Debost's Comments - January 1997 issue of "Flute Talk"
The Air Column

BY MICHEL DEBOST






In my terminology the air column is not only the air inside the instrument, nor the flow of air from the lungs to the lips: the air column is a continuous unit from inside the body to the tip of the footjoint. After that, the air escapes our control as it continues to resonate. A musical sound is a vibration (1) carried by the air. Although it may not be physiologically correct, I envision every part of the body or the instrument that comes in contact, directly or indirectly, with air as the air column. This includes not only the air in the lungs and the mouth, but also in the cavities of the nose, forehead, and inner ear.

In producing the sound with the air column, no part of the body should impede the air flow. Marcel Moyse compared the air column to a fountain: if it is well set, the flow is smooth and regular. If it is too weak, it breaks. If it is too strong, it splashes.

Throat

The throat can be an unconscious obstacle to the free flow of the air column. A person who is worried or upset will speak in a coarse or forced tone as a result of the contraction of the throat and vocal cords due to nervous tension. Likewise, the voice will sound pinched if we raise our shoulders. The air column can be viewed as a river that flows through a gorge (2) or a rapid. If a smoothly flowing river passes through a narrow channel, the stream fights its way through this bottleneck with a great amount of turbulence and white water. As the valley widens again downstream the water once again flows serenely.

With the slightest nervous tension, the throat tightens and squeezes the air column. This produces a choked sound. The same phenomenon occurs when the shoulders are lifted as a defensive gesture or as the result of poor posture. This situation can be alleviated by emulating the process of yawning during both breathing and blowing. Everything is connected back in the throat; that is why the ears pop when the pressure changes in an airplane or when blowing the nose, swallowing, or yawning.

Yawning

As we yawn the body relaxes, problems are forgotten, and we feel good or even fall asleep: the shoulders fall, the throat opens, the ears pop, and the abdomen no longer restricts the intake of air. Yawning induces a natural breathing motion and creates a sense of comfort.

Nose

A flutist suffering from a cold may hear the sound as being stuffy, but this reflects the inability of the inner ear, sinuses, and pharynx (3) to resonate well. It changes how we perceive the sound.

To avoid cracking a soft note in the high register or low forte notes, the explosion we hear as the air hits the edge of the embouchure hole can be blunted by releasing a small amount of air through the nose just before the attack. This process sets the air column in motion. It does not prevent a precise attack, quite the contrary, in much the same way that a violin bow moves slightly before the note sounds, unless a strong attack is required. In a strong attack, the bow hits and bites the string.

In striving for an open flute sound, opening the nostrils and stretching the ears from the inside also seems to open the throat and other cavities. When we yawn, everything feels open and resonant. (In playing any wind instrument there are so many minor movements and changes that few of these can or should be adjusted, but the concept of an open air flow and an open sound will be transmitted by the brain to all parts of the motor nervous system. )

Control of blowing and inhaling through the nose is the first step toward circular blowing, commonly known as circular breathing. By releasing stored air through the nose before a breath, the stale air is emptied and replaced by fresh oxygen. As in nonmusical situations, flutists feel better when they can take in full breaths of fresh air.

Mouth

Some flutists believe that the shape of the mouth cavity has a decisive effect on the sound, and that inflating or vibrating the cheeks gives more resonance. I do not share this theory for more than one reason: flopping cheeks affect focus and distort the direction of the air column; and they impede fast register changes such as arpeggios when a player is under stress. If it works for you, however, do it.

Diaphragm

The diaphragm is often considered incorrectly to be a part of the air column that can be controlled. The diaphragm goes down during inhalation and up during exhalation. This is a well-meaning misconception. This happens completely automatically when we sleep and most of the time we are awake, but we can stop the process by holding our breath. This stops the movement of the diaphragm because of the action of the abdominal and chest muscles. As we breathe in, the abdominal muscles relax; they contract as we exhale. These respiratory muscles can hinder the automatic play of the diaphragm. To inhale, all tension must be let go in the abdomen, by dropping the tummy. Upon exhaling (blowing) the chest muscles have to keep the rib cage expanded to counter act the ribs' elasticity and weight, and the pressure generated by the abdominals.

For this reason, when a big breath is taken, the first concern should be not to blow until the initial third of the breath is spent through the natural resilience and gravity of the rib cage. This is an important chapter in teaching beginners and even some advanced players who complain about having insufficient breath, when in fact it is the blowing that needs to be managed better. I have mental concepts of the air and body: Tenuto (stability of the flute on the chin); Sostenuto (support from the abdominal muscles in the blowing process); Ritenuto (withholding with the upper chest muscles, which counter balances the abdominal muscles of support so all the air is not flushed out at once.)

Think of air as the vehicle of your sound. Put every molecule of air in motion and open all parts of the respiratory system, especially throat and nose, to open the sound. Don't think that tone starts at the embouchure and dies at the foot joint. Use muscle control to open all the resonators, not to force the volume. Releasing air through the nose helps difficult attacks.

Think more of the way you blow than about how you breathe. Breathing is the most natural activity: open the mouth and let the air m. Blowing is an art: air management produces music and expression, whereas breathing is often a dirty noise.

Footnotes

1 This vibration is not the same as vibrato.

2 The word "gorge" in French, same spelling and meaning, also means throat in its primary sense.

3 Cavity situated at the back of the mouth that accesses the nose, throat, and inner ear.


Michel Debost, former principal flutist of the Orchestre de Paris and professor of flute at the Paris Conservaeory, currently teaches at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, Ohio and presents masterclasses and recitals throughout the country and abroad.