I’m planning to order a keyless wooden flute soon. I am trying to decide whether or not I want to get one with a lined head joint and silver rings, or order the plain model. I’ve never owned a wooden flute before. I do own a Tipple, which doesn’t have a lined head joint, and I am fine playing this. Of course, never having tried anything else, I have no basis for comparison.
I will be playing for my own enjoyment, maybe with a local session, but mostly for myself. What advantages do a lined head joint offer over the unlined onel? I treat my instruments with care, and don’t subject them to unneeded stress, so the added strength of the lined head joint is not an issue with me. I find that I can tune my Tipple by pulling out the head joint about maybe 6.5mm to get the flute to voice at A-440. I’ve read that there is similar wiggle room in the unlined head joint. Also, I’m saving a few bucks by going with the unlined head joint. What are the advantages and disadvantages of both, in your experience?
I think you’re confusing having a headjoint with/without a tuning slide vs. an lined or unlined head. You can have a tuning slide with either. A lined head is not necessarily stronger than an unlined one, either. In fact, there may be more risk of splitting with a lined head due to different contraction/expansion rates of the wood wrapped around an inner metal tube.
In your case, playing for yourself, a tuning slide is an expensive convenience, but not essential, as long as the body tenon allows you to adjust the head sufficiently to play along with recordings (which may vary in base pitch).
Lined, half-lined and un-lined heads can have a different tonal quality.
As a young man, I found it useful to have a joint handy for the head. Now, not so much.
Kevin is spot on. A tuning slide is very useful if you’re playing with others, (but not really necessary). Whether the head should be lined or not is purely a subjective preference. I’ve owned flutes made both ways, and haven’t felt that it was a major factor. Find a flute that feels right, and grow into it. It’s the bore and embouchure that matter most, and your commitment to playing it well.
Also consider that the embouchure cut on most modern made wooden heads will be different to the embouchure on your Tipple. As you grow accustomed to your new flute, you will blow possibly sharper (or even flatter) than you do with the Tipple. (I’d hate to think you remain static. . .!). This can be an argument for a tuning slide.
If you have the money a tuning slide is a good idea. Also a fully lined headjoint tends to ‘cut through’ the sound
of other instruments better, it is often said. You don’t necessarily know what you will be doing with the flute in the future,
or the groups with which you will be playing, and these features in no way limit the quieter and more personal
playing you now have in mind.
(I mean, you can just take the body and blow a raspberry down it like a trumpet. Does that really sound worse than the results of all our embouchure heartache??? )
I’ve never owned a wooden flute before. I do own a Tipple, which doesn’t have a lined head joint, and I am fine playing this. Of course, never having tried anything else, I have no basis for comparison.
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