Any flute players in the house?

Fox, I thought I replied to this HOURS ago... apparently not. 

Not embouchure based, although different positioning can effect the tonality of sound.  Meaning, yes, there are keys for sharps and flats, but I think that one can "over or under blow" also... I'm thinking waaaaay back to my HS band days here.  No.  I played Sax.  But I listened.

Are you talking about the transverse flute like in most orchestras? If so, John & Jules are right: sharps & flats are not embouchure based. The keys take you thru the full chromatic scale, but it's not always obvious where to find the accidentals. And to make it even more confusing, often there are 2 or more ways of fingering the same note (I think this is to make it easier to do trills depending on what note you're coming from).

If we're talking about a traditional end-blown, open-hole flute or recorder, I think you're stuck with the diatonic scale for the most part. I've seen some superhuman players who can do the embouchure thing and bend a note to the moon & back. But for mere mortals, there only Cakewalk FX > Pitch Shift

I don't actually play the flute. I just use it as a tool to annoy the dogs. Man they go crazy, running around like "wuzzat? the mother ship has finally returned!"

"Fox, I thought I replied to this HOURS ago... apparently not. "

Odd, I replied to this post also, and it vanished.  Weird....

Odd indeed. Up till a few minutes ago, this thread appeared empty to me....

Bizarre.

Thank you everybody for replying.

I have a cheapo Jupiter flute, the kind you buy for practice. It seems to have the full range of keys:

http://www.jupitermusic.c...=2&sId=1&pId=6

Looking at that picture, it also seems I have had it assembled wrong for the last year. That may explain some of my confusion heheh.

I noticed that the pitch is very mutable depending on the embouchure, but its a lot of work. Part of the other problem is the keys are nonlinear... you have to close some lower keys to hit a higher note, though the holes themselves are linear it seems. This is confusing the heck out of me.

Looking over the fingering chart (I dunno why I did not think of that myself) it seems I was on the right track, but I (or my flute) am out of tune.

This is a bloody difficult and cryptic instrument to play. At least I dont get dizzy anymore. And maybe the new assembly will be easier on my left thumb tendons as there seems to be more support this way.

Back to practicing.

Actually, it turns out I and the picture above are both wrong. It is halfway in-between. I had the keys lined up with the foot, the pic above has the pads... in reality, it should be the bar assembly. That makes a lot more sense now.

Yes, strumming is ok, but pick work is turning out to be a challenge

I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE FINGERING CHARTS!!!!

GAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

I need fingering charts for dummies... one with pictures... of a real flute, not some symbolic drawing.

So, it turns out that its both embouchure and keys, kinda like brass. Octaves are velocity based.

Jules - yeah, I actually found a vid where they teach you to first learn to blow into the mouthpiece alone, it is not connected to the body. It seems the pitch is slightly off naturally, but I may be able to tune it as you suggest.

In the right hands it is a remarkable instrument... in mine... OUCH!

Tuning is affected both by the how you blow into it and by the distance you set the headpiece in... Usually one pulls the head joint out about the width of a quarter.

The flute can be rolled while playing into the mouthpiece... I think rolling it away from you causes it to go flat. Rolling toward, sharp.

Also there is a stick that looks like an oversized needle that you should have. You stick it into the headpiece of the flute, (without it attached to the rest of the flute) with the side that looks like the eye of a needle sticking out. There is a line that should be on the oversized needle close to where the end of the headpiece is ... If this is off, there is a screw-type cap on the headjoint of the flute, to the left of the mouthpiece... Clockwise sends the cork on the end outward. Counter, inward.  The goal is to line the line on the stick up with the edge of the flute.

Please tell me if this helps!
~Caleb

I am more than happy to share a pearl of wisdom with those willing to accept!
~Caleb

I dunno how much more the forums can take of my horrible musical abilities. But yeah, one of these days. I was hoping to get some on the last two songs, but progress has been slower than I had hoped.

Thanks for asking.

Cheers
Shad