Hi,

I will have a woodwind open competition next month, and the hall is a dead room, I lost last year in this same room because the reed sounds came out very well, but the flute sounds didn't come out at all, the reed instruments won all prizes last year.

How to play flute with more projection in a dead room, thank you for your advice.

I would say to be sure not to force your tone, and concentrate instead on the purity of the tone, be very well focused, and use a gentle articulation, especially on fast passages...no one likes to play in a dead room or hall, but do your best, and remember that everybody has to deal with this

OK I see, thank you Patrick! I was thinking to force it more or blow more across. I understand now, try to make my flute more resonant.

But the reed instruments project very well in a dead room.

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sorry I mean dead hall.

I don't think anyone projects well in a dead room, but, because a good clarinetists plays with a pure tone, the projection is better, so if we in turn do the same, we will project

If I may humbly say a few things.
Think of projection not as a louder sound but as more focused carrying sound.
The overtones need to be attuned to the fundamental core tone and the core needs to be very pure. This causes the tone to slip through the air better than a more "powerfully played" one which has fuzzy characteristics.

At the 2009 NYC, NFA convention before Sir James Galway performed his big concert, I was sitting with him for a few moments in he back of the hall listening to Davide Formisiano's performance and I asked him what he thought of the acoustics in this very big room. It is a roome with a low ceiling and wall to wall carpeting designed as a conference room. A place where the speaker can use a microphone to get their words across without much reverberation of sound. He said, "What Acoustics?" (A very dead room) When Sir James took the stage, he didn't have any problem with his tone carrying out to the back of this hall. If you've seen pictures of his flute position, it is really fairly rolled back -bottom lip covering a lot of the embouchure hole.
A player can change the projection with how they form their lips much more than they can change the dynamic with the air -if the embouchure formation is good.

Thanks teacher Patrick! I will try pure tone. But I don't understand the physics behind pure tone. Pure tone gives resonance? Resonance only gives louder tone, but it doesn't gives projection Pure tone with resonance can sometimes give very warm and round and dark tone which doesn't project well.

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can resonance give lots of overtones?

Thank you teacher Bilbo, wow, and the nice story! thanks.

From what I understand:

- Projection needs overtones(upper partials), because human ears can pickup higher register overtones better than lower tones, right?

- If this is true, then projection means a lot of overtones are needed. How to produce lots of upper partial overtones is by blowing it with more force - therefore breaks and creates more upper partials.

- Why pure tone can help to create more upper partial overtones? Do you mean pure tone stops interference or air turbulence? therefore using small amount of force can create much more overtones?

- But why teacher Patrick told me not to use force? does he mean not to use too much force? does he mean with pure tone we can use small amount of force to create a lot of overtones?

- then Should I use force or not?


Let the force be with us, lol.

I passed Trinity Guildhall LTCL flute exam with Distinction last November (20th), this means I have the same performance level as a UK conservatory honoury graduated flute student. Yay! But my marks are kinda low, only 80 marks (barely distinctioned), the examiner commented that my projection is sometimes poor - I was also in a dead room. I hate dead rooms, I got to overcome this projection thing, please help me, I am plagued by projection, what exactly is projection?! so abstract. and everybody is talking about projection projection projection.

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do you find my tone not projective?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vVGe3esEZ4

how to improve? thanks.

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I was using Sankyo 401 pure silver flute tube with silver keys and mechanics with very high riser NRS-1 headjoint with lots of overtones, and examiners and judges still always said my tone was lacking projection. :(
I don't understand how to get more projection ????

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(thank you both teacher Patrick and Bilbo for your teachings always, which helped me a lot in the past to improve fast ^_^)

Perhaps, Think of this.
Any tone consists of a note (The core fundamental) and also it's overtones.
For example, tuning note A440= a note at 440 vibrations per second plus it's overtones which include multiples of 440 that are 2/1 ratio (A=880), 3/2 ratio.(E=1320) 4/1 ratio (A=1760)etc. up the overtone series. It is possible to play that A=440 without a focus to the tone and it is as if the intended one frequency becomes somewhere around 440. such as 438, 439, 440, 441, 442 etc. In this situation it is very difficult to tune the pitch because it sounds fuzzy. (I have not heard your recording. I'm sure that it's good)
WIBB has been teaching that it is also possible to play the harmonic overtones out of tune with the fundamental. IF this is the case, the overall tone quality isn't working with itself and so doesn't project. Such a player will also notice that their low notes can't be articulated quickly because their tone on the low notes isn't clear. Notice that I have not mentioned anything about dynamics. This is because we shouldn't confuse what we think that we are hearing in loudness as players with how far the sound travels. The only way that a player can simulate hearing themselves as a person at the back of the auditorium is maybe to place microphones at a distance play with sound blocking headphones and see how our tone affects "Vu meters" and sound levels in recording. Or they could go to a live hall and listen to the echo/reverberation of short notes.

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Additionally, we can compare the sound to light. For example, Imagine looking through a telescope, if it is in focus things are much clearer and apparently brighter even though the source light has not changed. Another example is with a magnifying glass and sunlight. We can focus the light of the sun onto a piece of paper and it will cause the paper to ignite on fire. If the light is out of focus or fuzzy, it isn't going to do that. So too with a flashlight. If the beam is reflected and aimed at a point, it will travel much further.