Monday, October 17, 2005

Fipple Designs - For Native American Flute

I found an excellent link on Clint Goss's website describing the various fipple designs for the Native American Flute. Remember that the design of the sound hole is what gives your flute its unique voice. This is where the sound is produced, and the design of the fipple and the sound hole both contribute significantly to the voice of a flute. My personal choice is for the air channel to be partially in both the fipple and body of the flute. This design allows the splitting edge of the sound hole to be positioned in the center of the airstream, and I've found that if done properly, it produced the clearest tone in the voice. Generally, IMHO, flutes which put the air channel entirely in the fipple are more "airy" than other designs, although this isn't necessarily a bad design. It all depends on how the flute maker intended to voice the flute.

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