Identify this flute please :D

[crazymanzy]

Hello everyone, I'm new to the (this) flute world !

Btws, I've recently just found a flute in my house. Bought about, 9 years ago? D: It's a chinese flute from China. Anyone can help me identify it pls?



Front View



Back View
PS: The righter hole is actually on the lower left part of the flute.





The place where you, urm, blow air?



The rear!

Help me identify this please! I'd really appreaciate it!

PS: I'd get my lips itchy after blowing it D: I don't know how to clean it on the inside since it's mostly bamboo =X

[James_Alto]

It looks like a variation of a 6 hole xiao flute and a 8 hole dizi.

You can look up the fingering charts for the 6 hole and see whether these apply to yours.

I don't recognise the design of yours - the fipple and lip plate usually conceals the sharp 'reed' edge directly,
however in yours, it's almost hybridized like a western recorder in a rather coarse hand-made attempt. If there is no rear hole for a left thumb, then I can only assume yours is a poorly made cross between a xiao and a dizi. The positioning of the fingering holes however, look like it should be a dizi, however the fipple design, makes it look like some amateur flute maker really made a mess of the two. I've no idea how you would do the fingering and blow vertically down the fipple).

The bottom two holes do not need tending to; these alter pitch (if covered) and are generally best left alone until you have more experience in playing.

Nonetheless, these xiao flutes produce beautiful mellow tones. You do not need much air to produce a deep sound,
and by directing the air flow at at angle, and moving your lower lip across the plate, you will find some way to produce
a sound eventually.

You can either dip the top end in hot melted wax to to stop the itchiness, or try using linseed oil to lubricate it. In any case, if it was my xiao flute, I would recommend checking for wood worm first, and recoating in oil (it may have dried out internally, and yours has no transverse bracing - found in better made xiao flutes - which prevents moisture/humidity induced expansion and cracking. You can do this using a thin rag soaked in any good wood oil, and stem it up and down the xiao. You may find a few dead insects or other live organisms inside.

[crazymanzy]

Hey thanks for replying!

Btws, yeah, it applies on a 6-hole fingering chart.
It's bottom does not only have 2, but 4 holes on it, 2 holes are in the same parallel line as the 6, 1 on the back side and another 1 on the left.
And yes, it's poorly made. My dad bought it from a walking peddler in China 9 years back.
Whenever no fingers are applied on any holes, high pitch sound sounds up when blown in =/

I cleaned the insides with a vacuum cleaner after I found it :O So I don't think there will be anymore worms or bugs inside
Anyways, thanks for your advice!

[James_Alto]

That's good to know you've got some tones out of it. It's always nice to put these items with a history to use.

The hole positions are rather enigmatic; when you have the fipple edge in your mouth, with the sharp reed under your chin facing forwards, where are the fingering holes, and can you apply fingerings to these in this position?

Chinese flute fingerings are counted from the bottom i.e. all six covered six holes' is position 5 with a . below the 5, to represent the lowest octave. The western Boehm fingering of 'B' (rear hole covered) is represented by '3' etc. You can use a chromatic tuner with all six covered holes, to work out which key your flute is in.

It is possible to use western fingering scales to some extent on chinese flutes, although the chinese 'jian-pu' scales are preferred and more suited for fingerings and if you learn how to read the simple notation (numbers 1-7, then you will be able to play any dizi; xiao; hulusi which uses this notation. It is actually simpler than the treble clef notation. If you do apply a few western fingerings, regardless of the key of the flute, you will find that you can play simple melodies on the flute. The main reason why chinese flutes are not played with western octave fingerings like the Boehm system, is that the tones are not always as crisp as the jian-pu system and specific fingerings for these flutes to deliver 2 1/2 octaves - 3 octaves, depending on the number of holes per flute. Alto dizi's (key of G) or xiaos in the key of low C tend to have extra holes and are massive and long, however unlike Boehm alto or bass flutes, are nowhere as heavy due to the lightweight bamboo construction. There are an extensive variety of cross-fingerings, as well as semi-tones and quarter-tones possible: if you learn how to bend notes on a dizi flute, you will find it very limited on a closed key western flute.

I hope you enjoy using it. I have a number of dizi flutes and xiao flutes as well as my alto flute. I love my alto Trevor James flute, however if you really get into the dizi or the xiao flute, you'd love a Suzhou white bamboo (southern style) flute which the kind I use. These tend to be more melodious and have a rich tonal range and note bending is beautiful. These flutes cost between $5-250 according to the professional grade depending on where you source them. The sound timbre and tones are opulent and gloriously rich. They make expensive Boehm flutes seem ridiculously overpriced for the sound they deliver. As a variety of schools make these flutes, it's best to check in person, whether the fingering hole (and size of hole - which varies according to the key of the flute) suits you, unless you acquire it off the internet, which is more limited.

[crazymanzy]

Recheck: My flute does not cope with the 6 fingering chart! But it copes a little with the native american 6-hole flute thou >_<

[James_Alto]

I still can't get my head around the orientation of your flute.

When the fipple (with blowing notch) is directly below your chin, facing forwards, are you able to reach for the finger holes at all? Or are you turning the flute to finger in the vertical position, and blowing through the fipple notch, facing your chest?

The bottom 2 holes are inconsequential if you have 4 holes. These are designed so that you can thread a tassle like this:





Please note - as garish as this is, it won't improve your tone nor playing


Are you also applying the correct fingerings?

Here is one of the better web resources:

http://www.oldflutes.com/world/chinese.htm

http://www.chinese-flute.com/learn_dizi.php

which also has precise fingering charts for your flute.

If you are only getting the limited tones, equivalent to a NAF, then you might ask on the http://forums.fluteportal.com/ since they have more expertise with these kinds of flutes. I don't think yours is a NAF however - it looks like you could probably turn it back into a proper transverse blown dizi by uncorking the end, and repairing the notch, and adding a membrane to one of the blow holes!

[themellowxiao]

This is actually the bamboo form of the recorder. Look at the third photo. Place your mouth at opening of that end of the bamboo to produce sound.