Does any one know if Tony Dixon makes flute heads for his F/G/A whistles? I know he does for C/D.
Thanks!
Eric
Yes, and the Whistle Shop sell them separately. Check under “Whistle mouthpieces”.
Sonja
I see whistle heads there, but no flute ones. I would like to get one for my Dixon G too, but my email got bounced. Trying agian.
Flute heads are available on that page but not pictured.
http://www.thewhistleshop.com/catalog/whistles/heads/mouthpieces.html
#707 - Dixon Piccolo (Soprano) Head - $10.40
#704 - Dixon Alto Flute Head - $15.00
#708 - Dixon Low Flute Head - $20.00
Thanks, I thought I WAS at the bottom of the page.
My question is are they easy for a beginner to play?
Ron
Pretty easy - I’m very much a beginner on flute and don’t have too much trouble (the couple of months I spent practicing on one of the $6 Cooperman plastic fifes before I bought the Dixon helped a lot). I still have a lot of issues with things like breath control and fingering without dropping the flute (I wish this last was a joke! 
) but I can usually get a pretty good tone from it.
One amusing note - mine is a low D Duo flute/whistle, and I find the upper/lower octaves to be completely reversed in timbre when I switch heads. With the whistle head, the upper octave is much stronger than the lower. With the flute head, the lower octave is stronger, and the lowest notes positively boom.
In my very limited unqualified experience, the bigger (lower) the flute, the easier it is to develop embouchure on. I have a high D Dixon head (which is actually a piccolo, not a flute), and that’s difficult, but my (low) G-ish bamboo and my boehm flute are just fine, I suspect it’s because the embouchure holes are bigger and easier to focus the airstream into.
No.
Which is really sad because a flute/whistle combo concept is a neat idea. But I had a high D duo and couldn’t get a peep out of the piccalo head. I’ve asked others on the board about the low D/G combos, but they didn’t like them, either. It’s bound to fustrate you more than encourage you, so I wouldn’t even bother trying them out.
But I’ve heard positive feedback on AlMount Flutes . . . and they are in the same price range as the Dixons.
I also have heard only good things about Alan’s flutes.
I’ve got two of Alan’s flutes, a D and an F, and really like them. A flute player that I took brief lessons from in Ireland didn’t like the D because she said it took too much air, but she also didn’t like nearly every make of whistle that people brought to her class (she played a gen), so I don’t know how much of that was real objection and how much was … well, whatever it is that makes people like only certain brands.
It’s true that it does take a good amount of air, at least for me, and I normally don’t play flute, so your mileage may vary. I have gotten a little better, though, and even my flute teacher admitted that it had a nice tone at the end of the week.
Takes a real pounding in travel and doesn’t give up, either. 
I’ve temporarily misplaced my F flute after my last trip, though. Either it’s yet to be unpacked from some corner, it’s gotten jammed in the car, or one of the Rocky Mountain Boys has nicked it… 
Thanks for the words. I was thinking of getting a Dixon low D and I thought I made get the duo. I have made 2 pvc flutes that I can get sound out of but not consistently in the low notes. They are both in G, 2 different designs. I thought if I buy something made by someone who knows what he’s doing it might be easier.
Ron
If you’re getting the low D anyway, the flute head is only a little extra - go for it!
I’ll probably, eventually, end up with a “real” flute like a Dixon 3-piece or one of the M & E Rudall & Rose models. But I plan to hold off on that until I’m a LOT better on the Duo.
Crom, would you bring your duo to the SF gathering? I would like for my wife to try it out! That would certainly give her something to be interested in. She can play notes on the flute (less than 3 minutes to get a nice sound on a Dixon 3 piece) we have, a High C nickle plated job.
Steven
Why not? I’d be curious to see what someone who knows flute can do with it - I think a few of the other folks coming can show us how it’s done.
I’ll also bring my new Serpent Python F for folks to drool over. That’s a much better instrument than I am an instrumentalist.
I just recently got a Serpent A and G, will be interesting to compare them.
Just my opinion, but: you may not be doing yourself a service by waiting until you improve on the Duo before getting a good conical flute. Well, you’ll be doing your bank balance a favor, sure . . .
A good conical flute, with a good embouchure cut, plays so much better and differently than a cheapie cylindrical flute that I’m not sure you’ll get much benefit from staying for long with the two-piece Dixon. Although a long apprenticeship on the Duo may make you appreciate your next (quality) flute that much more. The finger spacing on the conical is different (easier, too), the tuning between octaves is different, the embouchure you’ll need is likely to be different, and so on. The Duo may help you decide whehter you even want to try a better flute, but I don’t think it’s likely to teach you enough about playing a conical flute to warrant holding off on the purchase of a good conical flute, assuming you can afford the one you want.
The other good option is to look into a bamboo flute by Patrick Olwell or by Tallgrass Winds (Steve Cox). Bamboo flutes are pretty inexpensive (under $100), and these makers both put a lot of time into their instruments, and into their treatment of the embouchure cut, and the resulting instrument is a better stepping stone to a conical flute than any plastic cylindrical flute I’ve played. In fact, the Olwell and Cox bamboo flutes are professional-quality, serious instruments, and you may choose to stick with them in favor of a polymer conical flute (depending on the sound you’re after).
Just my 2 pennies, of course.
You’re quite right, of course - if I am at all serious, I need to upgrade. But until I am serious about it (and can play at least a few simple tunes through with adequate phrasing and tone without dropping the flute) I’ll hold off.
I’m still concentrating primarily on improving my whistle playing - adding a tune or two a week while practicing the tunes I do know, working on technique, etc. Though I’ve picked up 20 or so tunes from various other sources, I’m focused on Bill Och’s Clarke tutor, spending a lot of time on each tune.
Once I’ve finished the Clarke book (currently polishing “Kemp’s Jig”) I’ll relax a bit on whistle and start pushing the flute more. And depending on how flush I’m feeling will buy either the Dixon 3-piece or the M&E Rudall & Rose model.
But every time I try an easy piece like “The Sheigh o’ Rye” (from A Dossan of Heather) on the flute and hear those lovely low D’s booming out I know I want a flute someday soon.