Tone Sound

[dsn94]

Guys, I've been practicing Dizi for almost 5 months, but I am not satisfied with the quality of the tone produced. I can blow and produce desired tone, but I can still hear the "wind" or the "wheezing" sound loud enough coming from my mouth, no matter how hard or slow I blow. Is there really any exercise or something I can work with to tackle this problem? All my teacher said is I need to find the right  "feeling" when blowing Dizi.

[theblackadder]

I had this issue in the early stages of playing the western flute.

Here's what I was taught by my teacher:
-Try to form the smallest aperture possible and keep your lips, face muscles relaxed. Don't strain to make it small.
-Release the smallest amount of air possible, keep the embouchure steady but don't tense up. To really blow very softly, you have to relax not only the lips and face, but also your chest. Imagine your lungs relaxing and just allow air to escape gently.
-If done right, this small weak jet of air should create a very soft whistle tone when it hits the edge of the tone hole. (I've tried on the dizi, not all have good enough edges to produce this but most do. The western flute has a much sharper edge shape and whistles more consistently.)
-Keep practicing that until you can whip out that whistle tone on demand. Your problem will be long gone before you reach this stage though.
-Next go from the weak whistle tone to a normal note to a strongly blown note and then back all in one breath. Take care not to tense up.
-Try octaves with the weak whistle tone.

This exercise teaches air jet control and economical use of breath by controlling your embouchure opening and air pressure.
Your wheezing sound implies something like your breath is turbulent, blow from deep within, blow with the image of expelling warm air.
Don't blow with too much effort, it should be relaxed like exhaling.

Your teacher sounds lazy to be honest...

[dsn94]

I see.. Sometimes the wheezing is gone, but mostly exists.. Actually my teacher also said that I need to adjust the angle of blowing, keep practicing blowing long note for each note, and find the right amount of "power" needed to produce the desired tone, it needs to come from diaphragm instead of lungs. I did a lot of things like changing the shape of the lips, changing the angle, but not much improvement. Well I thought "how exactly I must blow" is something cannot be taught by anyone and must be discovered by oneself.

"Your wheezing sound implies something like your breath is turbulent, blown from deep within, blow with the image of expelling warm air"
I am not really sure what it means, but I am quite certain that it's definitely warm air. Is there anything wrong with that?

Anyway, thank you for your advice.. I will try it.

[davidmdahl]

I agree with Blackadder's post. I was trying to come up with similar advice, but I find it hard to do in a forum post. These concepts are very hard to understand by only written words. To dsn94 I suggest finding a Western (Boehm) flute teacher to supplement your dizi studies, for even just a few lessons. A good flute teacher should be able to help you form an appropriate embouchure, and other basics of good sound. It is not good to generalize with Chinese music teachers, but my experience has often been that they are better at teaching Chinese style than effective technique. Some dizi teachers are self-taught, and don't have a good grasp on effective teaching and playing. The current flute pedagogy has been highly refined over the past 50 or so years, and a teacher who is plugged into recent teaching techniques should be a big help to you.

Best wishes,

David

[davidmdahl]

Mar 8, 2018 17:39:09 GMT dsn94 said:

I see.. Sometimes the wheezing is gone, but mostly exists.. Actually my teacher also said that I need to adjust the angle of blowing, keep practicing blowing long note for each note, and find the right amount of "power" needed to produce the desired tone, it needs to come from diaphragm instead of lungs. I did a lot of things like changing the shape of the lips, changing the angle, but not much improvement. Well I thought "how exactly I must blow" is something cannot be taught by anyone and must be discovered by oneself.

There is some good advice in what you relate from your teacher. I would substitute stomach area muscles for diaphragm though. The diaphragm is a muscle used for drawing a breath, and has nothing to do with blowing. If "blow from your diaphragm" helps you to avoid raising your shoulders when drawing in a breath, then maybe it is the correct imagery for you.

Good sound can be taught, but it is also something that you will discover for yourself. A good teacher will help you find that good sound. One common technique is to practice in front of a mirror. You can identify the look of your embouchure when the sound is good and how it looks differently when the sound is not so good. You might also make a video of yourself and note what you are doing. Sometimes bad posture is not obvious when we are playing, but sticks out like a sore thumb on video.

Best wishes,

David

[theblackadder]

Mar 8, 2018 17:39:09 GMT dsn94 said:

"Your wheezing sound implies something like your breath is turbulent, blown from deep within, blow with the image of expelling warm air"
I am not really sure what it means, but I am quite certain that it's definitely warm air. Is there anything wrong with that?

Sorry, I meant blow from deep within, it will be more steady and silent.

[phoenixiao]

Lots of good advice here. Hopefully more won't confuse you.

My teacher's guidance has been similar:
1) Practise long notes, i.e., abdominal breath with long exhale for one single note. The long notes help us to relax overall, especially facial muscles, and increase finer awareness of embouchure. When we're tensed up we actually are less aware.
2) Practise not holding back when exhaling, let all the air out but not in one big gush. This is to re-train ourselves to use abdominal breath and strengthen the new muscles involved. If we get tired in standing posture, shift to sitting down. Seated posture helps support the abdominal area.
3) When the above produces stable pitch (after much practice), try to regulate the air flowing out by refining the embouchure. The air stream is fine but not actually weak. Also do not round the lips to tighten embouchure but let it relax into a more natural slit.

I faced similar challenges with note quality, e.g., too weak, unstable, "leaking", and spent a lot of time frustrating myself over "fixing" my mouth. Interestingly, going back to the basics on breath and relaxed state helped to overcome it.