Left Index Pain & switching to an Irish flute

[Peter_Duggan]

@LynnB

I know wood choice really shouldn’t matter, but I just find that mopane so beautiful. And I’m playing for enjoyment, as a hobby, so having a flute I find gorgeous will add to my enjoyment.

Of course it should matter! Which is why I’ve let the lovely Solomon blackwood tempt me back to wood for my Dave Copley keyed flute when I thought I was going for Delrin again and remained unmoved by the regular African blackwood. So go for the mopane if you think it’ll make you happy because it’s your flute and your choice…

@jim stone

FWIW, casey’s boxwood ff is lighter than the mopane, boxwood being a less dense, hence lighter, wood.

Also (generically) prone to warping, which doesn’t bother some but upsets me (a wood I used to like but no longer trust!), though Casey seems fairly confident about the quality of his box…

Also, IMHO, his boxwood flute sounds better. I’ve played them both.

Both at the same stage of your flute-playing career? While working solely/mostly at them to explore and develop their capabilities without the potentially counterproductive distractions (different embouchures, bores, hole configurations etc.) of other flutes?

[O_Muirgheasain]

@LynnB

Well the keywork and rods on a Boehm style flute are heavy and the weight isn’t distributed evenly - making the flute want to roll back.

The standard Boehm flute is quite well balanced, as it is, in terms of rotational balance.

You want to see out of balance? Try adding a C# trill mechanism, and then you will see out of balance!

Seriously, a standard Boehm flute can balance quite easily.