On Wed, 26 Feb 2003 09:28:51 -0700, Nelson Zink wrote:
> Joerg,
>
> > so I wonder what the general
> > effect on the timbre that conical shape causes,
>
> I wish I knew. I had never been able to find a definitive answer as why
> to
> flutes changed to conical shape about 1650. Other woodwinds soon
> followed.
> Then the flute switched back to straight pipe. The evidence doesn't
> support
> the claim of tapers improving tonality. The evidence is stronger that
> the
> conical shape was adopted to facilitate construction methods.
I don't claim any real knowledge, but I had thought that the tapered bore
was introduced to make a flute truer in pitch in all registers, since
ensemble/orchestral playing was taking off. Once Mr Boehm got working on
the keys, a tapered bore became less critical.
I have 2 keyless fifes in the same key - one a 2-piece tapered, the other
one-piece cylindrical. The one-piece is a lot louder, but tends to go out
of true about the middle of the second octave. The 2-piece is softer and
more mellow in tone, but stays more in tune in the higher registers.
As for construction methods, I'm even less sure. I think it was around
this time that flute makers started to split the flute in two along its
length in order to make a tapered bore more accurately. I know that some
makers of baroque flutes still use this method. Perhaps differences in
tonality were almost an incidental result of the quest for truer pitch.
But I could be completely wrong. I'm a total newbie here (Hallo!), so feel
free to shoot me. I don't know how all this might apply to a shakuhachi,
since I've never actually seen a bamboo one - that's how new I am.
cheers,
-- nickey ____________________________________________________
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