Anyone find that it takes a very long time to warm up on the flute.
I find that i need to play for at least half and hour, then suddenly the tone quality improves dramatically, fingering is easier, second octive tone no problem.
If someone asks to play a few tunes, it sounds a bit odd to say come back in half an hour. However the tone differecne is amazing.
Is this due to the flute temperature, the moisture content of the flute, or simply natural adjustment of the embouchure. Incidentally I find that if if warm up the bottom part of the fluteonly , that in itself improves the tone a lot too.
It's not only the flute: any instrument sounds better when it's warmed up. I have know people keep whistles in a bucket of warm water, stand their cases next to or even on a radiator, apply travelling hairdriers: all sorts of things.
When i take my flute to sessions i tend to assemble it and leave it for a few minutes before playing allowing it to adjust to room temprature before playing. I find the temprature effects my flute quite dramatically. so when playing tunes i tend to start off with a couple of slow ones to ease myself and the flute into it. i hate feeling rushed and i am sure my flute does too.
I feel better having played for a bit before really "hitting it", too. There have been times (not at sessions) when friends might want to hear the flute. When I attempt to play anything, even tunes I think I know pretty well, it comes out sounding like @$$. I chaulk that up to my own inexperience. I need to continually remind myself I haven't been playing flute all that long (about a year and a half), and that over time, hopefully, this problem will become less obvious.
At sessions I will cover the holes of the flute with my hands and blow air directly into the instrument for a bit. A friend taught me that. Saying, the warm air traveling all the way through the flute plus the warmth from my hands would help prepare it a little quicker. I guess that might work. But, I curious what others have to say......
My flute takes one set and the only difference I note is that the tuning is then stable for the rest of the session. I on the other hand might take longer before my breathing and lips have woken up to the demands I am placing on them.
Tests of warming myself up on another flute and then picking up a cold one have shown me that warming up the flute doesn't rreally affect the quality of the sound I can get from it. But it does affect the tuning.
cfmgeek's comments about blowing silently through the flute to warm it up are also spot on. Also takes about one set of tunes to do so.
Strangely, almost any kind of physical exercise is good for helping to warm up my flute playing. e.g. go running, shower, change, practice flute - very short warm up time needed... Also, some particular exercises as part of your flute practice can help you warm up quicker, but you can't really do them in a session.
Psychologically warming up in a session happens when I first listen actively to a set after I have sat down and assembled my flute. Usually coincident with the arrival of the first beer which may also help?
Flutes take time to adjust to room temperature (as well as playing temperature). I warm them up by blowing in the lower holes. What really takes a long time is cooling down from the high temperatures we have (in California) during summer.
Warm up time for flute
Warm up time for flute
Anyone find that it takes a very long time to warm up on the flute.
I find that i need to play for at least half and hour, then suddenly the tone quality improves dramatically, fingering is easier, second octive tone no problem.
If someone asks to play a few tunes, it sounds a bit odd to say come back in half an hour. However the tone differecne is amazing.
Is this due to the flute temperature, the moisture content of the flute, or simply natural adjustment of the embouchure. Incidentally I find that if if warm up the bottom part of the fluteonly , that in itself improves the tone a lot too.
# Posted on October 1st 2009 by A. Ryan
Re: Warm up time for flute
It's not only the flute: any instrument sounds better when it's warmed up. I have know people keep whistles in a bucket of warm water, stand their cases next to or even on a radiator, apply travelling hairdriers: all sorts of things.
# Posted on October 1st 2009 by gam
Re: Warm up time for flute
When i take my flute to sessions i tend to assemble it and leave it for a few minutes before playing allowing it to adjust to room temprature before playing. I find the temprature effects my flute quite dramatically. so when playing tunes i tend to start off with a couple of slow ones to ease myself and the flute into it. i hate feeling rushed and i am sure my flute does too.
# Posted on October 1st 2009 by frogeyes
Re: Warm up time for flute
I find that it takes ME about half an hour (and half a pint of Guiness) to warm up -- my flute takes only about 10 minutes,
# Posted on October 2nd 2009 by Ceolmhar
Re: Warm up time for flute
I feel better having played for a bit before really "hitting it", too. There have been times (not at sessions) when friends might want to hear the flute. When I attempt to play anything, even tunes I think I know pretty well, it comes out sounding like @$$. I chaulk that up to my own inexperience. I need to continually remind myself I haven't been playing flute all that long (about a year and a half), and that over time, hopefully, this problem will become less obvious.
At sessions I will cover the holes of the flute with my hands and blow air directly into the instrument for a bit. A friend taught me that. Saying, the warm air traveling all the way through the flute plus the warmth from my hands would help prepare it a little quicker. I guess that might work. But, I curious what others have to say......
# Posted on October 2nd 2009 by cfmgeek
Re: Warm up time for flute
To Ceolmhar:
Is there anything beer can't do?
# Posted on October 2nd 2009 by cfmgeek
Re: Warm up time for flute
My flute takes one set and the only difference I note is that the tuning is then stable for the rest of the session. I on the other hand might take longer before my breathing and lips have woken up to the demands I am placing on them.
Tests of warming myself up on another flute and then picking up a cold one have shown me that warming up the flute doesn't rreally affect the quality of the sound I can get from it. But it does affect the tuning.
cfmgeek's comments about blowing silently through the flute to warm it up are also spot on. Also takes about one set of tunes to do so.
Strangely, almost any kind of physical exercise is good for helping to warm up my flute playing. e.g. go running, shower, change, practice flute - very short warm up time needed... Also, some particular exercises as part of your flute practice can help you warm up quicker, but you can't really do them in a session.
Psychologically warming up in a session happens when I first listen actively to a set after I have sat down and assembled my flute. Usually coincident with the arrival of the first beer which may also help?
# Posted on October 2nd 2009 by Crackpot
Re: Warm up time for flute
I can only speak for myself, but needing half an hour to feel like you're ready to play for real is a situation I hope I never find myself in.
# Posted on October 2nd 2009 by Ailin
Re: Warm up time for flute
Flutes take time to adjust to room temperature (as well as playing temperature). I warm them up by blowing in the lower holes. What really takes a long time is cooling down from the high temperatures we have (in California) during summer.
# Posted on October 2nd 2009 by Ben Steen