one of the things i miss when playing the flute (i also play fiddle) is double stopping and drones. drones in particular are a nice way to add a bit of depth to a tune when playing solo, or with just another fiddle. unfortunately, this is of course rather more difficult on the flute than the fiddle ;-)

i've found a little bit of information on the internet suggesting that some double stops should be possible on the flute (through harmonics, i suppose), but i can't find much about how one would actually play them.

so, any advice? does anyone here actually play double stops on the flute?

On wind instruments they're usually called multiphonics rather than double stops. On the flute there are two "normal" ways of playing 2 or more notes at once - singing and playing is the easier, and can be very effective - try playing a scale on the flute and singing in thirds, or a tonic pedal. This usually changes the timbre A LOT though and is usually just a "special effect".
The other way is by playing certain fingerings, not being a very competent flautist I'm not sure about these, there is an excellent website that explains them - http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/music/flute/virtual/main.html

Merry Christmas!

well, that does make more sense.



well, i tried this, and somehow couldn't remember how to make a noise not using the flute! rather confusing. an interesting technique, but i think i need a lot of work on my singing before i'd ever use it (i'm rather lacking in those advanced singing techniques like, you know, being in tune).



thanks for the link - that site is pretty interesting! (now i actually know why the flute makes a sound...)

unfortunately, none of the multiphonic fingerings seemed to work for me :-( they just sound like a slightly airy normal note. i suppose i need to play around a bit with the embouchure and see what works.

I find that for most of them! I think on the flute its very easy to jump into the next tone of the multiphonic and its a matter of balancing between them. Not that i'm very good at it mind. They seem to be much easier on reed instruments. One that works for me is underblowing a high D (2 octaves and a second above middle C), though I'm not sure what notes it produces.

Another way that I forgot mention is a burst harmonic, I'm not sure if thats the technical name, but if you finger a low note and give it a short, very hard puff, you can get multiple overtones sounding simultaneously.

If you can get hold of IAN CLARKE's CD he uses a lot of special techniques like this. I think it's called 'Within' and DEFINATELY worth getting!!

I've been learning flute for several months. I think it would be crazy for me if I have to learn double stopping as well...haha

My teacher showed me some of this technique - I can't remember exactly how it worked but she held down both trill keys and sort of split her air flow....

Given that I can't even reliably play the second octave I was rather over impressed