American Flute
American Flute
Tuning the Indian Love Flute
The Native American style flute is a musical instrument of elegant simplicity. Because of this simplicity the Native American style flutes are easy to play. This makes it an ideal instrument for the casual player. But with simplicity come certain limitations.
When I say tuning I am referring to bringing the various notes of a Love flute into a standardized relationship with each other. Tuning the Love flute was not a technical issue for the Native American player. He was interested only in producing sounds that felt right to him. When he tuned his flute he did not measure the tonality of the instrument by any external standard. He was satisfied with what was pleasing to his own ear. It was literally a matter of anything goes as long as I like the sound of it. In the late twentieth century Native American flutes began to gain acceptance beyond the confines of the Native community. In the hands of Native and non-Native flute makers and players the Indian Love flute began a period of rather rapid development.
The most fundamental change was to bring the Indian flute into conformity with Western standards of tuning. Various makers adopted the mode one minor pentatonic scale. They felt that this rather melancholy scale was appropriate for what was being expressed through the Indian love flute. The resulting instrument had five tone holes and could play a five-note (pentatonic) scale plus the first note of the second octave (six notes total). When a sixth hole was introduced it became possible to easily produce two different pentatonic scales on the same flute - mode one and mode four. Love flute makers began to tune their flutes to the modern concert standard of 440Hz for the note of A above middle C on the piano.
The next challenge that Love flute makers took up was to craft a flute that could play a full chromatic scale. A chromatic scale divides the octave into twelve semi tones (notes) of one half step each. There is an equal interval between each note. A pentatonic scale uses only five of these twelve notes. In between those five notes are the other seven notes. You can think of them as hidden notes. You can see this illustrated in detail on my website www.atflutes.com on the Playing the Flute page. You can also see the pentatonic notes and hidden notes when you look at a piano keyboard. The piano keyboard has a sequence of twelve notes that are repeated over and over. Five of the notes in the sequence are the black keys. Think of these five black keys as a pentatonic scale (which in fact they are). You can visualize the white keys as the hidden notes between the notes in the pentatonic scale. These hidden notes can be played on some Native American style flutes using the techniques called cross fingering and half holing.
With a full chromatic (twelve note) range at a player's disposal it is possible to play music in diatonic (seven note) as well as pentatonic (five note) scales. You can also play music in major as well as minor keys.
To make playing a chromatic scale on the Indian flute possible the flute maker must tune the flute so that the hidden notes are playable and in tune. These notes must be tuned so that there are 100 cents between each adjacent note. This challenge has been met with the exception of the two notes that lie between the fundamental and the first open hole note. Half holing (rather than cross fingering) must be used to produce these two notes. It is not easy (or in my case possible) to sound both of these notes distinctly. So in practice we have an almost complete chromatic scale available on a modern, well-tuned, Native American style flute.
The Native American style flute has another limitation. It is standard practice for flute makers to tune their flutes at an ambient temperature of 72 degree Fahrenheit. A limitation of the Love flute is that once the flute is made it's tuning cannot be adjusted. If the flute is in tune at 72 degrees this means that it will be out of tune if the air temperature is higher or lower than 72. Warmer air temperatures will make the Indian flute play sharp. Cooler temperatures will make the flute play flat. A change in temperature of 10 degrees higher or lower than 72 will make a flute play about 15 cents out of tune one way or the other.
The length of the barrel of the Love flute determines the fundamental note of the flute. The longer the barrel of the flute the lower the tone. A shorter barrel raises the tone. As a matter of convenience we will say that the barrel length is measured from the splitting edge at the front of the true sound hole to the foot end of the flute. The standard metal concert flute has a telescoping slip joint on the barrel of the flute. This joint allows the musician to lengthen or shorten the overall length of the barrel. This changing barrel length allows the user to adjust the flute to compensate for differences in temperature. The Indian Love flute does not have this capability. It is solid wood from one end to the other with no telescoping joint.
Another factor effecting the tuning of the Native American style flute is that the tone of the flute is sensitive to the breath pressure going into the flute. When the Love flute maker tunes a flute at a particular breath pressure it will be in tune only when played at that pressure. If the flute player uses a higher breath pressure the flute will play sharp (it will also be louder). When the player uses less breath pressure the flute will play flat. How sharp or flat depends on the amount of deviation in pressure from that at which the Indian flute was originally tuned.
Does it matter if the flute is sharp or flat? Not if you are playing solo. Remember the flute is in tune with itself. The different notes of the Love flute are in a harmonic relationship with each other. So if the flute is sharp all the notes are sharp to the same degree. If flat all the notes are equally flat. Because of this there is no dissonance between the individual notes. Few amateur musicians are able to detect minor variation from 440 Hz.
The tuning of the Love flute is important when it is played ensemble with other instruments. If you are out of tune relative to your guitarist friend to the extent of 15 cents there will be a noticeable cacophony between the two instruments. A guitar can be tuned. Because the guitar can be tuned it can be tuned to your flute. This solves the problem on one level. Now you are both either sharp or flat to the same degree. The two instruments are in harmony with each other.
About the Author
My name is John Stillwell. I live and work in the Mojave Desert near Joshua Tree California. For more than ten years I have devoted myself to making and playing the Native American style flute. This flute is an instrument that anyone can play. No prior musical experience is necessary. For more information about me, flute history, flute playing lessons and how to make flutes visit my website
http://www.atflutes.com
Where Can I Find Disney Music for the Native American Flute?
As all Disney music is copyrighted, you need to either buy the sheet music or borrow it from the library. All sorts of fan-made transcripts. tutorials, tabs and sheet music scans of copyrighted music are not only illegal, but also very often both incorrect and incomplete. You don't tell us what your instrument exactly is, but you should be able to play the main melody line from the sheet music book anyway.
American Flute
Pt. 1 Odell Borg's Native American Flute Lessons
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Gratitude: Relaxing Native American Flute... $14.99 Full title: Gratitude: Relaxing Native American Flute Meditations.Personnel: Steve Gordon (guitar, Native American flute, keyboards); David Gordon (Native American flute, keyboards); Two Towers , Steven O'Donnell , Nev Autry (Native American flute); Bobby Cochran (keyboards).Liner Note Author: Steve Gordon.Recording information: Big Sur State Park; Joshua Tree State Park; Sequoia ational Forest.Illustrator: James Curtis. |
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Wind Riders: Native American Flute Compositions $17.99 This sampler of various artists on the Talking Taco label features music by Alice Gomez, The Native Flute Ensemble, Eric Casillas, The Mesa Music Consort, Marilyn Rife and Ben Tavera King. Instrumentation ranges from the traditional Native American flutes and ceremonial percussion of the Native American Ensemble to the chant and flute music of Eric Casillas. The appropriate title refers to the flute players that were, according to Native American lore, innovative masters of their instruments, transforming wind into magical expressions of love and healing. ~ MusD |
Making a Native American Style Flute
I know that there are many of you who would like to make a Native American style flute. That's how I got started. My thought was 'I'm a woodworker, why spend the money if I can make one myself'. This started me down a path that continues to this day.
If I had known then what I know now I might have been hesitant. Knowing how to make things out of wood is one thing. Knowing how to make a musical instrument that has the proper sound is another. It was only after I had made quite a number of Love flutes that I began to understand the dynamics of sound creation.
The absolute best way to get started in Indian style flute making is, of course, to study with an accomplished flute maker. When I decided to make my own flute I was prescient enough to seek out someone to help me. Having a teacher makes a huge difference in the steepness of the learning curve. When you have an experienced teacher you have access to a body of knowledge in dynamic form. When you make mistakes - and you will - the experienced teacher is there to show you how to correct them. Or to show you how to do it right the next time.
Those of us who make Native American style flutes professionally seem to agree that the second most efficient way to make a flute is to reverse engineer a good flute. Reverse engineering is to carefully study a quality existing flute. Then you try and make as exact a copy as possible of that flute. With reverse engineering you have a functioning finished product to study and compare with your flute in progress. Measurements of all the dimensions and angles are there in front of you. Of course this means that you have to buy or borrow a good flute. But in my opinion it is well worth the cost.
If you just want to get your feet wet in the flute making game then you can get a flute kit. My preference would be to get a flute that is already glued up and tuned. All that is left for you to do is the shaping and finishing. This eliminates the difficulties of learning the intricacies of crafting a flute from scratch. Also you don't need a lot of expensive tools. This way you are almost guaranteed to end up with a playable instrument.
Other types of Love flute kits consist of two pieces of wood with the barrel and slow air chamber hollowed out. With the heavy machining done it is up to you to glue the two halves together and cut out the true sound hole and exit hole from the slow air chamber with hand tools. You must also drill the tone holes. There is a lot of room for error with even the best of instructions. Even variations of a very small fraction of an inch can make big changes in sound quality. With even the best flute kit and instructions you may or may not end up with a playable instrument.
Another way to get into flute making is to take a flute making class. I have never attended one myself. But I have seen a few flutes that have come out of such a class. I can't say that I was very impressed with what I have seen and heard. But, I'm sure everyone had fun and went home with a flute that they could make sounds on. A single flute making class will not make you into a good flute maker. It will get you started though.
There are several books on how to make a Native American style flute. And there is at least one comprehensive DVD. These materials show in relative detail a step-by-step process that may provide enough guidance so that you can make a playable flute. I have not read the books nor have I seen the DVD. So I will not comment. Flute lesson videos are also posted on U Tube and other sites. If my own experience is any guide even the best book or DVD will not give you more than a rudimentary idea of what Love flute making entails.
If you feel the strong urge to make an Indian flute don't be discouraged by your mistakes. No one makes a great flute the first time. In order to become a good flute maker you must make many flutes and learn from your mistakes. By analyzing what you have done wrong and applying that knowledge to your next love flute you will make better and better flutes.
For more help making a Native American flute you can join an internet group - www.nativeflutewoodworking@yahoogroups.com
About the Author
My name is John Stillwell. I have a woodworking shop in the Mojave Desert near Joshua Tree California. I make unique hand crafted Native American style flutes. You too can play the flute. It's easy. For more information about me, flute playing lessons and the history and craft of flute-making visit my website
http://www.atflutes.com
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American Flute