Patricio de la Cuadra

Analysis of Flute Control Parameters : A Comparison Between a Novice and an Experienced Flautist

The sound produced by flutes depends not only on the physical characteristics of the instrument but also on the control exerted by the musician. The latter is very important in some instruments of the flute family, especially in those where the air jet is shaped with the lip of the player. Some of the most relevant parameters controlled by the flautist, such as the distance from the lips to the sharp edge, the shape of the lips hole and the speed of the jet, are experimentally measured in this paper. Data produced by an experienced and a novice flautist are collected, analyzed and compared. Subjects are studied under normal musical playing conditions, playing phrases made out of simple musical intervals with subjective dynamics. Images of performers lips are taken together with measurements of the blowing pressure and the sound radiated by the instrument. Data analysis shows remarkable differences between the two subjects. The optimized coordination of several parameters in order to obtain a desired musical response, coupling between performers mouth and the instrument, as well as the efficient use of the available resources are some of the differences observed.

Scaling of Flute-Like Instruments: An Analysis from the Point Of View of the Hydrodynamic Instability of the Jet

The scaling of a family of five baroque recorders is studied considering two aspects: the compass of each instrument and the control parameters. The observations are interpreted in terms of the homogeneity of the timbre. The control parameters are measured on an experienced player performing a simple scale task on each of the instruments, and are described in the frame of the hydrodynamic jet behaviour. On the family studied, the geometrical parameters appear to be adjusted so that the control parameters are similar on all the instruments. Low-pitched instruments present an enrichment of their spectra in high frequencies.

Designing a Musical Instrument: Enlivening Theory Through Practice-Based Research

Introduction The Arcontinuo is an electronic musical instrument that was conceived with the intention of overcoming the difficulties of other instruments that have failed in getting a consistent place in the musical scene. Its creation was based on a model founded in concepts of interaction design research and narrative identity that we intend to describe in detail in the first part of this article. This model, we hope, could be applied to any design research process providing an approach to creating products, services and experiences with a quality rooted in the personal and collective organization of meaning. The second part of the article explains the implementation of the model as a case study, the Arcontinuo.

Influence of the geometrical parameters in flue instruments on the vorticity modulation near the separation points of the jet

In the making of the recorder, great care is given to the shape of the chamfers at the exit of the channel. Makers insist on the need of sharp chamfers, for a good tone quality. Recorders made with rounded chamfers present a noisy sound. On the other hand, in the flute, the channel is made by the lips of the musician, defining a rounder geometry. Previous work show that variations of the geometry of the exit of the channel has little influence on the velocity profile of the jet and on the position of the separation points. Thus, variations of the geometry are expected to affect mainly the interaction between the air jet and the acoustic field. The paper will present measurements together with direct Navier Stokes calculations for different geometrical configurations of a jet emerging in a transverse oscillating velocity field. We investigate the modulation of the vorticity of the jet shear layers by the acoustical field, in the vicinity of the separation points, in an attempt to develop a model that allow...

Gesture synthesis: basic control of a flute physical model

In the flute family, the oscillation is due to the instability of a jet at the output of a channel coupled with an acoustic resonator. Recent physical models allows to simulate the behavior of the complete instrument, but we still lack a convincing way to drive them. The simulation of the isolated instrument must be completed with a modelization of the control exerted by the flutist. Depending of the instrument of the flute family, the number and type of control parameters are differents. For example, in a recorder the player blows inside a fixed channel built by the instrument maker and in the case of the transverse flute, the channel is shaped by the players lips during the playing. This paper presents a simple model of flute player, based on measurements carried on instrumentalists playing on a recorder or a transverse flute. The model is generating the basic features of the instrument control in order to produce given pitches and dynamics. The coupling with a flute physical model allows to study its validity.

Influence of the musician’s position on the radiation impedance for transverse and notch flutes

To play a transverse or notch flute, musicians place their mouth near an open end of the instrument where a sharp edge or labium is the target of the air-jet blown by the musicians. The jet/labium interaction is responsible for generating sound. Musicians can control the geometry of the air-jet during their performance. They can, for example, decrease the distance from their lips to the labium when increasing the pitch. The presence of the musician and the variation of his position while playing modifies the boundary conditions at the opening which, in turn, impacts the passive resonances of the instrument/player system. Flute manufacture adapted empirically to take into account this effect but, until now, it was never systematically quantified. The main goal of this study is to quantify and model the influence of the musician’s presence and his movements as a modification on the radiation impedance of the instrument. Finite element simulations and experimental mockups are implemented and described in ord...

Playability in flute-like instruments: Investigating the relation between flute making and instrumental control

The musician’s ability to modify the pitch of his instrument is a common feature for most instruments from the flute family. Musicians can alter a given note by adjusting the airjet velocity or by changing the resonator impedance through the modification of the embouchure (opening or closing the open end of the resonator where the embouchure is). A trained musician can adapt to a wide variety of instruments and even correct the pitch of poorly built instruments. Flute makers, on the other hand, propose a pitch structure (diapason) by placing the tone holes, adapting their size and height and by choosing the bore’s internal geometry. The choices made by the maker take into account the musician’s evaluation, creating a loop that through centuries of iterations has produced optimal instruments following a range of cultural and technological constraints. Throughout this article, the relationship between flute manufacture and the musician’s control will be discussed and analyzed. Identifying, modeling and quan...

Music in a bag? Controlling the bag of Majorcan and Galician bagpipes

After defining the mechanical framework of the bag control of bagpipe, this paper presents a study of the bag pressure control in a musical context through the comparison of six players and two bagpipes: one Galician (gaita) and one Majorcan (xeremies), the latter mainly differentiated organologically by a much larger bag size. General observations first lead to the identification and interpretation of the range of control parameters observed. A more detailed analysis of the control parameters during the production of steady notes highlights the coordination between insufflations and the arm displacement necessary to produce a stable and continuous sound. Finally, the bag pressure variation is observed in a musical context and correlated with the musical task, thus, associating different control strategies to the different bagpipes played by the musicians.

Understanding the Quality of Subject–Object Interaction: A Disciplinary Model for Design Validation

Abstract A disciplinary model is proposed for design validation (DV), which contemplates validation as a process that uses quantitative and qualitative evidence to confirm that products, services, or other objects have enough interaction quality to create a valuable satisfaction level. Our model is based in the subject–object interaction event in order to analyse perceived value. We conceptualize quality as an emergent property from that interaction event, when there is a flowing process between personal meaning and value, projected on the object. This is an advantageous point of view to understand how much, why and in what way designed objects are invested with value, in order to carry out strategic decisions.

Specific features of a stopped pipe blown by a turbulent jet: Aeroacoustics of the panpipes.

Flute-like instruments with a stopped pipe were widely used in ancient cultures and continue to be used in many musical expressions throughout the globe. They offer great flexibility in the input control parameters, allowing for large excursions in the flux and in the geometrical configuration for the lips of the instrumentalist. For instance, the transverse offset of the jet axis relative to the labium can be shifted beyond the operational limits found in open-open pipes, and the total jet flux can be increased up to values that produce highly turbulent jets while remaining on the first oscillating regime. Some of the fundamental aspects of the acoustics and hydrodynamics of this kind of instrument are studied, like the instability of the jet wave and the static aerodynamic balance in the resonator. A replica of an Andean siku has been created to observe, through the Schlieren flow visualization, the behavior of both excitation and resonator of the instrument.