Smooth 16th notes

[326]

Hello there,
been wondering about a little something for a while now.
While playing some songs with relatively fast bpm rates and liberal use of 16th notes (namely Handel's Sonata in G for Flute/Sonatina by Pal Jarndinyi), I've noticed a possible serious flaw in my tone (well, obviously one in dozens but you catch my drift).
As these 16th notes are marked without legato, I (rather obviously enough) tongue 'em. The problem is that in my head it sounds quite horrible!
It sounds as if I was playing in a very strong staccato or something like that: it's only the tongue that I hear. I've tried loosening it up for a bit but without much success.
To sum it up, my fast 16th notes sound (to me, at the very least) clumsy, awkwardly overpronounced and in general just sloppy because of this.

Any tips for this? If anything needs clarification, I'll be happy to provide.

Oh, and for some background information, I've been playing the flute for around a year by now and take lessons from a private teacher.

[FluteMonkey]

Have you learned how to double tongue yet? Double tonguing is a technique where you alternate between the front and back of your tongue using a ta-ka-ta-ka style rather than ta-ta-ta-ta style. It takes some effort to master but it's an essential technique that will make rapid passages much more manageable. Ask your teacher about it.

Good luck.

[326]

Hello,
I've actually asked her about it, but she said it's most often used for even faster passages and that using single tonguing for passages of this tempo is all well and good.
Could be that I remember what she said wrong, however...
So, no way to make fast single tonguing smoother? Oh, and it could of course be that I just hear the sound in a certain way because, well, it's happening inside my head (the tonguing) and thusly I might hear it stronger than other people do... Oh well. Will ask her about double tonguing and it's uses.
Thanks a lot for you answer!

[pied_piper]

If you want a softer tongueing, try it with du-du-du-du instead of ta-ta-ta-ta.