My bundled up load of questions.pls

omegasquarez · Post by **omegasquarez** » Tue May 31, 2005 4:45 am

Hiya! Although ive just registered i've read many of the topics that many of you have posted and ive got lotsa questions to ask.

anyways i play a Venus (not sure of the brand) and im a beginner. I've played the flute since last december and i love it :* but recently my flute has been giving me these wierd background sounds that rly hurt my ears especially when i play F#. Does anyone else face this problem? And at maximum how many octaves can a flute play? I only know 3 and i get problems when i play high E. For some reason the sound comes out only when i blow a lil harder and even so it is NOT clear. ANd what are the 'DONUTS' or the 'B FOOT'? And even so where can i get it? I live in Malaysia and mantaining my flute is a pain cuz the air here is pretty humid. Anyways im sorry if this post is too much of a bore to answer and thanks in advance.

LaDanseuse · Post by **LaDanseuse** » Tue May 31, 2005 9:37 am

Get the flute checked out at a reliable repare shop. Don't give it to any random bunk who plays the marimba or something and knows nothing about woodwinds. Unfortunately there are too many of these people out there, so be careful. I've never heard of the brand Venus, and as far as I know, the more reliable brands are the name brands - Emerson, Yamaha, Armstrong, Pearl... If the flute cannot be fixed, I recommend buying one from the above list.

Addressing your second question: the flute's optimum range is 3 octaves, from middle C to the very very high C (don't know what it's called). You can buy more advanced flutes that come with a B foot so that you can play the B below the staff, but that note is hardly used. Likewise the notes above the highest C are also rarely used, though I have come across a piece that used the high D-flat a lot (Southern Harmony, anyone?) If you're not playing pieces that go beyond the three octaves, then don't worry about these notes. They're usually hard to get out and they're off-tune.

Third question: The high E (I'm supposing you're talking about the one above the staff) is naturally very difficult to produce well. Don't just use a lot of air; use FAST air. Play long notes into a tuner. Getting the E to play well takes time, practice, and a lot of patience

And to maintain your flute, always be sure to swab it out after you play. I know it sounds like common sense, but I've seen many girls just leave their spit in it, and that's 1.) really gross 2.) really bad for the instrument.

Good luck!

fluttiegurl · Post by **fluttiegurl** » Tue May 31, 2005 1:51 pm

Unfortunately, my experiences with Venus flutes and students have not been good ones. They seem to run in the catagory of poorly made flutes that are not repairable after a time. They tend to play fairly well for a few months, then mysteriously fall appart.

If you follow the suggested precautions of swabing your flute every time you play, maintenance on a good flute should not be a great issue. I would strongly suggest looking into buying a known brand flute (the ones previously listed are all great) at som etime in the near future.

The B foot that you asked about is a foojoint that has an additional key, allowing teh flute to produce the B below the staff. The donut is a device placed in the wall of the G key of a flute which generally allows the high E to come out more clearly. This is also known as a High E Facilitator.

There are notes in the fourth octave that are possible on the flute. However, they are usually hard to produce and not called for very often in music, but they are fun to learn! I found a fingering chart for these online at one time and lost the wabsite. Maybe someone here may know. I played Gary Schocker's Musique Francais for my Master's recital, and it ende on a F (2 octaved above the staff). CRAZY!

omegasquarez · Post by **omegasquarez** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 2:59 am

Crazy! oh well i got my flute for like only 250$ from some music store. I guess i got ripped off....

i love my flute but i guess soon i'll have to get rid of it

i tried playing 4th octave notes but ahh my poor ears hurty hurty alot. \I heard the pearl 501 flute was good and i see it alot of it in online music stores for around 300-400$ is it any good ? My friend plays a venus but recently it started bending (literally) he doesnt even touch his flute he just plays it when he needs to in orchestra. WILL this happen to my precious venus *sniff*? Is it due to the hot & humid weather of Malaysia?

fluttiegurl · Post by **fluttiegurl** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 2:40 pm

This may or may not happen to your flute, but it is very likely. I don't believe it is due to the weather. It is just a poorly made flute. The Pearl 501's are decent flutes, but the higher models (565 and up) are much better and seem to be made better as well. Don't buy an older model Pearl. They seemed to have had many problems prior to about two years ago. Another word of advice is to play before you buy. I have found that Pearls don't work for everybody. I love mine, but I know that this is not the case for everyone. (The same for any flute really).

You did not necessarily get ripped off. If your flute has helped you get this far and to have an interest, it has served its purpose.

auletes83 · Post by **auletes83** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 6:40 am

a flute with a b-foot has a range of slightly more than three-and-a-half octaves, from B3 to F#7. While the B doesn't appear very often in the standard repertoire, it does appear sometimes, (Shostakovich 11, Mahler 5, Mendelssohn "Midsummer Night's Dream", for example). Thus, it's a good idea to include it when you practice technique and long tones. While none of the standard baroque, classical, and romantic flute repertoire goes above B6, a LOT of the standard 20th century flute rep goes up there; Prokofiev's Flute Sonata and Classical Symphony have D7's all over the place, and Stravinsky loves that register as well, as do a lot of obscure 20th century composers who have contributed standards to the solo flute repertoire. It sounds like you're a beginner (no offense meant), so you probably won't be tackling much of this repertoire for awhile. Nonetheless, it's not too early to expand your range to its maximum potential. May I suggest a few books to help you in this pursuit?

-Baker, Julius. _Daily Exercises_
-Gilbert, Geoffrey. _Technical Flexibility for Flutists_
-Filas, Thomas J. _Top Register Studies for Flute_
-Wye, Trevor. _Practice Book for the flute, volume 6: Advanced Practice_

Good luck!

MeLizzard · Post by **MeLizzard** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 9:22 am

The fourth-octave fingerings are available on the following site:
http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/index.html
It also includes trills, tremolos, and alternate fingerings for piccolo (very handy!). Those off-brand flutes frequently suffer from bending

, just because the metal is very soft, not a standard grade used in the US. But your flute at least helped you get started and realize you enjoy playing it, so it wasn't a complete bust, no? Ah, Southern Harmony! Our All-State band played some movements of this piece a couple years ago, and, not only are there D-flats up there, there's also a D#!!! Of all the pitches above C, this one seems to be least responsive

. I have, literally, 16 fingerings for this note, and ONE of them works on my flute (Muramatsu). My student had second chair, and, despite much effort and everything else sounding pretty good, couldn't make any of the D# fingerings speak. I think, also, Trevor Wye saves the D# for last on the fourth-octave study page, because it's so nasty.