An overtone flute is a type of a flute that is designed to play in the upper

harmonic A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the '' fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', ...

s, typically well above the two or three harmonics that are the practical limit for most

woodwind instrument Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and ...

s. An overtone flute has either no

tone hole A tone hole is an opening in the body of a wind instrument which, when alternately closed and opened, changes the pitch of the sound produced. Tone holes may serve specific purposes, such as a trill hole or register hole. A tone hole is, "in w ...

s,Maclagan, Susan J. (2009). ''A Dictionary for the Modern Flutist'', p.124. . or relatively few tone holes for a woodwind instrument. To make

melodies A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combinati ...

, one plays it high into the

overtone series A harmonic series (also overtone series) is the sequence of harmonics, musical tones, or pure tones whose frequency is an integer multiple of a '' fundamental frequency''. Pitched musical instruments are often based on an acoustic resonator ...

. One series of harmonics is achieved by

overblowing Overblowing is the manipulation of supplied air through a wind instrument that causes the sounded pitch to jump to a higher one without a fingering change or the operation of a slide. Overblowing may involve a change in the air pressure, in the ...

with the end of the tube open and another is achieved with the end closed:when the end of the flute is closed, the key drops by one octave and only the uneven harmonics can pop out. This means that overtone flutes without tone holes will produce mostly the notes present in the natural scale, whilst certain notes can be bended a bit by partially covering the end of the flute. Overtone flute tubes typically have a relatively long resonating chamber compared to their inner diameter or

cross sectional area In geometry and science, a cross section is the non-empty intersection of a solid body in three-dimensional space with a plane, or the analog in higher- dimensional spaces. Cutting an object into slices creates many parallel cross-sections. Th ...

, which encourages the instrument to resonate in the higher harmonics. An overtone flute in the key of G, with an inner diameter of 1", will require more effort to play higher harmonics than an overtone flute in the same key, with an inner diameter of 1/2". For example, a ratio of 1 : 30 - Inner Diameter : Length allows for very high harmonics to be played with little effort.

Examples

Kalyuka The kalyuka (or kolyuka, Russian: калюка, колюка) is a Russian and Ukrainian overtone flute, lacking playing holes. Traditionally, kalyukas were made from hollow plant stems, such as motherwort, or angelica. Modern versions of the in ...

—

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

n and

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * Som ...

overtone flute. Traditionally, the Kalyuka was constructed from a hollow plant stem. Because of the fragile nature of the stem, the instrument was played seasonally. * Tylynka/ Tilinkó / Tilinca -

Hutsul The Hutsuls (sometimes the spelling variant: Gutsuls; uk, Гуцули, translit=Hutsuly; pl, Huculi, Hucułowie; ro, huțuli) are an ethnic group spanning parts of western Ukraine and Romania (i.e. parts of Bukovina and Maramureș). The ...

, Hungarian, and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

n overtone flute. * Telenka — The telenka ( uk, Теленка), along with the sopilka ( uk, Cопiлка), is a prominent instrument in

Kalush Orchestra Kalush (stylised in all caps) is a Ukrainian rap group formed in 2019. The group consists of founder and rapper Oleh Psiuk, multi-instrumentalist Ihor Didenchuk, and breakdancer MC KylymMen (). Didenchuk is also a member of the electro-folk ba ...

's 2022 song " Stefania", which won the Eurovision Song Contest for Ukraine. * Willow flute -

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

n flute *

Fujara The fujara () is a large wind instrument of the tabor pipe class. It originated in central Slovakia as a sophisticated folk shepherd's overtone fipple flute of unique design in the contrabass range. Ranging from 160 to 200 cm long (5'3" ...

— a Slovak flute. Also known as the "Shepherd's Flute", the Fujara was developed over many years by shepherds in Slovakia and Poland. The Fujara incorporates what we now know as the major scale. There are three playing holes, the full scale is played by overblowing from the 4th of the scale (all holes open - 1st harmonic), to the 5th (all holes closed - 2nd harmonic). *

Koncovka The koncovka is a Slovak duct-blown overtone fipple flute without finger holes, traditionally played by shepherds A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old Eng ...

— Slovak overtone flute with a

fipple The term fipple specifies a variety of end-blown flute that includes the flageolet, recorder, and tin whistle. The Hornbostel–Sachs system for classifying musical instruments places this group under the heading "Flutes with duct or duct fl ...

. The Koncovka is very similar to the Kalyuka. * Choctaw overtone flute

References

{{commonscat, Overtone flutes

Examples

See also

References