Date of Graduation

2018

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

DMA

College

College of Creative Arts

Department

School of Music

Committee Chair

Michael Ibrahim

Committee Co-Chair

Andrew Kohn

Committee Member

Nina Assimakopoulos

Committee Member

General Hambrick

Committee Member

Keith Jackson

Abstract

"In the long history of scientific investigation of musical instruments, the flute has been given particular attention, primarily because of its apparent simplicity. Yet many of the physical factors that determine its behavior have not been well documented." This is especially true when it comes to modern understanding of the way in which changes in the shape of the oral cavity affect the resonance spectrum of the flute.;Creating different monophthongs, or stable-vowel positions, while playing the flute changes the spectral slope and strength of the overtones in the flute tone. This affects the ability of the flute to successfully blend with other instruments. This concept is known as formant tuning, or the deliberate adjustment of the strength of the different overtones in a sound. This study is the first to record, measure, and analyze the changes that will occur in the resonance spectrum of the flute when a tone is produced through different monophthongs.;This study provides an analysis of four pitches that cover all three registers of the flute and clarinet and the four strings of the violin as performed on the C Flute (E4, C5, A5, and G6) using the software VoceVista. Three flutists were asked to record each pitch while creating the following six monophthongs:;[i] (as heard in "sheep" and "me") [I ] (as heard in "mit" and "him") [e] (the Schwa position as heard in "father" and "comma") [u] (as heard in "put" and "foot") [u] (as heard in "goose" and "soup") [c] (as heard in "thought" and "brought").;The resonance spectra of each pitch in each position have been recorded, analyzed, and compared with the spectra of the same pitches as played by a group of violinists and a single clarinetist. Suggestions based on these spectra are provided as to which monophthongs on the part of the flutist will yield a higher or lower homogeneity of blend with the violinists and clarinetist in the different registers of the instruments.

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