. Flutes, like whistles have those basic six holes - all the other stuff is built around them. Boehm made the most amount of changes to the flute design.
It get more history, check out these Flute websites:
Read Terry McGee’s page on Historical Flute Studies
http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/
Or see David Migoya’s site:
http://www.rudallrose.com
These guys build replicas of the flutes that were made in the 19th century with modern tuning so that you can play them in sessions in tune.
Originally, flutes had 6 fingerholes and went down to the D, just like a low whistle. Later, a key was added to allow the D# note, and facilitate a bunch of the others. This configuration (1-key) lasted for about 200 years.
Later people went crazy with keys, and added not only keys for the chromatic notes, but also keys to go down to the C, B and sometimes as low as G. Boehm’s flute went down to C (i think).
Modern “Boehm system” flutes often go down to B, because the extra tube length is perceived as advantageous by most orchestral players – not really to play the low B, but it helps with the 3rd octave and allows a few extra special fingerings.
Flute music is played just as written. The piccolo is pitched one octave higher (like a high whistle); piccolo music sounds an octave higher than written.
Is this the same as high whistle? (sounds an octave higher than written?) That would explain my confusion.
Yes, it is exactly the same as a high whistle.
On both high D whistle and piccolo, the bell note is the second D above middle C.
–James
even though it’s written as the D right above middle C. Gotchya.