Vessel flutes

Introduction

Helmholtz resonator

These instruments have a more or less compact (globular) shape that allows the volume of air they contain to vibrate essentially as a single unit.
A typical globular flute:
– produces low-pitched sounds relative to its size,
– produces few harmonics, its tone is very soft ∿,
– does not have an upper octave that can be easily accessed by blowing harder,
– has note pitches that depend solely on the surface area of the open holes, not their locations.

Traditional vessel flutes can be found all over the world and have existed for thousands of years. The most famous instrument in this family is the ocarina, invented in Budrio, Italy, in the 19th century by Giuseppe Donati. In common parlance, all vessel flutes are often referred to as ocarinas.

Ocarina

Let's make vessel flutes

• Vessel flutes with duct [421.221.4]
  1. Understand
  2. Make
     1. Wooden toy whistles
     2. Our “mikroflööt”
     3. Our “bûchette”
     4. A gemshorn
• Vessel flutes without duct [421.13]
  1. Understand
  2. Make Xun (or almost) from a glass bottle

Links

Wikipédia (en): Helmholtz resonance.
Wikipédia (en): Ocarina.
Thomas Preece: What is an Ocarina?
Jean-Luc Matt (fr): Les ocarinas et autres flûtes globulaires.