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Irish flute
The Irish flute is a conical-bore, simple-system, wooden flute of the type favoured by classical flautists of the early 19th century, or to a flute of modern manufacture derived from this design (often with modifications to optimize its use in Irish Traditional Music, Scottish Traditional Music or Music of Brittany and other Celtic nations). The majority of traditional Irish flute players use a wooden, simple-system flute.
Although it is played in every county in Ireland, the flute has a strong heartland in the mid-western counties of Roscommon, Leitrim, Sligo, south Fermanagh, east Galway, Clare and west Limerick.
The Irish flute is a simple system, transverse flute which plays a diatonic (Major) scale as the tone holes are successively covered and uncovered. Most flutes from the Classical era, and some of modern manufacture, include various metal keys or additional tone holes (such as a seventh, "pinky-hole", to access one lower note, typically the seventh degree of the scale) to achieve partial or complete chromatic tonality. Commonly added pads and keys, to play accidentals or various sharp or flat notes, may be added to any hole on the flute, though most commonly are given to the first, second, fourth, and fifth holes. For example, on a standard "D"-scale instrument, the addition of these extra keys would enable the player to achieve D#/E-flat, F-natural, G#/A-flat, and A#/B-flat notes with ease.
Due to its wooden construction, characteristic embouchure, and direct (keyless) fingering, the simple system flute has a distinctly different timbre from the Western concert flute, often sounding more "breathy" than the high and clear tones of classical silver flute. Most Irish flute players tend to strive for a dark and "reedy" tone, in comparison to classical flautists. Though most-commonly constructed in the key of "D"—similar to the whistle, and most traditional music played in unison is in the D, G or A-Major key signatures—, simple-system flutes are available pitched in other keys, and may be manufactured upon the orderer's request, such as in E/E-flat, B/B-flat, or C/C#, amongst other keys. Although referred to as a "D flute", this is a non-transposing instrument, and "D" merely refers to the lowest note on a standard instrument tuned to D-Major, typically; if one were to play a "C", a concert-pitch "C" is sounded. Any flute built and tuned to E-flat, B-flat or C are transposing instruments.
The flute has six main finger-holes. For a D flute (the most common variety), with "X" symbolizing a covered finger-hole and O symbolizing an uncovered finger-hole, all holes covered, (three fingers per hand) can be represented as XXX-XXX = D . As the scale progresses, XXX-XXO = E, XXX-XOO = F#, XXX-OOO = G, XXO-OOO = A, XOO-OOO = B, OOO-OOO = C#, with XXX-XXX or OXX-XXX being the higher octave D for the full D major scale.
Wooden flutes have a cylindrical bore in the head and a conical bore in the body. This bore is largest at the head end, tapering down to a smaller bore at the foot. This has the effect of shortening the flute for a given pitch.
There is some confusion with modern players in that a modern Boehm keyed system flute is typically pitched in C. This is due to the added keys that allow one to reach low C, yet when one covers just the six main finger-holes (with thumb key covered) on a modern metal Boehm system flute, (XXX-XXX) the note achieved is D. For many technical reasons, a simple system D wooden flute more closely mirrors a concert C modern Boehm system flute in the pitches achieved in its fingering positions as opposed to a simple system flute pitched in C. Theobald Boehm completely redesigned the flute to more easily access the chromatic scale. The Boehm flute has a cylindrical bore (with a parabolic bore in the head) and uses keys to enable the tone holes to be in the ideal place and to be of the ideal size.
Despite the implication of this commonly used name, the Irish flute is not an instrument indigenous to Ireland. The simple system, conical-bore flute is what people played before the advent of the modern, Boehm system, Western concert flute in the mid-19th century. Simple-system flutes are usually made of wood (cocus, grenadilla (African blackwood), rosewood, ebony, etc.). There were several manufacturers of this type of flute, among whom was English inventor and flautist Charles Nicholson Jr, who developed a radically improved version of the transverse wooden flute.
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Irish flute
The Irish flute is a conical-bore, simple-system, wooden flute of the type favoured by classical flautists of the early 19th century, or to a flute of modern manufacture derived from this design (often with modifications to optimize its use in Irish Traditional Music, Scottish Traditional Music or Music of Brittany and other Celtic nations). The majority of traditional Irish flute players use a wooden, simple-system flute.
Although it is played in every county in Ireland, the flute has a strong heartland in the mid-western counties of Roscommon, Leitrim, Sligo, south Fermanagh, east Galway, Clare and west Limerick.
The Irish flute is a simple system, transverse flute which plays a diatonic (Major) scale as the tone holes are successively covered and uncovered. Most flutes from the Classical era, and some of modern manufacture, include various metal keys or additional tone holes (such as a seventh, "pinky-hole", to access one lower note, typically the seventh degree of the scale) to achieve partial or complete chromatic tonality. Commonly added pads and keys, to play accidentals or various sharp or flat notes, may be added to any hole on the flute, though most commonly are given to the first, second, fourth, and fifth holes. For example, on a standard "D"-scale instrument, the addition of these extra keys would enable the player to achieve D#/E-flat, F-natural, G#/A-flat, and A#/B-flat notes with ease.
Due to its wooden construction, characteristic embouchure, and direct (keyless) fingering, the simple system flute has a distinctly different timbre from the Western concert flute, often sounding more "breathy" than the high and clear tones of classical silver flute. Most Irish flute players tend to strive for a dark and "reedy" tone, in comparison to classical flautists. Though most-commonly constructed in the key of "D"—similar to the whistle, and most traditional music played in unison is in the D, G or A-Major key signatures—, simple-system flutes are available pitched in other keys, and may be manufactured upon the orderer's request, such as in E/E-flat, B/B-flat, or C/C#, amongst other keys. Although referred to as a "D flute", this is a non-transposing instrument, and "D" merely refers to the lowest note on a standard instrument tuned to D-Major, typically; if one were to play a "C", a concert-pitch "C" is sounded. Any flute built and tuned to E-flat, B-flat or C are transposing instruments.
The flute has six main finger-holes. For a D flute (the most common variety), with "X" symbolizing a covered finger-hole and O symbolizing an uncovered finger-hole, all holes covered, (three fingers per hand) can be represented as XXX-XXX = D . As the scale progresses, XXX-XXO = E, XXX-XOO = F#, XXX-OOO = G, XXO-OOO = A, XOO-OOO = B, OOO-OOO = C#, with XXX-XXX or OXX-XXX being the higher octave D for the full D major scale.
Wooden flutes have a cylindrical bore in the head and a conical bore in the body. This bore is largest at the head end, tapering down to a smaller bore at the foot. This has the effect of shortening the flute for a given pitch.
There is some confusion with modern players in that a modern Boehm keyed system flute is typically pitched in C. This is due to the added keys that allow one to reach low C, yet when one covers just the six main finger-holes (with thumb key covered) on a modern metal Boehm system flute, (XXX-XXX) the note achieved is D. For many technical reasons, a simple system D wooden flute more closely mirrors a concert C modern Boehm system flute in the pitches achieved in its fingering positions as opposed to a simple system flute pitched in C. Theobald Boehm completely redesigned the flute to more easily access the chromatic scale. The Boehm flute has a cylindrical bore (with a parabolic bore in the head) and uses keys to enable the tone holes to be in the ideal place and to be of the ideal size.
Despite the implication of this commonly used name, the Irish flute is not an instrument indigenous to Ireland. The simple system, conical-bore flute is what people played before the advent of the modern, Boehm system, Western concert flute in the mid-19th century. Simple-system flutes are usually made of wood (cocus, grenadilla (African blackwood), rosewood, ebony, etc.). There were several manufacturers of this type of flute, among whom was English inventor and flautist Charles Nicholson Jr, who developed a radically improved version of the transverse wooden flute.