Extended Techniques for Flute

Connexions module: m14066

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Extended Techniques for Flute: Polyphonic Techniques  John ∗ McMurtery Patricia Gray This work is produced by The Connexions Project and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License †

Abstract This module contains video, audio, and text related to extended techniques for ute in contemporary music.

John McMurtery Website

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1 Singing While Playing Ex. 1 Play Movie George Crumb, Vox Balanae (opening) 2

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∗ Version

1.1: Oct 20, 2006 8:29 pm GMT-5

† http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

1 http://www.johnmcmurtery.com 2 http://www.johnmcmurtery.com/ET/QT/PTsp1.mov

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The technique of singing and playing the ute simultaneously was pioneered by jazz musicians and developed by composers seeking not only new sounds for the instrument, but ways to utilize the ute as a polyphonic instrument. It is produced by forming a normal ute embouchure and literally singing through it. Several possibilities exist for singing and playing simultaneously: singing pitches dierent from ute notes; singing pitches in unison with ngered notes; or singing in octaves with the sounding ute pitches. The latter two are most eective because the resonance of the tube is enhanced by the frequency of the vibrating vocal cords. The example is one of the most famous in contemporary music: the opening of George Crumb's Vox Balanae. Although Crumb species the passage to be sung an octave below the written ute line, it may be performed in unison to accommodate female performers. The excerpt also features the technique of covering the embouchure hole completely and singing through the ute while ngering specic pitches (notated in the top line).

2 Singing While Playing Ex. 2 Play Movie Ofer Ben-Amots, Avis Urbanus (p.2 sta 3) 3

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The technique of singing and playing the ute simultaneously was pioneered by jazz musicians and developed by composers seeking not only new sounds for the instrument, but ways to utilize the ute as a polyphonic instrument. It is produced by forming a normal ute embouchure and literally singing through it. Several possibilities exist for singing and playing simultaneously: singing pitches dierent from ute notes; singing pitches in unison with ngered notes; or singing in octaves with the sounding ute pitches. The latter two are most eective because the resonance of the tube is enhanced by the frequency of the vibrating vocal cords. This example, from Ofer Ben-Amots' Avis Urbanus, contains a unique use of singing and playing. The utist sustains a single note, while singing the highest pitch possible for the voice and bending the pitch downward. Because of an acoustical phenomenon known as "resultant tones," the listener hears two simultaneous glissandi, one upward, and the other downward. Ben-Amots' notation clearly reects the resultant sound. 3 http://www.johnmcmurtery.com/ET/QT/PTsp2.mov

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3 Multiphonics Play Movie Edward Taylor, Voices in the Night (VIII, mm. 19-24) 4

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Another technique for creating polyphony on a ute is through use of multiphonics, two or more notes sounded simultaneously. These require the utist to possess extremely precise control of the embouchure and airstream, as well as the memorization of nonstandard ngerings. Further limitations exist: not all combinations of notes are possible, some work only at specic dynamic levels, and the ease of production can vary greatly from instrument to instrument. Composers should rst consult one of the sources listed in the bibliography, and then work with a performer, before employing multiphonics into a work. Also, performers nd it extremely helpful if composers specify the ngerings to be used. This passage from Edward Taylor's Voices in the Night illustrates an eective use of multiphonics.

4 Articial Polyphony Play Movie James Romig, Sonnet 2 (m. 21-4) 5

4 http://www.johnmcmurtery.com/ET/QT/PTm.mov 5 http://www.johnmcmurtery.com/ET/QT/PTsap.mov

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Another device composers use to create polyphony is based on an aural illusion. In James Romig's Sonnet 2, the following performance note appears in the score: "To create the illusion of sustained sound in the lower voice, the staccato note in the upper voice is to be played as quickly as possible before returning to the lower note." If the performer is successful in creating continuity in the two separate lines, the resultant eect is like a ute duet. The technique works best in reverberant acoustical spaces.

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