"Fluttertongue"

• Aug 21, 2019 - 06:19

I have a score which calls for the flute to "fluttertongue" thirty-second notes: any advice re: how to achieve this in playback? (I'm not even 100% sure what it sounds like in real life.) Thanks!


Comments

In reply to by Jojo-Schmitz

There are three varieties: made from front-palate with tongue tip, back-palate with back of tongue and from larynx (like gargling),
It is written in the same way as Tremolo.
only an additional text is written on it. (like: f.t., fz., flt, flz, frl. )

f.t. <= text (English) // just type the text once. optional: and write a note at the end.*1
/// <= tremolo on stem //Since it is very difficult to make slow, it should be written as 32th.
o <= note


*1: (This is understood where the tremolos end.)

In reply to by [DELETED] 1831606

Not necessary, this is related to the technique used by the player.

Front-palate technique is suitable for those who play brass instruments.
But a double-reed player makes it easier with the back-palate technique (Using the front-palate disrupts the mouth position.).
Flute can use all three techniques easily.

(I answer the joke seriously)
Note-2: I'm also a horn player.

Oh, we forgot to answer the most important question.
In real life this sound is heard as "Rrrrrr" sound with addition into normal-timbre.
The pronounce of "r" varies according to the technique used.
eg: hard-r, soft-r, french-r.

A similar technique is often used for brass instruments. I don't know if an articulation in the MS pallette could approximate the effect, as it is a timbral effect as much as an articulation. This may require work on the soundfont level.

One of the earliest uses of flutter-tonguing was by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in his ballet The Nutcracker. In the opening of the final act, Tchaikovsky makes the flutes flutter-tongue to depict the cascading river of rose-oil seen as Clara and the Nutcracker are welcomed to the kingdom of Confiturembourg: he named the effect frulato, as did the flautist who first introduced him to the technique, Alexander Khimichenko.[3] [from Wikipedia]

example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5VmCcUUSfE

at minute 3:59 each chord is topped with fluttertongued flute

There are better examples in the literature, but this one I am familiar with.

Attached is the exact way it's notated. Questions:

Should the initial two eighths be played as 16th's or 32nd's? Does the bar over indicate that the pitches should alternate (like a wide trill), or should all of the first be played before all of the second?

(I assume the half, quarter, and last eighth notes w/ three lines through the stem means play 32nd notes equivalent to the full notes' duration, not alternating, (if alternating, how, i.e., in what pattern?).)

Thanks!

Attachment Size
Fluttertongue_example.mscz 6.42 KB

In reply to by OlyDLG

I know this is an old thread. This is a technique of repeating a note as fast as you can. Done by rolling an R sound. Much like saying "Roberto" in Spanish. Only rolling the R for all the notes. The the way MuseScore plays this score is much like the actual effect. It's not a or trill or vibrato. More like a drum roll. And it varies from player to player depending on how fast they can roll their tongue. And every instrument has some variation of it.

Do you still have an unanswered question? Please log in first to post your question.