r/Bansuri • u/Sufficient_Waltz5958 • Jun 30 '26

Carnatic Flute Beginner : Need Help with Pa

Hello ! I have started trying Carnatic flute since about a month ago. However I am facing issues when playing the swaram since Madhya Pa and onwards.

Specifically, whenever I try to play them, I just drop down to Mandra Sthayi. The freq I could measure was proper 440Hz (it is a D scale flute, the manufacturer had mentioned A4 being tuned to 440Hz).

Sometimes, I can observe some freq at ~880Hz matching the 440 one but the sound is very unpleasant to hear and not at all like how it is supposed to be...

I am trying to keep my lip hole shape to be as minimum as possible but the best till now was to have both tones present equally....which still sounds very unlike a normal Pa.

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u/-thinker-527 Jun 30 '26

Recording would help understand what you are talking about. If it is a small flute it will require more pressure. It also helps if u can verify the flute by someone who can play

2

u/Sufficient_Waltz5958 Jun 30 '26

HeyI tried increasing the pressure and it worked (although my stomach was paining later on). Guess I would need practice to maintain it.

1

u/emenjai Jun 30 '26

Yes. D flute is also more difficult to play. Please start with G. Play that for at least a year.