Thanks Hans - I like this term ‘alu-delrin’, as it’s neater than ‘aluminium with delrin head’. I might be adopting that! As well as helping to give the E a bit more focus, the raised R3 also helps to keep that note in tune across the octaves. I haven’t thought of the raised area as helping with finger stretch, though.
From my own experiments, I felt it didn’t make a significant difference to the stretch either way but the finger stretches between the holes are the same as on a Pratten and the taper in the head bore helps with that.
Thanks for the response. I’m not a woodst, either. I recommended to the original poster that he consider a delrin flute.
I do believe that different materials sometimes have distinctively different sounds from one another, and that this
tends to be preserved across different designs. For instance, I think boxwood tends to have a distinctively different
sound from grenadilla, which tends to have its own sound. For whatever reason, I think different materials can have different distinctive acoustical properties. (If folks disagree with me about that, as of course some do, then
we’ve got an explanation for this difference right there; I think materials matter this way, they disagree.)
I’ve owned two seeries and played in passing delrin flutes belonging to others, the forbes and the copley and the M&E rudall, (and pf course I’ve owned a couple of pvcTipples),
and liked them all; thought they were good flutes. It seemed to me that delrin plastic has its own acoustical properties,
somewhat different from blackwood, analogous to the way that boxwood and blackwood differ acoustically,
and that while delrin was good flute-stuff, it was somewhat less lively, complex and expressive acoustically than
blackwood. I’ve played one ebonite flute and thought it might be the equal of wood, though of course this
small sample means little; except that it has been said here a number of times that ebonite has a more comples
sound than delrin. Perhaps it’s true.
Well, given all the disagreement, I’m willing to rethink the whole thing. I haven’t tried all the new delrin flutes
and, as mentioned, I would be glad to be mistaken about all this. Look forward to trying them one day.
If plastic sounds just as lively, and complex as blackwood, say, then I think we’re perhaps standing on the
brink of a revolution in flute making. as an apparently much cheaper material, every bit as good acoustically
as cocus or blackwood
or boxwood, and much tougher, is now available. The slipperiness mentioned earlier
can be remedied by roughening the delrin
flute’s surface in various ways, e.g. cross hatching or pasting on something rough at strategic places. Avoiding the added weight seems
not to be worth the added expense, at least for those for whom the added weight is no problem.
As always, let a thousand flowers bloom. Thanks to all for the conversation.
Thanks to everyone for the replies, experience, and advice. It looks like I have some homework to do… I will research as much as I can, in the meantime continue enjoying my Tipple, and then decide which road I would like to go down. Again, I am not so much an ITM session player so volume is not such a concern to me. Finding an instrument that can cover celtic, renaissance, and medieval music is my mainstay and will make the selection based on that. I’m sure most any quality instrument available could probably cover that
A note to add that, in the spirit of scientific research, etc. I have now played for several hours over two days
one of the best of the new generation of delrin flutes. It’s a good flute, beautifully designed, better than any
of the delrin flutes I’ve played in the past. I wrote earlier: ‘It seemed to me that delrin plastic has its own acoustical properties, somewhat different from blackwood, analogous to the way that boxwood and blackwood differ acoustically,
and that while delrin was good flute-stuff, it was somewhat less lively, complex and expressive acoustically than
blackwood.’ The gap seems to be closing and this is still my impression, FWIW.
So, Jim… given that Delrin flutes are typically built to the dimensions of wooden models by makers who can work to fine tolerances in either, are you suggesting that the Delrin’s somehow mysteriously maturing or what?
You’d recokon wrong I actually did just such a test, with that existing Olwell Delrin flute when it was owned by the orginal purchaser. I had that person play the delrin flute, an “identical” Olwell Blackwood flute, and Cocus Olwell, in random order, while I stood several feet away with my back to the player and absolutely no reflective surfaces in view. I identified each correctly, by sound. Either that or I just had amazingly good luck. The differences were subtle, in the extreme, but to my ear differences did exist. Every one of the Olwell flutes sounded fantastic and personally I do believe that the vast majority of people would not be able to tell difference between really well made delrin flutes from their wooden counterparts (from the same maker) in blind listening.
I also think the player’s technique and blowing style make a difference in how much difference can be heard as well, but that’s a whole different discussion, which I don’t really care to get into
How I wish I had been able to try that delrin Olwell! If I remember aright, the original owner said it didn’t
sound like the wooden Olwell, but that after awhile she found that it had its own strengths, when played
in a way that emphasized them.
If I may offer a speculation, one of the reasons the new generation delrin flutes may sound better is that
the makers are crafting the flutes to bring out the acoustical strengths of the particular material.
The flute I was playing was a Copley, Dave C is a fine craftsman and I felt, in playing the flute,
that the design might have been crafted to play to delrin’s strengths.
Think Dave’s Delrin designs are ‘identical’ to his wooden ones except that he doesn’t replicate the tuning slide ‘bulge’ in Delrin (because the Delrin rod he uses isn’t thick enough!) and his ‘standard’ Delrin design has the squared ellipse embouchure (also a moot point when mine and many others have been given the traditional elliptical shape).
I actually did just such a test, with that existing Olwell Delrin flute when it was owned by the orginal purchaser. I had that person play the delrin flute, an “identical” Olwell Blackwood flute, and Cocus Olwell, in random order, while I stood several feet away with my back to the player and absolutely no reflective surfaces in view. I identified each correctly, by sound. Either that or I just had amazingly good luck. The differences were subtle, in the extreme, but to my ear differences did exist. Every one of the Olwell flutes sounded fantastic and personally I do believe that the vast majority of people would not be able to tell difference between really well made delrin flutes from their wooden counterparts (from the same maker) in blind listening.