Double flute

What it means

The term double flute is used in two meanings. On the one hand it designates wind instruments with two playing tubes lying side by side that are blown at the same time; such double pipes are known from antiquity and from various folk music traditions and make it possible to combine a melody with a drone note or with a second voice. On the other hand, double flute is an organ stop: here each pipe has two mouths, that is, two cut-ups, whereby a full, round, and sustaining flute tone arises.

Musical use

With the double pipes, the musical peculiarity lies in the fact that a single player plays in several parts — depending on the construction as a melody with a sustained drone or as two voices led in parallel. This shapes the melody: it moves within a frame that fits the fixed accompanying note. With the organ stop of the same name, it is a matter of fullness of sound: the doubled number of mouths gives the pipe more fundamental and less sharpness, which is why the stop is gladly used for sustained melodic voices. The two meanings have nothing to do with each other except the name, which is explained by the double design.

Performance practice

Whoever plays a double pipe must supply both tubes with sufficient air at the same time; the air requirement is correspondingly high, and the response reacts sensitively to uneven pressure. First practise each tube individually, if the construction allows it, and then put them together. The intonation between the two tubes is the critical point and depends strongly on temperature and humidity. On the organ, the double flute is to be treated as a solo stop: register it with a slender accompaniment so that its round sound is not covered. Information on the construction types of historical double pipes has been transmitted inconsistently.

Note also, with double pipes, that the two tubes influence each other: if one is fingered, the response of the other also changes. Practise therefore in small steps and with calm, constant breath pressure. With the organ stop of the same name the following applies: it is well suited as a solo stop for sustained melodies but demands a clearly weaker accompaniment, because it sounds fundamental-heavy and not very penetrating. Check on each instrument how strong the available stop actually is before you fix a registration.