Tuning of the historical instruments
A lot has been written about the tuning of 19th century (and of earlier) flutes. Although the question is made more difficult by the fact that there is discussion on the pitch these historical instruments should best be played at, some general observations can be made. When played with what I would call a contemporary standard embouchure (I know there is again room for discussion here), and using a simple fingering without opening keys, a typical first half 19th century Rudall & Rose type flute would generally show a tuning which differs from an equal temperament (your electronic tuner) in the following way:
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the low D is flat, this ranges from about -5 cent to as much as -30 cent, -10-15 being a good mean. The rest of the foot joint, C and C# are generally equally flat.
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the E tends to be a little sharp
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the F# is flat, by about -15 cent (but up to 25cent sometimes)
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I take the G as reference note
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the A is a little sharp compared to the G, by about +10cent
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the B is generally sharp, but can vary
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the C# is in line with the G or a little flat
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The question is, why was this so? To start with the question of the low D, I do not believe the explanation sometimes given for the flat D and foot joint, that the makers of that time increased the size of the finger-holes, but ‘forgot’ to shorten the foot-joint accordingly. According to that reasoning the flat foot-joint would be a mistake, quite hard to believe when one observes the excellent internal tuning of the instrument and considers that absolute top class professional players used these instruments. It seems to me much more reasonable to believe that the instruments were intended to play correctly with the way of blowing ‘en vogue ‘at that time, which was probably very different from what is used now on classical instruments. It is well documented that Charles Nicholson used a special way of holding his instrument, and we know from contemporary sources that people were most impressed by the volume he got out of his instruments, especially for the lower notes. It seems plausible to believe that he overblew (in comparison with what is done now) the low notes of the instruments, making it necessary for the maker to tune these notes lower.
The explanation generally given for the other notes is that compromises were to be made by the instrument maker, as the flute had to play over three octaves and so every hole had to serve several notes, especially if also fork-fingerings had to work. Whether these compromises necessarily lead to this type of tuning is hard to substantiate, but this explanation could be partly true.
What is sure however, is that the tuning, and the subsequent way of blowing, is part of the flavour of the Irish flute music. It is worthwhile to consider here that if one would make a flute that would only have to play in D; the tuning would not follow the equal temperament, but would follow a correct interval tuning in D. This tuning gives a mathematic correct interval with the D for all intervals, so one plays perfectly correct in D (this in contrast with the equal temperament generally used in modern instruments, where in order to be able to play in all keys, a temperament is chosen that is “equally false” in every key. A correct interval tuning plays perfect in some keys, but would be very false in others). A correct tuning interval is more or less what one finds f.i. on bagpipes, where the drones force you to tune with reference to the drone note. If we take as above the G as the reference, the theoretically correct tuning would be: D +2 cent, E + 4 cent, F# -12cent, G is the reference, A + 4 cent, B -14 cent, C# -10 cent. If we accept the idea that the low D has to be tuned flat in order to compensate for the way of blowing, the rest of the observed tuning is quite close to this correct interval tuning in D, with the exception maybe of the A and B. It must be noted that these notes are very subject to the way of blowing (more than the lower notes), it is generally believed that Rudall & Rose flutes where made to be played with a ‘covered’ embouchure, hence lowering the left hand notes. The conclusion I draw is that for the keys in which most Irish music is played, the internal tuning of a traditional well made ‘Irish’ flute is in fact ‘more correct’ than on modern instruments (but you must blow up the bottom D). As it is part of the tradition and the sound, I do tune my instruments according to the original models. If a special (for instance equal tempered) tuning is wanted, please contact me in advance.
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