I’ve tried flutes by the same maker, both with
lined heads, but the first was lined with
brass and the second with silver. The latter
sounded significantly better. However
the brass flute was made well before the
silver. a couple of years, and the
difference may have been due to
other factors, e.g. improved embouchure
cutting, etc.
So, do you all think there’s an advantage
to silver lined heads? Opinions?
Yes, there is an advantage. Brass can get green with corrosion, and the green corrosive material can actually grow and change the inside of the bore. Silver can tarnish, but silver tarnish is much easier to get rid of, and it isn’t corrosive.
Hey, Jessie –
I remember lengthy, and probably arcane, molecule-density-affecting-tone discussions about sterling vs. plate silver vs. “argentum” or whatever the compound of the year was vs. 18k gold etc. from my old concert-flute days. Is there anything in that re: these head linings – i.e., silver being more brilliant-sounding because of smaller particles packed more closely together?
And you’re right about the corrosion. Icky bore, plus unsightly green fingers when you go to clean it. Eeew!
Thanks!
cat.
I really don’t think that the material (if it is reasonably similar in density and porosity to the control material) matters much, but density does have an effect on workability, so in the case of handmade instruments, there will be variability in workmanship, based on how easy or difficult the metal is to manipulate.
I know of at least one highly regarded flute maker who switched from using silver to brass to line his headjoints, because he said it didn’t make any difference in the sound and brass is a lot cheaper than silver.
Jessie’s argument about corrosion makes sense to me. The only way to do an experiment on this would be for a flute maker to make a headjoint with a replaceable lining, play it for a few years with silver and then replace the silver tubing with brass that had also been played for a few years.
Hey, thanks much! Very edificational. I’ve heard of at least one maker who gives you the option but (at least a couple of years ago) generally preferred silver. So I’ll be curious to see if head lining material becomes an option like embouchure cuts seem to be. What a great world we live in!
Well, I don’t mean to rouse the sleeping–does material
affect tonal quality–debate. Concert flutes
are made of silver, not brass, and sometimes
of gold, I’ve now learned, which appears
to have a brilliant sound.
Is there anything to the idea that
silver lined heads sound better
simply because of the tonal
qualities of the silver?
I’ve played both nickel and silver
Copeland high Ds and the latter had
a stronger yet less shrill sound, I
thought. Of course this may not be
because of the material; though I do think
it’s plain that nickel Copeland high Ds
tend to sound different from brass ones.
Brass is warmer; nickel brighter.
As far as tone goes, it really boils down to how sensitive and/or developed one’s ear is: Some people can’t seem to tell the sound of a concrete flute from a carrot 
so I imagine nickel or silver or brass or no headliner wouldn’t make a difference.
OTH some folks, including a well known maker or two, will tell you the tuning slide material can make for slight differences in tone.
So how’s your ear? 
Loren
I know there were a lot of opinions about it in concert-flute land … gold was supposed to be warmer, nickel & plate silver brighter, and sterling somewhere in between … but that was a long time ago. And then there was the whole “thinwall vs. regular wall” debate … or the silver body and gold lip-plate/vice-versa combo question, etc. Once again, it’s all in the player, I suppose. But I do find this discussion fascinating, especially since I was planning to see if I could get sterling lining on my dream flute. It may be all in my perception, but I’ve always preferred sterling the best for resonance, response, etc. But of course, we’ll have to see what it costs…
I do think that metal sounds different from wood, so a metal liner would, indeed, sound different from an unlined head.
I prefer sterling. The price difference between a brass and a silver head-jint lining is relatively minor when the price of the flute is considered.
… Although I should probably mention that one of the flutes I’m currently playing has an unlined head, and I like it just fine. A little less resonant than the nickel-silver lined head on my other, but with a nice dark reedy quality. And I especially like not having two different rates of expansion/contraction going on there … I keep thinking that’s got to create some torque or warp opportunities w/ temperature changes etc.
I’m calling Aran Olwell right now and asking him to make me a sterling lined carrot flute.
Loren
And would you be havin’ th’ sterling in your head joint, Mr. L.?
(I know it was a requirement for someone else we know.)
Good to hear the cost isn’t that much different; I’ll proceed with sterling.
Thanks!
Loren, could you put me in for an 18k spaghetti squash while you’re at it?
Of course. Let’s just hope I don’t develop a carrot allergy! 
Loren
That will make it MUCH harder to eat.
And lousy cole-slaw.
… But so rich in trace minerals and, of course, vitamin Ag.
I don’t have any experience experimenting with different linings for wooden flute headjoints, but I did recently go through a selection process for a new headjoint for my Haynes silver flute. After auditioning more than a dozen different headjoints, I was surprised at how different they can sound, and the effect they can have on both the color of the tone and the relative facility of reaching high vs. low notes on a given flute. Some were much better matches for my instrument than others. I wound up selecting a silver headjoint with a 14k gold riser (the area just below the lip plate that connects to the body tube. The more dense gold made a distinct difference in sound to my ear - warmer, more resonent, better projection.
Given that experience, I’d have to guess that different materials in a wooden headjoint could also make a difference, though perhaps not as much as the cut of the embouchure hole itself.
I’m no expert on this, but those are my thoughts.