Ok, so the last two days I’ve been depressed, down because my flute playing was not sounding good to me. Something seemed off, like the flute had a leak in it, something was not right. I couldn’t get the volume and clarity of tone I usually get, nor the responsiveness.
Today, I finally shaved off 4 days of beard and, voila, my flute and playing were back to what I expect. It amazed me that microns, i.e. the layer of whisker between my lip and flute, could have such a pronounced difference.
Just goes to show how important miticulous attention to set up and placement is to good fluting.
Is that lower lip ? I have a beard but have had to start shaving that bit. Decided it was reduced sensation rather the beard acting as a spacer. Looks a bit eccentric but what the heck.
This isn’t the first time I’ve thought of this, and it definitely also true in my case. I have no idea how people with full beards play the flute. Sometimes on the weekends, if I’m too lazy to shave, I’ll still just shave quickly below my lower lip so I can play. I just can’t get a good air seal otherwise.
It doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive. That is, those with a beard adjust their embouchures accordingly. Those used to not having beards have a differently adjusted embouchure and would take to time to acclimate to the beard.
And Greenspider, my avatar is of my past self as a turn of the 20th century Jewish klezmer flute player. I do look a little like the man from the past, sans the beard and the Jew fro, though I can get that bushy after 6 months.
the Flute Beards?