Tuning
Where it all Started
In a field of bullrushes by a small pond near the sea, I started collected reed sections and making panflutes. I cut them to length for pitch, and could raise pitch by putting wax in them, and lower pitch by dipping the rim in wax. Then I tied them together with twine. That was over 40 years ago
I tuned the pipes to a piano, or a tuning fork. I tuned hundreds of these little panflutes. They were all pretty much the same diameter bore. I got to notice how the longer pipes were lower pitched, up to the point where they produced only an overtone. I was just having fun as a kid. Now decades later I use a digital tuner for panflutes. I made the 'Middle D' (on the piano) Ultralight Panflute to mimic the natural sound of these delicate reeds, only much lower. I have noticed that a change in moisture and temperature from playing the Ultralight will raise a deep note as much as 70 'cents' --One 'cent' is one 1/100th of a half tone on the digital tuner.
Since I don't know where these panflutes are to end up, I tune them in a cool room to perfect pitch if briskly blown, which is minus 20 'cents' if softly blown. This way a warmed up Ultralight --or one played in, say, south Texas, won't play too 'sharp.' A note can be lowered slightly by blowing more directly into it than across it. And wobbling the panflute changes the pitch to produce a vibrato effect.
A little over 2 decades ago I started making fifes, the one piece D fifes I still make. I used math to position the holes and got an optimum bore to length ratio. The math immediately failed, restoring my faith in chaos --from there I experimented with embouchure and note hole positions.
The bottom octave (or register) was fine, but the upper octave was a a tiny bit 'flat' unless one really overblew hard. This is what players tend to do. So I made the lower octave a bit sharp to be blown a bit softly, then the transition to the upper octave is smmother and the upper octave dies not have to be screeched to be in pitch. Still, there are alternate fingerings and cross-fingerings which improve pitch in the upper register, often the last three notes.
I keep the same bore for the fifes between E and Bb. Ideally the bore would be altered to each match length. Also, a smaller bore E would allow the holes to be further apart and easier to finger, but then the sound would be thinner, weaker, 'smaller.' Similiarly I could use the same bore for an A or G below Bb --I have done it, in order to satisfy a customer's desire for a 'Renaissance flute.' But the lowest notes are quiet and not so easily sounded.
The Low D Fife was made to get the same low notes -- an octave below the regular D Fife. I hav eprobably said more to discourage people from getting this fife, despite the beautiful sound. The fingering is not that bad -- in fact much easier than a low D whistle, which is rough on the wrists even if one does not cover holes with fingertips. The comporomise here was to use a very wide bore to get a very big bass sound, unconstricted, and to keep fingering keyless. This was done at the expense of cross-fingering for all the upper register notes.
Whistles are fine, but fifes and panflutes have more of an embouchure which allows the player to shape notes and alter pitch. Cross fingerings allow pitch to be altered as well. At this point the player takes what the maker has done as far as it can go.
