Drone - sound base for tuning and improvisation

What is “Drone” in the musical sense?

Drones are sounds of harmonic or monophonic effects, in which the note or chord sounds continuously creating an atmosphere of resonance with the flute as long as it is propagated in harmonic tones with the fundamental note that will be played on the flute. A drone effect can be achieved through a sustained sound or through the repetition of a note. Most often it establishes a tonality upon which the rest of the piece is built. A drone can be instrumental, vocal, or both. The drone (both instrumental and vocal) can be placed in different tracks of the polyphonic texture: in the lowest part, in the highest part, or in the middle. The drone is most often placed on the tonic or dominant. The tonic or fundamental note of the native flute is usually the tuning key (root note), so if for example, you play a flute tuned in A, you can choose a drone in the key of A. It is also important to choose the drone at the same tuning frequency as your flute, at the moment we are producing drones tuned in A 440 hz and A 432 hz.

There are double or triple flutes that have a tube with the drone function, there are instruments that perform this function as well, such as the bagpipe, the shruti box, the tampura, the harmonium, etc… In India it is very common to use these instruments to sustain and structure the overall tuning base to create a resonant atmosphere for singers and flutists.

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I am creating drones and periodically adding them to our playlists so that you can enjoy this magic, play, sing, chant spontaneously and use them without limit for free. But as described above, if you are going to test a drone with a flute, remember to choose the playlist that corresponds to the tuning frequency of your flute, being 432 or 440 hz, as well as the key note. For example, if your flute is tuned in A 440 hz – use the playlist that contains the information “A 440”, and so on, if you are going to play a flute whose tonic (key tuning note) or improvisation tonic is C and the instrument is tuned in A 432 hz, choose the playlist that contains “C 432”.

The term Drone in music has to do with musical bases, something like a filling, an atmosphere or ideal environment to relax, meditate and create a musical improvisation with chants and flutes. You can play a flute using these bases, lead a meditation, tell a story, do a sound healing session and holistic therapies or all of this in a single looping base. A drone is a sustained tone and playing or singing with a drone allows you to hear and adjust in relation to a continuous reference tone. Tuning a drone develops awareness of frequency relationships that can be transmitted harmonically, as it adds a harmonic element that enhances the musicality of the scale and the passage work. As in many musical cultures, playing with a drone also provides a tonal atmosphere and a harmonic basis for improvisation.

Each tone carries an energy and the resonance of this vibration can be received and perceived in different ways for each person, to take advantage of the sound quality, we recommend the use of a good headphone or good quality speaker. Experiment and observe what you feel when meditating on each of these vibrations, observe what sensation, emotion, feeling, mood and images you perceived, in which part of the body you felt resonance, unravel the geography of your inner tuning.

To play a flute with the drone, and feel the power of resonance, first know what will be the tonic of your improvisation or the tuning of the instrument, in the title of the playlist and of each base its predominant key is described.

If you want to purchase the album with high quality files to play in looping without needing to be connected to the internet, we sell it here!

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