several sources mention that the baroque traverso is more difficult to play than an 8-keyed flute.
For example, embouchure, intonation (tilting your head etc) and fingerings.
But how does a tenor D renaissance flute compare to a baroque traverso and classical 8-key flute?
Is it easier? More difficult? Samey?
Just judging from the looks, a tenor D renaissance flute seems to be the most similar flute to a keyless irish flute.
Also I would like to understand what is meant by “certain renaissance flutes are not meant to be played solo” or from another perspective “the baroque traverso was more suited for playing solo”.
As soon as a flute can produce sounds it should be possible to play solo, shouldn’t it? What attributes make a traverso capable of playing solo?
Or are these statements merely to be understood from a perspective of professional musicians with absolute hearing who naturally have a much higher standard of what is nice sounding music vs imperfect sound?
When I am playing alone on a totally unprofessional level just for pleasure, would I be able to hear that my flute isn’t actually suited for this? And why would I hear it? Because of poor intonation? Weak low octave?
As a beginner I would most likely blame all those things on my skill level and not on the flute.
A renaissance flute and a classical 8-key flute are very different instruments, even aside from the keys.
A renaissance flute is going to have a much narrower bore that is cyclindrical in both head and body. This means that there will be tuning differences between octaves for the same fingering … which means that different octaves will require different fingering for some notes. This dependance on cross fingering means that the tone holes will be small. The embouchure hole is also likely to be a lot smaller.
So, all in all, it is a totally different beast to a classical 8-key flute which will have a cylindrical head bore, tapered body bore, overall large bore, large tone holes, large embouchure hole, and mostly the same fingering for notes in first and second octaves. Even keyless Irish flutes, which might look superficially like renaissance flutes, are very different to play and are essentially classical 8-key flutes without the keys.
I’d say that you should make your choice of flute based on the kind of music you intend to play. Its not that one kind of flute is easier or harder to play than another. Its more that if you get the flute that matches the kind of music you intend to play, then your journey will be much easier than trying to play one kind of music on a flute that is intended for, or optimized for, a different kind of music. When you are learning to play the flute you engage in an endless feedback process in which you have a certain sound in your minds ear (from having listened to players you want to emulate) and you spend your time trying to coax that sound out of your own flute. If you start out with the wrong kind of flute, it may be next to impossible to get the sound you are striving for.
So, if you want to play Irish music, and you appreciate simplicity in an instrument, then go for a keyless Irish flute. There are lots of good ones available for relatively little money, and generally for less than a good baroque or renaissance flute.
That is exactly the reason why I was asking this in the first place:
Although I do like Irish folk music I certainly wouldn’t want to play it exclusively, so that’s the reason I looked further down the flute hole and found out about those even older flute designs.
But here it is the same, even though I both like renaissance music as well as baroque music (both more than classical music!) I would most likely not play either of those exclusively.
What I know however, is that I will play most of the time for myself and - as soon as I am good enough - I want to accompany my wife’s singing.
So that is actually a very important question for me:
What does it mean that Renaissance flute were made to play in consorts/ensembles while baroque traversos were becoming more soloist instruments. What does this mean in practical terms?
Regarding the similarities between an Irish and a renaissance flute, I did know of the physical differences (I usually do a lot of research before posting anything) but I failed in formulating it properly: I meant they are similar in terms of having no keys and having six holes that are covered by the the first fingers of each hand.
In contrast to a recorder, a baroque traverso, a classical flute or a Böhmflute.
I find the renaissance flute MUCH more difficult to pay than a traverso or an 8-key.
If you look at a ren flute, first thing you’ll notice is that all the tone holes are the same size, and the spacing other than between the hands is uniform. This means that every note has to be lipped to bear some semblance of being in-tune. The cross-fingerings for the second octave kinda sorta get you notes on the scale, but I’ve spent hours just trying to figure out fingerings to approximate a d-scale.
Most traversi play a pretty in-tune d scale across two octaves with standard fingerings and minimal lipping. The F#/Fnat can be pretty dicey depending on the maker and model, especially in the lower octave. It can be difficult to get cross-fingered notes to be both in-tune and clear sounding, but that’s something that comes with practice.
As you alluded, Ren flutes are often sold as consorts. A set of 3-4 flutes are generally voiced together due to the touchy nature of the tuning. I’ve bought both of mine (tenor d’s) as standalone flutes. The makers didn’t try to get me to get a consort because “that’s the way it’s done.” If you want to play one solo, there’s no reason not to.
