One of my basses was SO wolfy around a cluster of notes on the high strings. That wolfiness went away after 7-8 months, after the bass got acclimated to the Pacific Northwest's mild, damp climate. That doesn't stop me, however, from calling this bass "Wolfmother." ❤
When you said that you're going to talk about the wolf tone in the last video, I thought it was going to be a medieval ancient theme video (which I love too), but turns so interesting and "modern". Thank you for all the hard work you put on the channel, best wishes from Argentina!
One of the most successful wolf eliminators in the cello industry is the Krentz model. What's unique about his product is you use a magnet to attach an closed vacuum tube that has a suspended mass that can move freely. I believe the idea is that the instruments innate pitch is able to move subtle back and forth and thus stopping the wolf clash. In some cases to actually make your instrument sound nicer but that's speculative and on a per instrument basis.
You get something similar with brass instruments that have a rotary change valve (ie the trigger on most F/Bb horns). If you depress the lever half-way, you get this sort of eerie, distorted, twin-pitch sound. Also multiphonics. I love it.
I don't know why I had never considered it before, but as soon as I saw the title of the video, I immediately knew the wolfs (wolves) on all of my instruments (D on my alto recorder, F# on both my modern and baroque bassoons). I'm excited to have the knowledge now and hopefully a way to ease them!
I've been learning recorder for just over 2 days so please feel free to ignore me but: half a life-time ago, I took a combined degree that included physics and I'm just 'curious about stuff', including science and music.Your comments made me think of 2 things: smashing a crystal wine glass by exciting it with sound-waves at precisely the resonant frequency of the glass and tuning a guitar by using beats. Particularly for an electric guitar, you can use the note at the fifth fret on the low-note strings to tune the next highest string, by ear. Once you are close, the different tones of strings of different thickness can confuse 'someone like me' into thinking they are hearing a different pitch, so when I think I'm close, I change the tuning slightly until I hear pulsing beats between the 2 similar notes, at a speed related to the difference between the 2 frequencies. You then turn the tuner in the direction that makes the pulse slow down and eventually stop. I imagine something similar could happen between the natural resonating frequency of the body of a recorder and the frequency of the vibrating column of air, so the body starts to resonate to the very similar frequency but then tries to 'pull' the air column to precisely it's frequency, while the player's breath tries to pull it back, and a 'somewhat stable' slow oscillation begins between the 'right' and the 'wrong' note - a 'beat' but in the frequency rather than the amplitude of the sound wave.
I was very interested in how to eliminate the wolf tone, because for quite a while I was playing an otherwise lovely recorder with a horrible, horrible wolf tone (it wasn't mine; it was a colleagues, and I was so happy to give it back when I was able to replace it with my own purchase). The thing about that particular recorder is that the wolf tone was in the 2nd octave. For sure, it was not as bad when the instrument was well played-in, but it was never gone. This was an older von Huene 415 boxwood Denner alto, so it was meant to play lots of lovely 18th century repertoire with a lot of high range, so the 2nd octave is a really terrible place to have a warble. I sent it back to VH for revoicing. It needed the revoicing; it had been a while, but it didn't do anything about the wolf. For a wolf in the 2nd octave, I don't think the warm air, open mouth cavity would work in the high register. The beeswax solution is interesting. I'll suggest that to the friend who actually owns that recorder. Regarding the warble on Native American flutes, I'm kind of into this, my family is Native American (Pamunkey, Moche, and Taino), and I have a lot of them -- Michael Graham Allen ("Coyote Oldman") gave a lecture/demo at a conference of the World Flute Society in 2016 where he talked a lot about the warble (Michael Graham Allen is who taught your Flute Tree guy what the warble is and how to make a flute that has one). Interestingly, he described it as a specifically masculine characteristic, or "manly" 🙂. This makes sense, the northern plains flutes have a history of being used for courtship. If you want to show the ladies you're the BMOC, you want a flute that warbles. Fun fact!
Are you familiar with the Slovak Fujara? This large fipple flute, roughly 6' speaking length I think, uses several harmonic regimes, often in quick succession. It's also played with strong vibrato at times, and I wonder if wolf tones have anything to do with this. Another thought: the fact that a pipe's natural resonances (at each harmonic regime) are sharp of the resonances produced by forced air from the wind system affects organ pipes. The greater the difference between the natural and wind-forced resonances, the louder and slower the pipe's initiation tones (the so called 'chiff') - at least usually!
This is a good basic inquiry into the issue. The essential point being that the wolf is an interference between the pitch you want to play and the resonant frequency of the instrument. Like tuning a pair of mandolin strings until the "beat" frequency disappears, except you don't ever get them quite in tune. I play bass viola da gamba and, as mentioned, there are wolf tone eliminators for string and other instruments. Some work better than others and some work better on some individual instruments and not others. Recorders are relatively simple structures (i.e., fewer parts to deal with), but that mostly means your options are fewer. As you discovered, there's not much you can do to the interior without affecting intonation. The two points in your video I find most helpful are: 1. Altering the shape of your mouth to change the air stream seems like it would have potential. It reminds me of playing the didgeridoo, where the resonant cavity in your mouth is a major part of affecting the technique. I wonder if there have been studies about that. 2. Playing the instrument in, i.e., using it a lot so that it gets accustomed to favoring the desired pitch over the wolf pitch, seems entirely reasonable, but I would like to see some research into this as it relates to recorders. My viols had severe wolf tones that eventually seemed to lessen in severity over time. But in one case, an adjustment to the interior sound post made it come roaring back and my luthier had to work on it a bit to get it back where it belonged.
Many decades ago when I bought my first (renaissance) consort, the base had a bottom note which was weak and warbly. I took it back to the seller (famous shop in Bristol, England) and proprietor played the instrument to check it. The note played perfectly, to my total embarrassment. He could play it without the 'wolf', but I couldn't! He swapped the base for me without objection, and all was well. The input, skill, and experience of the player in this matter must be a significant factor. Never had a recorder with a wolf note since, so it is likely a rare thing.
"When I got into Renaissance recorder playing, bit of a niche hobby I know..." But that's how I found you! Working on getting into recorder playing currently to support my larger Renaissance hobby. Thanks for the ongoing education!
I have a set of Dream recorders and my tenor makes the wolf note. I didn't know it had the name "wolf" before I saw this video! I learned on my own to change my mouth to make it go away.(LOL hours of running scales and arpeggios) I also learned to envision the air I blow in a stream that makes a gentle curve. Ok. That is difficult to understand and explain, but I "aim" my breath toward the end of the recorder but on the way the stream is making a skewed curve. On my baroque recorder, I envision a different kind of breath stream. Thanks for your videos--this topic was full-on nerdery and I love it!
I have been playing string instruments for quite some time now and came back to my recorder a few years ago just for fun. I didnt know wind instruments had a wolf tone too. I think this topic is very interesting and I actually kind of like the wolf sound. For strings there is a tiny metal clip, in Germany it is called "Wolftöter", which translates to wolf killer. I guess on winds the best option is regulating the air flow. Thanks for education me once again :)
I play clarinet/bass clarinet but fix woodwind instruments in a shop and I often have a warble when playing a low Bb (all pads down) on the alto saxophone. To fix it I drop a tube of cork grease into the bell so it sits in the crook and then the warble is gone! I do the same thing when playing the lowest note on bass clarinet (low Eb or C depending on the model). I’ve heard theories that it’s something about how the sound waves have to curve around the bell but it makes just as much sense that it’s the air column being interrupted. I’ve seen some saxophone players drop a wine cork in the bell as well.
I'm really curious about how this applies to singers, but that's by far the most flexible and modifiable sound tube. This could be a really good explanation as to why head position and posture need to change depending on the note sung. To either get close to the wolfy notes or to steer clear of them, singers modify their cartilage and mucus membrane 'flute' in real time. Is this why rock and metal singers so often are hunched over when they're going for high notes because they want to add that extra 'howl'?
I was completely drawn in by your contrast of the view of this sound within traditional European historical tradition, historical Native American tradition, and contemporary music practice. It was clear that you did a lot of research in preparation for this video. Extremely well done! I hope you'd consider producing more content that teaches by contrasting different musical traditions.
You're right, wolves are complicated. Conductor Jaap van Zweden explained it very very clear in a documentary. He did not go into the physics theory too deep, he took his violin and showed he needed to put more effort into a wolf tone, in order to make it sound as loud as he wants. It means extra work, it means you even play all OTHER tones a bit less loud, when you chose for hiding the wolf. Because, the wolf runs into its fff volume earlier. So, when you got an instrument without any wolves, you will have less trouble, playing it the way you want it to sound. Louder, more expressive, name it, it gets easier. Violins without a wolf are the special violins. Sure you need to have the skills, but it gets easier to reach your ambitions. I never forgot this documentary. Thanks for reminding.
Dear Sarah, we do have same phenomenon with shakuhachi, when base tone tend to be "wolfy" when blowing harder. Shakuhachi makers get rid of it tinkering with the bore diameter somewhere in the middle of the shakuhachi. Moreover conical bore of shakuhachi gives more room for blowing harder without distorting sound.
Interesting! I never knew this is named after an animal. 😂 This Wolf appears always on my first (cheap) marple alto recorder from Schneider. Everytime the wolf appears I thought:"grrrr" too. So this year I choose a Rottenburgh alto and I fall in love with it. ♡ It sounds like birds in the forest..without wolf.
I like the idea that you can calm the wolf with a slower, calmer airstream and excite it with a faster/stronger one... honestly, that probably applies if you meet a real-life wolf as well :P
There is believed to be a black leopard living wild near me, in Staffordshire, England. The advice from a big cat expert was "If you see it, don't run away." 'Keep your airstream slow', also works.
I like how you said lookinc. It's a very old sound and still heard in certain German or English tongues. But was part of every Germanic tongue in the past.
I had a similar thing the other year with an alto sax I'd just serviced (Selmer Ref.54) where just the high C played with the standard fingering (8ve oxo|ooo) was growling. I wouldn't have minded if it was mine, but the owner is more of a Classical player and that just won't do. That growl was cured by an 8mm disc of 0.4mm tech cork cut in half to form a D shape and glued onto the inside front edge of the LH1 tonehole (the one where the note C issues from). Some other repairers have seen thin strips of abrasive paper glued around the tonehole, or small pieces of brass soldered in or even a dimple punched into the side of the tonehole. Yamaha have been sticking a large piece of cork under the Bis key pearl cup to cause a bit of turbulence on their 875EX altos - I thought that was there to prevent LH1 getting pinched when rolling onto the Bis key. That standard fingering for C on saxes is by its nature a poor note as it has two toneholes closed immediately below it, which is why the LH1 (or C) tonehole is considerably large in diameter compared to the B natural tonehole immediately below it (the one closed by the Bis key). And bear in mind, the toneholes and key names are often different, especially when it comes to open-standing keys and that notes can only issue from open toneholes as opposed to ones that are held closed by an open standing key (or finger). Maybe a similar thing done using a small blob of wax stuck to the side of the lowest open tonehole of Renaissance tenors and larger will be enough to disrupt the wolf tone on D/G rather than sticking a larger blob in the bore where it can alter the tuning. And with wax, it can be altered easily enough to get the desired effect. I've seen a video of a shakuhachi maker where he's stuck small square pieces of thin bamboo right down inside the bore opposite some toneholes to clear up certain dodgy notes.
Strangely I've watched several videos about vortex shedding in aerodynamics recently, particularly aircraft but it also matters for wind turbines. It didn't occur to me at the time but it makes total sense you can get it in wind instruments.
This happens in electric guitar as well, across the range of the instrument. It's most notable when the magnetic pickup is too close to the strings. As I understand it, the magnetic field from the pickups interferes with the fundamental note, dampening it and artificially enforcing a harmonic of the fundamental. With the guitar, the specific wolf note is determined by the fundamental note, the scale length of the guitar, and the position of the magnetic pickup.
Thanks for the interesting topic! Material does matter. I have played lots of flutes, whistles, and recorders made of a variety of materials and built in a variety of configurations. The differences are sometimes too subtle to pass on through a recording (or with the limited recording capabilities I have), but having played instruments made in the same physical configuration by the same maker but in different materials I know for certain that the material of the instrument resonates with the vibration of the air it contains. I love blackwood (grenadilla) the most. It carries a lot of that wolf-tone. I suspect that when all the questions are answered they will say it’s a little of this AND a little bit if that.
Sarah, check out the Japanese Shakuhachi. It's the instrument I play, and embouchure is key and the hardest part to learn. For this instrument the embouchure is from deep in the lungs all the way to the size and "angle" of air stream being put into the flute across the blowing edge. I am just learning about recorders and enjoy your channel and one thing that still gets me is that on the Shakuhachi you can move and tilt your head changing the angle of the blowing edge to change pitch; I still try that on the recorder without much success! As a reference, on a standard shakuhachi size 1.8 (about 21 inches) played "straight" the bottom note is a 'D'. However, with an embouchure change and a head tilt I can drop that note to a C or even lower.
I'll add one thing: The sound it makes knocking on it absolutely *also* **is** the body vibrating, too. You knock on the wood, you are hearing the displacement within and without. Some is the air inside the chamber that is, therefore, tuned by the body and the normal acoustics; The rest is the sound of the vibrating body itself. I don't know why he would say that unless he thought explaining it more accurately would be confusing.
i personally love "wolf tones" as you describe in solos performance. i'm not a phisic or an engeneear(but i have studied a lot of phisics. shurely is a combination of all the thre thinghs you mensioned ,air column, is the first pitch producer, mouth position can give at the instrumemt a pitch... also the weight/material of the instrument can play an important roole in terms of frequency interference.You give me a grate idea.. i'll try to stick some exra waight to change the resonace of my recorder and mybe find a different points of " wolf tone" out of the song range or properly in the range i need....update will come...tks
This was a delightfully nerdy video if a bit out of my comfort zone (euphemism). I have a conflicted relationship with physics: I like to have the world around me explained and clarified, but I dislike all those laws and formulas therefore I happily leave the subject to those passionate about it and watch documentaries for the layman.
Thank you, very interesting. My old Tuju Tenor has a wolf tone on one note. And I always thought it's because of the age of the instrument. I'll try now one of your tricks.
Amazing! Thank you so much for this video! Would you consider doing a video about embouchure, maybe comparing tight vs open embouchures and the effect it has on tone (including wolf)? We hear regularly that recorder doesn't need an embouchure, but there's also the whole counterpoint that your mouth is a resonance chamber - which is also argued against in other materials - so I'd love to hear your expert perspective with your expert playing examples!
Hi Sarah, do you know if there are any historical recorder performance or builder treatises that talk about wolf tones - as either desirable or undesirable? They do sound so evocative in the samples of native American flute music you shared. Fascinating topic, thank you for sharing your research to date. I feel there may be more to come.
From a maker's point of view, wolf notes can be caused by very slightly out of tune harmonics, one of which can be "trying" to impose its own different fundamental on the note being played. Slight changes in the bore profile can, by modifying the tuning, give more stability. On a baroque alto recorder low G is probably the note that has the most tendency to burble, but other notes can possibly be affected too. Strangely enough, very slight adjustments to the windway can also reduce wolf notes. This could reduce "conflicts" between the harmonic spectrum of the embouchure and that of the instrument itself. The problem is complex. We still have a lot to learn.
It’s incredibly interesting how changing the volume of air inside your mouth as you blow can change the nature of the wolf. It must be increasing the amount of total air in the resonating column. The slow air chamber on a Native American flute makes a whole lot more sense now. Now I have all kinds of questions concerning the flageolet. Also as an aside, one of my altos has a wolf in the low F and I always thought I was just overblowing so I would try to slow down my air stream by doing “warm air.” I’m quite chuffed that I figured out how to solve the problem in my own even if I didn’t understand what I was doing. Now that I do, I think I’ll be able to put more air into it without losing control of the wolf. Thanks! This was actually super helpful.
I suspect that "playing in" the instrument has many effects at the same time: 1. warming the air, 2. making the air more humid, 3. depositing a micro layer of condensation on the inside surface of the wood, 4 through several dozen: making subtle changes in the way the player is playing to adapt to current circumstances.
Such a strange and silly subject. To a non whistle player. lol I'm a Irish whistle player and have combated "the wolf" with lots of practice, and as you so clearly demonstrated, changing the aperture / mouth cavity and producing slower air flow. When I find my way down to the lower note, ( especially in the low D whistles,) I brace for impact and just go with it. lol Obviously more noticeable playing slow airs, but not as noticeable with jigs or reels. Great subject and topic!
I hate the wolf tone because it weakens a note when i just want to play traditionally. I will try the mouth cavity trick. dont mind the difference in tone color throughout the range, however. I always thought it was kind of neat🙂 There are some recorders with a very uniform color from bottom to top but they don't have a lot of richness in the sound, and richness is what I want to hear.
If there's a laminar flow disruption (early shedding, etc), can you insert tiny VGs into the recorder at the appropriate distance? I'm not sure what the tradeoff would be acoustically, but it would make for an interesting experiment.
It sounds to me like the instrument is trying to overblow to the octave or 12th, but that the harmonic it's trying to overblow to isn't in-tune with the fundamental note. I play flutes and recorders but primarily the pipe organ, and I've heard this same "wolf" effect in misbehaving organ pipes. It seems like the problem in organ pipes is often solved by manipulating the "languid" of the pipe (essentially the same thing as the "block" in a recorder).
Fascinating video! I've noticed the wolf tone when we've had my ensemble's van der Poel Ren recorders cleaned/revoiced, and I've thought, "what the hell did you do to these recorders?!" Glad to know it's a sign of a properly functioning Renaissance recorder.
Yes, it’s not a defect at all! Most renaissance recorders wolf a little. I actually have to blow quite a lot to make mine ‘wolf’, you can also play quite normally without it.
a) Your foray into elemental acoustical engineering is highly commendable! As you learn more, updates very welcome. b) The term 'wolf tone' is a bit of a misnomer. The singing of wolves is actually quite beautiful and pure in tone. Can raise the hair on your arms. Giving the singing of wolves a bad rap! (Just kidding - I like the term.) c) With regard to aspects of acoustical engineering, explaining the basics of acoustics with 1st, 2nd and 3rd 'registers' some day might offer some additional insights to recorder playing (you've mastered playing these, but an explanation of what's happening would be interesting and useful to many). Very interesting video, kudos for braving this highly technical aspect of recorders (and flutes, saxophones, violins, cellos and ...). Nicely done!
Similar sounding in terminology, but an actual different phenomenon, is a "wolf interval", which is two notes sounding together that are expected to form something "consonant", but instead produce a high level of dissonance, usually with audible beating. A common interval referred to this way is 27:20, being 21 cents flatter than 3:2, a perfect fifth. This kind of "wolf" interval pops up all over the place in 5-limit just intonation; one of the major implications of meantone temperaments is "smoothing" this wolf.
Thank you. When I was growing up, my parents' piano had a terrible wolf - that my parents couldn't hear! They told me for years that I was imagining it. Eventually, it was seen by a piano technician who could hear it. It took him quite a while to find it - it turned out that the unwanted resonance was on the music desk. My basset has a wolf on bottom F. I'm going to have to see if any of your tricks work on it. I'm playing in consort for a Taizé prayer service in a week or so, and I don't want to hear any howls! It's a wonderful instrument otherwise: about 25 years old, from Küng. (The material is a hardwood, red in colour, I don't know what wood specifically because the gentleman who sold it to me didn't know either.)
I have a viola made on a very old model. It had a heck of a wolf like problem on open A string. It just rattled your teeth. It turned out that the free end of the fingerboard was vibrating in such a way as to interfere with A-440! Heck of a note to pick! I put a little blue tack under the fingerboard and it went away entirely. Later I replaced it with a little weight made of sheet lead as a more permanent fix. I should get some sheet gold to replace the lead as the lead is toxic.
You are probably aware of Michala Petri and Chen Yue duos. Would you ever consider doing a revue of the Xiao that Yue plays. I would really like to hear your comments on the combinations of sounds. Each instrument compliments each other very nicely in my opinion. I love your videos and follow them frequently. Also have you any plans to tour the US?
I struggled with a wolf tone on my alto recorder for 2 years until I moved the block a half millimeter forward into the head joint. After making this adjustment, the wolf tone disappeared.
sometimes this weird beating phenomenon with similar notes will happen within an ensemble setting with multiple instruments playing together and it’s really freaky when it occurs. Some bohem flute players will learn to play overtones, harmonics, whistle tones etc in advanced techniques, they sound extremely cool in jazz and modern compositions
I always assumed this might be the natural frequency of the wood, since it never seems to happen on my plastic recorders. Just a funny side note, if I play a middle f on my bass recorder while sitting by my guitar, the guitar vibrates and makes a bit of sound.
I agree that a larger mouth cavity (slow air speed) is best for low notes. But I'm not sure that smaller mouth cavity (focused air) is ever better, even for high notes. I would like to see you demonstrate this claim. The reason I have doubts is that the windway already focuses the air, and it might not help to focus the air even more (even though it is possible).
@@Team_Recorder On clarinets, changing the mouth cavity certainly affects the tone, and I notice that I do raise my tongue to make the cavity smaller for higher notes, on both clarinet and recorder. But I'm looking for proof to see if it is really necessary I'll look at your videos on this.
My English horn had a horrible wolf around F# (halfway down the instrument). I found a technician who deburred the inside edge of the tone hole, just a little. The wolf almost completely disappeared. Maybe the way the instrument is machined makes a difference?
Didn't you mention something about "the wolf" during your video on tuning, and equal temperament tuning is a compromise that aims to minimise "the wolf" as you change to different keys?
Hello Miss Jeffery,, that's a nasty wolf your tenor recorder has. Why don't you have a chat with Baldrick Deerenberg, who has made really marvelous large (and small) renaissance recorders (and baroque and modern), and ask him how he dealt with the matter. His instruments are hard to come by as he refused to build them commercially; he only did so for himself and some of his (former) students. Take the chance while he is still alive - he lives in Zuthpen. He was particularly interested in the parameters behind the workings of recorders (i.e. what exactly makes them work and sound well) and with result. Cheerio, Willem
Probably as you blow or oil the recorder it gets wet and oily it changes its mass and inner surface characteristics, all this together makes this sound to move up and down on the instrument tune
Classic Korean music uses a flute that can consistently produce an octave vibrato ( or 'burble'), at least on a considerable number of pitches. No idea how, I haven't had a chance to hear this since the 70s.
For "Recorder = ரெக்கார்டர்" on the post behind you, that was only letter translation. Instead Kindly use any one from following - Flute = புல்லாங்குழல் | Recorder = கூவல் | Pipe Instrument = குழல் இசை கருவி
I think in this context it is the exercises you might do before actually starting playing. As a singer I normally do some warm ups for my voice. In case of a recorder one might play some soft notes in the lower Register before I get into the heights. And once the instrument is also adapted to the temperature of the breath and has resonated sometime I suppose it is "played in".
A new wooden recorder needs to be "played in" for about 6 weeks, gradually increasing the duration of each session, from as little as 5 minutes per day initially. This process prevents damage to the block as it absorbs moisture.
Too interesting, I knew about the wolf tone in strings, in fact I have a rebec that has a scary note and it's really the wolf tone but I didn't know that it could also be present in recorders and if I think about it, I also have some recorders that presents this anomaly in a note but I was not aware that it was the wolf tone. You opened up a world to me, thank you so much!
It sounds to me like the harmonics are coming to the fore. That could actually be useful if it could be controlled and brought out through the whole range, much like the sound of a bray harp or the sawari of a shamisen.
Bluegrass/dark country/a style called murder ballads. I write in this style and been incorporating the recorder and the wolf tone does a LOT for the low key spooky vibe the style calls for
Hmmmm.... it seems a certain guitar amp “musical detriment” has been a lead to this topic. 🤔 It seems I’ve experienced the wolf tone singing in choirs a lot. When you get that stinging noise from having one voice just a fraction out of tune. Or, does that have a different name?
Your notes on Matthew Wright's explantation at 4:33 are full of typos, some of which make it hard to read! There are really pretty good models of waveguides since the early 1990s, in fact being able to model instruments with multiphonics and squeaks just like the "real" ones. I think breath control is probably your best bet, but I think the tube's geometry clearly could be fiddled with in some subtle way to help out, like "ridges" or "rifling" at the bottom of the pipe, which shouldn't affect the higher notes so much.
Left hand Eb? There is not something like it on saxophones x) Your husband won't be happy xD Eb & C natural on right pinky, G#, C#, B natural and Bb on left pinky ;)
One of my basses was SO wolfy around a cluster of notes on the high strings. That wolfiness went away after 7-8 months, after the bass got acclimated to the Pacific Northwest's mild, damp climate. That doesn't stop me, however, from calling this bass "Wolfmother." ❤
Wowwww such a fitting name for the instrument :) Interesting to hear thag your basses settled after being played in too.
When you said that you're going to talk about the wolf tone in the last video, I thought it was going to be a medieval ancient theme video (which I love too), but turns so interesting and "modern". Thank you for all the hard work you put on the channel, best wishes from Argentina!
And to you too! 💕
B
One of the most successful wolf eliminators in the cello industry is the Krentz model. What's unique about his product is you use a magnet to attach an closed vacuum tube that has a suspended mass that can move freely. I believe the idea is that the instruments innate pitch is able to move subtle back and forth and thus stopping the wolf clash. In some cases to actually make your instrument sound nicer but that's speculative and on a per instrument basis.
You get something similar with brass instruments that have a rotary change valve (ie the trigger on most F/Bb horns). If you depress the lever half-way, you get this sort of eerie, distorted, twin-pitch sound. Also multiphonics. I love it.
I don't know why I had never considered it before, but as soon as I saw the title of the video, I immediately knew the wolfs (wolves) on all of my instruments (D on my alto recorder, F# on both my modern and baroque bassoons). I'm excited to have the knowledge now and hopefully a way to ease them!
I've been learning recorder for just over 2 days so please feel free to ignore me but: half a life-time ago, I took a combined degree that included physics and I'm just 'curious about stuff', including science and music.Your comments made me think of 2 things: smashing a crystal wine glass by exciting it with sound-waves at precisely the resonant frequency of the glass and tuning a guitar by using beats. Particularly for an electric guitar, you can use the note at the fifth fret on the low-note strings to tune the next highest string, by ear. Once you are close, the different tones of strings of different thickness can confuse 'someone like me' into thinking they are hearing a different pitch, so when I think I'm close, I change the tuning slightly until I hear pulsing beats between the 2 similar notes, at a speed related to the difference between the 2 frequencies. You then turn the tuner in the direction that makes the pulse slow down and eventually stop.
I imagine something similar could happen between the natural resonating frequency of the body of a recorder and the frequency of the vibrating column of air, so the body starts to resonate to the very similar frequency but then tries to 'pull' the air column to precisely it's frequency, while the player's breath tries to pull it back, and a 'somewhat stable' slow oscillation begins between the 'right' and the 'wrong' note - a 'beat' but in the frequency rather than the amplitude of the sound wave.
I was very interested in how to eliminate the wolf tone, because for quite a while I was playing an otherwise lovely recorder with a horrible, horrible wolf tone (it wasn't mine; it was a colleagues, and I was so happy to give it back when I was able to replace it with my own purchase). The thing about that particular recorder is that the wolf tone was in the 2nd octave. For sure, it was not as bad when the instrument was well played-in, but it was never gone. This was an older von Huene 415 boxwood Denner alto, so it was meant to play lots of lovely 18th century repertoire with a lot of high range, so the 2nd octave is a really terrible place to have a warble. I sent it back to VH for revoicing. It needed the revoicing; it had been a while, but it didn't do anything about the wolf.
For a wolf in the 2nd octave, I don't think the warm air, open mouth cavity would work in the high register. The beeswax solution is interesting. I'll suggest that to the friend who actually owns that recorder.
Regarding the warble on Native American flutes, I'm kind of into this, my family is Native American (Pamunkey, Moche, and Taino), and I have a lot of them -- Michael Graham Allen ("Coyote Oldman") gave a lecture/demo at a conference of the World Flute Society in 2016 where he talked a lot about the warble (Michael Graham Allen is who taught your Flute Tree guy what the warble is and how to make a flute that has one). Interestingly, he described it as a specifically masculine characteristic, or "manly" 🙂. This makes sense, the northern plains flutes have a history of being used for courtship. If you want to show the ladies you're the BMOC, you want a flute that warbles. Fun fact!
Are you familiar with the Slovak Fujara? This large fipple flute, roughly 6' speaking length I think, uses several harmonic regimes, often in quick succession. It's also played with strong vibrato at times, and I wonder if wolf tones have anything to do with this. Another thought: the fact that a pipe's natural resonances (at each harmonic regime) are sharp of the resonances produced by forced air from the wind system affects organ pipes. The greater the difference between the natural and wind-forced resonances, the louder and slower the pipe's initiation tones (the so called 'chiff') - at least usually!
This is a good basic inquiry into the issue. The essential point being that the wolf is an interference between the pitch you want to play and the resonant frequency of the instrument. Like tuning a pair of mandolin strings until the "beat" frequency disappears, except you don't ever get them quite in tune. I play bass viola da gamba and, as mentioned, there are wolf tone eliminators for string and other instruments. Some work better than others and some work better on some individual instruments and not others. Recorders are relatively simple structures (i.e., fewer parts to deal with), but that mostly means your options are fewer. As you discovered, there's not much you can do to the interior without affecting intonation.
The two points in your video I find most helpful are:
1. Altering the shape of your mouth to change the air stream seems like it would have potential. It reminds me of playing the didgeridoo, where the resonant cavity in your mouth is a major part of affecting the technique. I wonder if there have been studies about that.
2. Playing the instrument in, i.e., using it a lot so that it gets accustomed to favoring the desired pitch over the wolf pitch, seems entirely reasonable, but I would like to see some research into this as it relates to recorders. My viols had severe wolf tones that eventually seemed to lessen in severity over time. But in one case, an adjustment to the interior sound post made it come roaring back and my luthier had to work on it a bit to get it back where it belonged.
Fascinating and informative video! I especially liked the revelation that embouchure even is a 'thing' for recorder, and that it can alter the sound.
Many decades ago when I bought my first (renaissance) consort, the base had a bottom note which was weak and warbly. I took it back to the seller (famous shop in Bristol, England) and proprietor played the instrument to check it. The note played perfectly, to my total embarrassment. He could play it without the 'wolf', but I couldn't!
He swapped the base for me without objection, and all was well. The input, skill, and experience of the player in this matter must be a significant factor. Never had a recorder with a wolf note since, so it is likely a rare thing.
"When I got into Renaissance recorder playing, bit of a niche hobby I know..." But that's how I found you! Working on getting into recorder playing currently to support my larger Renaissance hobby. Thanks for the ongoing education!
Ahh brilliant!
I have a set of Dream recorders and my tenor makes the wolf note. I didn't know it had the name "wolf" before I saw this video! I learned on my own to change my mouth to make it go away.(LOL hours of running scales and arpeggios) I also learned to envision the air I blow in a stream that makes a gentle curve. Ok. That is difficult to understand and explain, but I "aim" my breath toward the end of the recorder but on the way the stream is making a skewed curve. On my baroque recorder, I envision a different kind of breath stream. Thanks for your videos--this topic was full-on nerdery and I love it!
I have been playing string instruments for quite some time now and came back to my recorder a few years ago just for fun. I didnt know wind instruments had a wolf tone too. I think this topic is very interesting and I actually kind of like the wolf sound. For strings there is a tiny metal clip, in Germany it is called "Wolftöter", which translates to wolf killer. I guess on winds the best option is regulating the air flow. Thanks for education me once again :)
Oh good to know!
I have a Peruvian pinkillo with a wolf on the lowest note (G) 😢
Thanks so much for building up our knowledge!
I love these scientific approaches you're giving
I play clarinet/bass clarinet but fix woodwind instruments in a shop and I often have a warble when playing a low Bb (all pads down) on the alto saxophone. To fix it I drop a tube of cork grease into the bell so it sits in the crook and then the warble is gone! I do the same thing when playing the lowest note on bass clarinet (low Eb or C depending on the model). I’ve heard theories that it’s something about how the sound waves have to curve around the bell but it makes just as much sense that it’s the air column being interrupted. I’ve seen some saxophone players drop a wine cork in the bell as well.
I'm really curious about how this applies to singers, but that's by far the most flexible and modifiable sound tube. This could be a really good explanation as to why head position and posture need to change depending on the note sung. To either get close to the wolfy notes or to steer clear of them, singers modify their cartilage and mucus membrane 'flute' in real time.
Is this why rock and metal singers so often are hunched over when they're going for high notes because they want to add that extra 'howl'?
I was completely drawn in by your contrast of the view of this sound within traditional European historical tradition, historical Native American tradition, and contemporary music practice. It was clear that you did a lot of research in preparation for this video. Extremely well done!
I hope you'd consider producing more content that teaches by contrasting different musical traditions.
Thank you!
Hi Sarah, great vídeo, im study inglish now because i need undestand his recorder classe.
O like Very Very much play record.
Thanks for yor videos
You're right, wolves are complicated. Conductor Jaap van Zweden explained it very very clear in a documentary. He did not go into the physics theory too deep, he took his violin and showed he needed to put more effort into a wolf tone, in order to make it sound as loud as he wants. It means extra work, it means you even play all OTHER tones a bit less loud, when you chose for hiding the wolf. Because, the wolf runs into its fff volume earlier. So, when you got an instrument without any wolves, you will have less trouble, playing it the way you want it to sound. Louder, more expressive, name it, it gets easier. Violins without a wolf are the special violins. Sure you need to have the skills, but it gets easier to reach your ambitions.
I never forgot this documentary. Thanks for reminding.
Dear Sarah, we do have same phenomenon with shakuhachi, when base tone tend to be "wolfy" when blowing harder. Shakuhachi makers get rid of it tinkering with the bore diameter somewhere in the middle of the shakuhachi. Moreover conical bore of shakuhachi gives more room for blowing harder without distorting sound.
Interesting! I never knew this is named after an animal. 😂
This Wolf appears always on my first (cheap) marple alto recorder from Schneider. Everytime the wolf appears I thought:"grrrr" too.
So this year I choose a Rottenburgh alto and I fall in love with it. ♡ It sounds like birds in the forest..without wolf.
I like the idea that you can calm the wolf with a slower, calmer airstream and excite it with a faster/stronger one... honestly, that probably applies if you meet a real-life wolf as well :P
😄
There is believed to be a black leopard living wild near me, in Staffordshire, England. The advice from a big cat expert was "If you see it, don't run away." 'Keep your airstream slow', also works.
Thanks!
This information can be useful on on things people can have fun with.
When learn how to to use it.
I like how you said lookinc. It's a very old sound and still heard in certain German or English tongues. But was part of every Germanic tongue in the past.
I had a similar thing the other year with an alto sax I'd just serviced (Selmer Ref.54) where just the high C played with the standard fingering (8ve oxo|ooo) was growling. I wouldn't have minded if it was mine, but the owner is more of a Classical player and that just won't do. That growl was cured by an 8mm disc of 0.4mm tech cork cut in half to form a D shape and glued onto the inside front edge of the LH1 tonehole (the one where the note C issues from). Some other repairers have seen thin strips of abrasive paper glued around the tonehole, or small pieces of brass soldered in or even a dimple punched into the side of the tonehole. Yamaha have been sticking a large piece of cork under the Bis key pearl cup to cause a bit of turbulence on their 875EX altos - I thought that was there to prevent LH1 getting pinched when rolling onto the Bis key.
That standard fingering for C on saxes is by its nature a poor note as it has two toneholes closed immediately below it, which is why the LH1 (or C) tonehole is considerably large in diameter compared to the B natural tonehole immediately below it (the one closed by the Bis key). And bear in mind, the toneholes and key names are often different, especially when it comes to open-standing keys and that notes can only issue from open toneholes as opposed to ones that are held closed by an open standing key (or finger).
Maybe a similar thing done using a small blob of wax stuck to the side of the lowest open tonehole of Renaissance tenors and larger will be enough to disrupt the wolf tone on D/G rather than sticking a larger blob in the bore where it can alter the tuning. And with wax, it can be altered easily enough to get the desired effect.
I've seen a video of a shakuhachi maker where he's stuck small square pieces of thin bamboo right down inside the bore opposite some toneholes to clear up certain dodgy notes.
Strangely I've watched several videos about vortex shedding in aerodynamics recently, particularly aircraft but it also matters for wind turbines. It didn't occur to me at the time but it makes total sense you can get it in wind instruments.
This happens in electric guitar as well, across the range of the instrument. It's most notable when the magnetic pickup is too close to the strings. As I understand it, the magnetic field from the pickups interferes with the fundamental note, dampening it and artificially enforcing a harmonic of the fundamental. With the guitar, the specific wolf note is determined by the fundamental note, the scale length of the guitar, and the position of the magnetic pickup.
Amaaaazing!! I loved the potential for contemporary music, specially to create a mysterious, magical ambience
Thanks for the interesting topic! Material does matter. I have played lots of flutes, whistles, and recorders made of a variety of materials and built in a variety of configurations. The differences are sometimes too subtle to pass on through a recording (or with the limited recording capabilities I have), but having played instruments made in the same physical configuration by the same maker but in different materials I know for certain that the material of the instrument resonates with the vibration of the air it contains. I love blackwood (grenadilla) the most. It carries a lot of that wolf-tone. I suspect that when all the questions are answered they will say it’s a little of this AND a little bit if that.
Wolfe Tone was a leading Irish revolutionary figure and one of the founding members of the United Irishmen.
Woah... First! ❤️ Love your videos! Recorder is also my main instrument,and I strive to defend its honour at every opportunity.
Sarah, check out the Japanese Shakuhachi. It's the instrument I play, and embouchure is key and the hardest part to learn. For this instrument the embouchure is from deep in the lungs all the way to the size and "angle" of air stream being put into the flute across the blowing edge. I am just learning about recorders and enjoy your channel and one thing that still gets me is that on the Shakuhachi you can move and tilt your head changing the angle of the blowing edge to change pitch; I still try that on the recorder without much success! As a reference, on a standard shakuhachi size 1.8 (about 21 inches) played "straight" the bottom note is a 'D'. However, with an embouchure change and a head tilt I can drop that note to a C or even lower.
I would LOVE to learn more about the shakuhachi.
@@Team_Recorder maybe you can interview/meet someone about it and/or compare it with the recorder. would be interesting :)
Fun fact you can actually cut the beak off a recorder and blow it like a shakuhachi
I could give a walk-through on it
I'll add one thing:
The sound it makes knocking on it absolutely *also* **is** the body vibrating, too.
You knock on the wood, you are hearing the displacement within and without. Some is the air inside the chamber that is, therefore, tuned by the body and the normal acoustics; The rest is the sound of the vibrating body itself.
I don't know why he would say that unless he thought explaining it more accurately would be confusing.
The wolf tone affect is not always a defect. I did not expect to learn this! Warble while you wander...
Wolf Tone, not be confused with Theobald Wolfe Tone, posthumously known as Wolfe Tone who was a leading Irish revolutionary figure of the 1700s. 😉
i personally love "wolf tones" as you describe in solos performance. i'm not a phisic or an engeneear(but i have studied a lot of phisics. shurely is a combination of all the thre thinghs you mensioned ,air column, is the first pitch producer, mouth position can give at the instrumemt a pitch... also the weight/material of the instrument can play an important roole in terms of frequency interference.You give me a grate idea.. i'll try to stick some exra waight to change the resonace of my recorder and mybe find a different points of " wolf tone" out of the song range or properly in the range i need....update will come...tks
This is interesting! I've heard those tones but never knew they had a categorisation other than producing overtones.
This was a delightfully nerdy video if a bit out of my comfort zone (euphemism).
I have a conflicted relationship with physics: I like to have the world around me explained and clarified, but I dislike all those laws and formulas therefore I happily leave the subject to those passionate about it and watch documentaries for the layman.
Eureka! I often get "wolfing" on high E on my alto sax which noone else get (some people call it a special effect!). I am learning to live with it !
Thank you, very interesting. My old Tuju Tenor has a wolf tone on one note. And I always thought it's because of the age of the instrument. I'll try now one of your tricks.
Amazing! Thank you so much for this video! Would you consider doing a video about embouchure, maybe comparing tight vs open embouchures and the effect it has on tone (including wolf)? We hear regularly that recorder doesn't need an embouchure, but there's also the whole counterpoint that your mouth is a resonance chamber - which is also argued against in other materials - so I'd love to hear your expert perspective with your expert playing examples!
I get this on my acoustic guitar actually. When I play a D chord in first position, the low A and body "Feed back" with the A on the 3rd string.
Hi Sarah, do you know if there are any historical recorder performance or builder treatises that talk about wolf tones - as either desirable or undesirable? They do sound so evocative in the samples of native American flute music you shared. Fascinating topic, thank you for sharing your research to date. I feel there may be more to come.
From a maker's point of view, wolf notes can be caused by very slightly out of tune harmonics, one of which can be "trying" to impose its own different fundamental on the note being played. Slight changes in the bore profile can, by modifying the tuning, give more stability. On a baroque alto recorder low G is probably the note that has the most tendency to burble, but other notes can possibly be affected too. Strangely enough, very slight adjustments to the windway can also reduce wolf notes. This could reduce "conflicts" between the harmonic spectrum of the embouchure and that of the instrument itself. The problem is complex. We still have a lot to learn.
Thank you so much for your comments, Philippe!
Hello Sarah,
Could you show us different ways to execute and practice a scale. Thank you for all.
It’s incredibly interesting how changing the volume of air inside your mouth as you blow can change the nature of the wolf. It must be increasing the amount of total air in the resonating column. The slow air chamber on a Native American flute makes a whole lot more sense now.
Now I have all kinds of questions concerning the flageolet.
Also as an aside, one of my altos has a wolf in the low F and I always thought I was just overblowing so I would try to slow down my air stream by doing “warm air.” I’m quite chuffed that I figured out how to solve the problem in my own even if I didn’t understand what I was doing. Now that I do, I think I’ll be able to put more air into it without losing control of the wolf.
Thanks! This was actually super helpful.
That’s really good to hear!
Your hair looks AMAZING in this video!
I suspect that "playing in" the instrument has many effects at the same time: 1. warming the air, 2. making the air more humid, 3. depositing a micro layer of condensation on the inside surface of the wood, 4 through several dozen: making subtle changes in the way the player is playing to adapt to current circumstances.
Such a strange and silly subject. To a non whistle player. lol I'm a Irish whistle player and have combated "the wolf" with lots of practice, and as you so clearly demonstrated, changing the aperture / mouth cavity and producing slower air flow. When I find my way down to the lower note, ( especially in the low D whistles,) I brace for impact and just go with it. lol Obviously more noticeable playing slow airs, but not as noticeable with jigs or reels. Great subject and topic!
I hate the wolf tone because it weakens a note when i just want to play traditionally. I will try the mouth cavity trick. dont mind the difference in tone color throughout the range, however. I always thought it was kind of neat🙂 There are some recorders with a very uniform color from bottom to top but they don't have a lot of richness in the sound, and richness is what I want to hear.
If there's a laminar flow disruption (early shedding, etc), can you insert tiny VGs into the recorder at the appropriate distance? I'm not sure what the tradeoff would be acoustically, but it would make for an interesting experiment.
It sounds to me like the instrument is trying to overblow to the octave or 12th, but that the harmonic it's trying to overblow to isn't in-tune with the fundamental note. I play flutes and recorders but primarily the pipe organ, and I've heard this same "wolf" effect in misbehaving organ pipes. It seems like the problem in organ pipes is often solved by manipulating the "languid" of the pipe (essentially the same thing as the "block" in a recorder).
Fascinating video! I've noticed the wolf tone when we've had my ensemble's van der Poel Ren recorders cleaned/revoiced, and I've thought, "what the hell did you do to these recorders?!" Glad to know it's a sign of a properly functioning Renaissance recorder.
Yes, it’s not a defect at all! Most renaissance recorders wolf a little. I actually have to blow quite a lot to make mine ‘wolf’, you can also play quite normally without it.
a) Your foray into elemental acoustical engineering is highly commendable! As you learn more, updates very welcome.
b) The term 'wolf tone' is a bit of a misnomer. The singing of wolves is actually quite beautiful and pure in tone. Can raise the hair on your arms. Giving the singing of wolves a bad rap! (Just kidding - I like the term.)
c) With regard to aspects of acoustical engineering, explaining the basics of acoustics with 1st, 2nd and 3rd 'registers' some day might offer some additional insights to recorder playing (you've mastered playing these, but an explanation of what's happening would be interesting and useful to many).
Very interesting video, kudos for braving this highly technical aspect of recorders (and flutes, saxophones, violins, cellos and ...). Nicely done!
Thank you!
Similar sounding in terminology, but an actual different phenomenon, is a "wolf interval", which is two notes sounding together that are expected to form something "consonant", but instead produce a high level of dissonance, usually with audible beating. A common interval referred to this way is 27:20, being 21 cents flatter than 3:2, a perfect fifth. This kind of "wolf" interval pops up all over the place in 5-limit just intonation; one of the major implications of meantone temperaments is "smoothing" this wolf.
Could you please post a link to the recorder you're playing in the video? I love it
Thank you. When I was growing up, my parents' piano had a terrible wolf - that my parents couldn't hear! They told me for years that I was imagining it. Eventually, it was seen by a piano technician who could hear it. It took him quite a while to find it - it turned out that the unwanted resonance was on the music desk.
My basset has a wolf on bottom F. I'm going to have to see if any of your tricks work on it. I'm playing in consort for a Taizé prayer service in a week or so, and I don't want to hear any howls! It's a wonderful instrument otherwise: about 25 years old, from Küng. (The material is a hardwood, red in colour, I don't know what wood specifically because the gentleman who sold it to me didn't know either.)
I have a viola made on a very old model. It had a heck of a wolf like problem on open A string. It just rattled your teeth. It turned out that the free end of the fingerboard was vibrating in such a way as to interfere with A-440! Heck of a note to pick! I put a little blue tack under the fingerboard and it went away entirely. Later I replaced it with a little weight made of sheet lead as a more permanent fix. I should get some sheet gold to replace the lead as the lead is toxic.
You could paint the lead. Gold colour if you like. The paint would prevent any of the toxicity of the lead leaking out!
@@johnfenn3188 It really deserves the gold though. Only three or four grams. Sort of like a gold mounted bow.
You are probably aware of Michala Petri and Chen Yue duos. Would you ever consider doing a revue of the Xiao that Yue plays. I would really like to hear your comments on the combinations of sounds. Each instrument compliments each other very nicely in my opinion. I love your videos and follow them frequently. Also have you any plans to tour the US?
Like 467, very nice, fully watched and enjoyed 🙏 sending my support 🙏🙏 see you in the next 💞💞
❤️
I struggled with a wolf tone on my alto recorder for 2 years until I moved the block a half millimeter forward into the head joint. After making this adjustment, the wolf tone disappeared.
sometimes this weird beating phenomenon with similar notes will happen within an ensemble setting with multiple instruments playing together and it’s really freaky when it occurs. Some bohem flute players will learn to play overtones, harmonics, whistle tones etc in advanced techniques, they sound extremely cool in jazz and modern compositions
I always assumed this might be the natural frequency of the wood, since it never seems to happen on my plastic recorders. Just a funny side note, if I play a middle f on my bass recorder while sitting by my guitar, the guitar vibrates and makes a bit of sound.
Yes if I’m playing in a room with a drum kit I have to turn the snare off, otherwise it resonates wildly
Your wolf tone examples sounded honestly more like the note breaking/overblowing to me? Are they connected?
Thank you! ❤️
I agree that a larger mouth cavity (slow air speed) is best for low notes. But I'm not sure that smaller mouth cavity (focused air) is ever better, even for high notes. I would like to see you demonstrate this claim. The reason I have doubts is that the windway already focuses the air, and it might not help to focus the air even more (even though it is possible).
I’ve made LOADS of videos on this! For recorder players focussed, fast air makes high notes sing. Maybe it’s different for clarinets?
@@Team_Recorder On clarinets, changing the mouth cavity certainly affects the tone, and I notice that I do raise my tongue to make the cavity smaller for higher notes, on both clarinet and recorder. But I'm looking for proof to see if it is really necessary I'll look at your videos on this.
My English horn had a horrible wolf around F# (halfway down the instrument). I found a technician who deburred the inside edge of the tone hole, just a little. The wolf almost completely disappeared. Maybe the way the instrument is machined makes a difference?
Didn't you mention something about "the wolf" during your video on tuning, and equal temperament tuning is a compromise that aims to minimise "the wolf" as you change to different keys?
very nice video, very interesting!
And the idea of the wolf tone on a fiddle gave the name to the Wolfe Tones, an Irish rebel music band.
"wolf tone" ... how poetic! 🙂
Available "ad libitum" on the shakuhachi on almost every tone due to the special embouchure... 🙂
Hello Miss Jeffery,, that's a nasty wolf your tenor recorder has. Why don't you have a chat with Baldrick Deerenberg, who has made really marvelous large (and small) renaissance recorders (and baroque and modern), and ask him how he dealt with the matter. His instruments are hard to come by as he refused to build them commercially; he only did so for himself and some of his (former) students. Take the chance while he is still alive - he lives in Zuthpen. He was particularly interested in the parameters behind the workings of recorders (i.e. what exactly makes them work and sound well) and with result. Cheerio, Willem
Lol it sounds so much nicer and gentler after you put some blu-tac on the inside :P
Probably as you blow or oil the recorder it gets wet and oily it changes its mass and inner surface characteristics, all this together makes this sound to move up and down on the instrument tune
It would be interesting to know how to design an instrument to express a wolf tone or not. But perhaps there is not enough research into that yet?
In the description the link to the flutetree.org in Native American flutes has some very interesting info on this
Classic Korean music uses a flute that can consistently produce an octave vibrato ( or 'burble'), at least on a considerable number of pitches. No idea how, I haven't had a chance to hear this since the 70s.
For "Recorder = ரெக்கார்டர்" on the post behind you, that was only letter translation. Instead Kindly use any one from following - Flute = புல்லாங்குழல் | Recorder = கூவல் | Pipe Instrument = குழல் இசை கருவி
Thank you! ❤️
What does "playing an instrument in" mean? I could not understand it from the context of the video nor find anything online. Thanks in advance!
I think in this context it is the exercises you might do before actually starting playing. As a singer I normally do some warm ups for my voice. In case of a recorder one might play some soft notes in the lower Register before I get into the heights. And once the instrument is also adapted to the temperature of the breath and has resonated sometime I suppose it is "played in".
@@flotenstimme4608 thanks!
A new wooden recorder needs to be "played in" for about 6 weeks, gradually increasing the duration of each session, from as little as 5 minutes per day initially. This process prevents damage to the block as it absorbs moisture.
Too interesting, I knew about the wolf tone in strings, in fact I have a rebec that has a scary note and it's really the wolf tone but I didn't know that it could also be present in recorders and if I think about it, I also have some recorders that presents this anomaly in a note but I was not aware that it was the wolf tone. You opened up a world to me, thank you so much!
You’re very welcome!
The entire reason I clicked on this was wolf is my favourite animal beside tiger and possum
Also the sound reminds me of Mando’s theme lol
Your visage is amazing . Did you done something with hairs?
Don’t Renaissance recorders have blocks, and if so wouldn’t this be considered a second piece in the machine?
It sounds to me like the harmonics are coming to the fore. That could actually be useful if it could be controlled and brought out through the whole range, much like the sound of a bray harp or the sawari of a shamisen.
Interesting sound, but where it can be applied?, in some modern pieces maybe
Yesss for sure, I actually love the wolf sound!
Bluegrass/dark country/a style called murder ballads. I write in this style and been incorporating the recorder and the wolf tone does a LOT for the low key spooky vibe the style calls for
The Wolf Tone is like hearing quantum superposition ! :o
Hmmmm.... it seems a certain guitar amp “musical detriment” has been a lead to this topic. 🤔
It seems I’ve experienced the wolf tone singing in choirs a lot. When you get that stinging noise from having one voice just a fraction out of tune. Or, does that have a different name?
PS. Try with a much thinner layer of ticky tack, ie elephant snot. Also, the sticker has to properly adhere to the surface.
*running around checking all my recorders for wolves* negative so far.
I now would be curious to see if someone could create a "wolf fugue" by having the subject and countersubjects characterized by usage of wolf tones.
OOOHHH
@@Team_Recorder, huh?
@@Team_Recorder, I didn't quite get what your comment meant.
My favorite thing about modern music is that we'll turn it up and lean into it lol
Your notes on Matthew Wright's explantation at 4:33 are full of typos, some of which make it hard to read! There are really pretty good models of waveguides since the early 1990s, in fact being able to model instruments with multiphonics and squeaks just like the "real" ones. I think breath control is probably your best bet, but I think the tube's geometry clearly could be fiddled with in some subtle way to help out, like "ridges" or "rifling" at the bottom of the pipe, which shouldn't affect the higher notes so much.
Apologies for the typos, I was feverishly tapping it all out on my phone while Matthew was talking. At least it’s authentic 😉
4:30 I read the note and I feel as though whoever tried to explain it to you doesn't understand it himself.
I've played top quality Yamaha soprano, alto and tenor saxophones, and never noticed wolf tones.
And I play a crappy school recorder and get them every day
Don't forget the Wolfe Tones: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wolfe_Tones.
Left hand Eb? There is not something like it on saxophones x) Your husband won't be happy xD Eb & C natural on right pinky, G#, C#, B natural and Bb on left pinky ;)
Indigenous flute: Timothy Archambault does it in a lot of his recordings.
I immediatly checked my recorders for wolf tones, but I didn`t find any... I`m kind of dissapointed...😄
Whare the Wolfe Tones? A kick ass Irish Rebel Music band.
Omigosh the wolves making their appearance were shoooo cute uwu
Vortex shedding line has typos, like the whole sentence is written in uwu lang. Maybe you dictated it?
Wow the Baroquees really did refine the sound
I loved the texture!!! Moar!!!
Vibrato sounds controlled, warble sounds like organized chaos
This vid was really fun and interesting, thx!!!
In Native American flutemaking, flutes that _don't_ warble are traditionally rejected.