When it comes to playing high C, forte, and accented, I haven't had much luck "muting" the C.

About all I've managed to do is scare the mice out of the house, and have sent a few people to the hospital with pierced ear drums.

I've experimented with covering approximately 50% of the open holes. It kind of works, but there's more air than tone.

I don't even know if it can be accomplished on a closed-hole flute --- but I'm going to try it.

Just wondered if anyone knows how to mute that screeching high C? I could, of course, just play it mezzo-forte, or piano, but that's not what the composition(s) call for.

Regards, Jim

Jim,
I think that what we have to realize is that dynamics is a relative thing. As an example, If you want to play a very low C=ff then it's going to take a lot of work to do but inversely, the very high C is difficult to play pp. ff IS easy up there.

There is no difference between the closd hole flute and the open ones in this regards as far as I'm concerned.

What all flutists do to improve their tone is to practice something such as the Moyse De La Sonorite book. I realize that you probably already know this book backwards and forwards but I post this for all concerned.

I believe that the dynamics is controlled by the embouchure and the breath support with the angle of air adjusting the intonation. So, the only way to get the high C well is to work up to it gradually. I'd start on a chromatic scale with the top line F and work up chromatically to your highest notes then down to your lowest. I practice various exercises for embouchure control and dynamics but one is:

Top line F2 to high F3 then to an E2.
mid E2> high E3 to mid Eb2
Eb2>Eb3>D3
Etc. Always working on sonority and beauty rather than loud. Soft needs a lot of embouchure control with rather little air. The higher you go, the more difficult and the more control. So the key is (focused practicing daily). Stay relaxed and go slowly.

I also work on the dynamics pp>>>>FF or FF>>>>pp.
and I do this thing where I:
1) breathe in
2) close lips
3) blow without using the tongue. As if you are saying poo so that your lips sort of pop open with the beath force. The sound needs to form when you intend it to. If you do that exercise in slow motion, it becomes more difficult. Work up from F2 and down from F2. Moyse uses the higher b nat. but I think that can be kind of high for starting for some people. The more daily practice you do on this the better. As a matter of fact, play something, do some tone study, play something again. do a tone study to re-focus your tone. back and forth. Time and patience.

Hope that this helps.

Thanks, Bilbo, for your insight and advice.

I did consider embouchure as one of the contributing factors, and am working on that,now.

But I'll try as you suggested.

Regards, Jim

What I do improve dynamics is practice playing low notes as loud as I can, almost to the point of over blowing. (this is for practice purposes only, and I don't do use it when playing in public or in an ensemble). When i'm doing this I try to imagine the air coming directly from my lungs as if my esophagus didn't even exist, so my throught isn't in the way. This helps me improve breath support. If I slur an octave higher, I find it easier to control the dynamics of that note.

I try loosen my lips a little, because a pinched embouchure might cause that 'screeching' sound you're talking about.

This may be a mental thing but... when I play high C I naturally want to grip the flute harder, but I realized that when I loosend my grip, that I had more control over the note itself. Almost like I was taking the energy I used to grip the flute and putting towards producing the acuall note. Again, this seems like a mental thing.

I sold mention too that trying to teach tone production is nigh on to impossible in writing.

<Added>

I meant to write that I SHOULD mention too that trying to teach tone production is nigh on to impossible in writing alone.