The Flute: New Sounds
John C. Heiss · Perspectives of New Music · 1972
IN TWO previous articles in PERSPECTIVES (Vol. 5, No. 1 and Vol. 7, No. 1) I reported on the possibilities of playing multiple-sonorities on woodwind instruments, and gave lists for flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon of those sounds I consider most dependable. Recent developments in the soundproduction possibilities on my own instrument, the flute, lead me to offer an updated report. Several of the techniques introduced here are, to the best of my knowledge, my own discoveries; others have become known to me through contact with other composers and performers. My information, however acquired, is naturally limited. The whole subject area of new performance techniques is quite vast and still growing,1 even just for the flute. Many performers and composers currently have their own individual techniques and fingering charts for new sounds.2 The present need appears to be one of communication and consolidation, and it is in this spirit that I offer what follows.