The flute is a woodwind instrument that produces sound when air is blown across an opening. Unlike other woodwind instruments, it doesn’t use a reed. Instead, the player directs their breath against the edge of the mouthpiece, creating vibrations that produce sound. Naada Flutes is a collection of the following physically modeled flutes:
- Bansuri (Bamboo flute from India)
- Dizi (Chinese bamboo flute with a membrane)
- Pan flute
- Turkish Ney
Articulations and playing options
Flutter, Vibrato, Overblow.
Samples
Physics
An air jet interacting with an edge can generate edge tones even without a resonator. When the jet collides with the edge, it splits unevenly, forming vortices that induce oscillations in the jet. In the presence of a resonator, these vortices play a lesser role, as the oscillations are primarily driven by wave disturbances within the bore. These disturbances work together to alternately push and pull the jet, effectively absorbing energy (see Figure 1). This interaction occurs only when the time required for the disturbance to travel from the jet’s origin (mouth) to the edge is half the period of the bore’s fundamental frequency [1]. Notably, the disturbance propagates at approximately half the jet’s velocity. Higher jet speeds can lead to overblowing, causing a shift in the oscillation mode.
Figure 1: Oscillating jet: The wave disturbances in bore interact with the incoming steady jet causing the jet to oscillate about the edge
In the Naada implementation, the bore and jet are modeled using digital waveguides and are interconnected. The jet’s velocity profile is typically bell-shaped rather than flat, which primarily contributes to the excitation of all harmonics in the bore. This effect, along with the influence of the embouchure, is modeled as a filter along the jet delay.
References
- [1] “The Physics of Musical Instruments”, Fletcher and Rossing, Springer-Verlag.