Chiff and Fipple Forums

To what temperament keyless 'Irish' flutes are built to?

Should I get a flute in Just Intonation, Equal Temperament or in some other temperament?

Or am I forced to constantly change my embouchure to play with the correct intonation?

Keyless flutes are a bit of a tuning compromise across the board...and they're made to play in tune with current standard tuning. However, you WILL have to always try and play each note in tune. Your embouchure can cause huge pitch difference, rolling out or in flattens or sharpens the note, as the flute warms up or cools down the tuning changes...it's just the nature of the beast. I'm always subconsciously adjusting my tuning when I play, especially when playing with others.

Order a flute from a good maker and learn to play in tune.

Eric

I think people make too much of an issue out of Just Intonation v Equal Temperament thing.

Even on the Uilleann pipes, where you don't have an embouchure, the difference is negligible and within the range you can adjust with blowing.

My uilleann chanters and my flutes can be played to perfect ET yet I can play at a trad session and be right in tune.

Let's assume that you're talking a JI scale in D. It has the following deviations from ET

D 0
E +4
F# -14
G -2
A +2
B -16
C# -12

So yes if you're playing along with a piper who has his chanter tuned exactly like that, and your flute is exactly tunes to ET, you might want to put a bit of tape on your F# and B holes. (C# should already be about right.)

But I've always played ET flutes and they're fine, actually. These deviations are well within what you can effortlessly adapt to with your blowing.

And tuning is situational, so if you have guitars, banjos, mandolins etc their frets will be set to ET.

The other approach would be to have a flute tuned down the middle between ET and JI, which I think is how some flutes are made. Then you're so close to either ET or JI that only the slightest (and probably subconscious) adjustments are needed.