Lined vs unlined heads

Irish Flute
1

I would appreciate your opinions on lined or unlined headjoints. I’ve been playing a silver boehm flute for years and am new to Irish flute. I have a M&E polymer but want to try wood. Pros? Cons?

Thanks for your help.

2

There really are three primary options on a wooden flute:

  1. Unlined - no tuning barrel or slide, but the tennon is usually long enough to tune with. Some say the gap causes a slight tuning issue in the upper octave around A and B. This style includes McGee’s MDT which is a neat compromise method and addresses any slight tuning issues an unlined headjoint has. Supposedly, unlined headjoint are less likely to crack. They are less tunable than a flute with a slide, so if you play with wacky box players who play way sharp or flat it could be a problem (otherwise you’ll be fine).

  2. Partially Lined - the lining is in the barrel and part of the headjoint. It supposedly gives a “woodier” tone. Some say less likely to crack than a fully lined headjoint, others disagree. To confuse matters, many folks here use “unlined” when they really mean partially lined.

  3. Fully lined - metal runs through the barrel and the headjoint. Some folks say they project more.

Really, it’s a personal choice - whatever you like better. I’ve played with all three varieties. I play with enough wacky musicians that I prefer to have a slide (or a really long tennon that’ll tune sharp).

Eric

3

Thanks for the reply, Jayhawk. I figured the choice would be subjective. I appreciate the information combined with your experience playing on all 3 types. I think I’ll go for lined because I like the idea of a tuning slide. I need all the help I can get!

4

One possible issue is that lined heads are heavier, and thus can affect balance. I’ve never played the same flute with lined and unlined heads, so it’s hard to separate influence of the head from everything else, but I find unlined, or partially lined heads to give a warmer sound.

Hugh

5

And lined heads tend (note ‘tend’) to be brighter and
to better ‘cut through’ or project.

6

Taking Jayhawk’s numbering system.

Pros:

  1. The all-wood flute tends, not surprisingly, to have the woodiest sound. It’s by far the lightest and best-balanced.

  2. The flute with slide but unlined head tends to have a woodier sound than the lined head. Also it is fully tunable.

  3. The lined head may have a brighter sound than the others. It tends to project or cut through more than unlined heads.

Cons:

  1. Isn’t much tunable. This isn’t a problem for some players.

  2. Is somewhat more head-heavy than the all-wood flute. May not project as well as a lined head.

  3. More head-heavy than 2. Sound is less woody than the others.

As you observed, it’s all subjective. I haven’t come across an Irish flute that sounds better than an Olwell all-wood flute. OTOH, I play flat, so my flute of choice is an Olwell with a slide and unlined head.

7

You sure you don’t want to sell that flute, cause I’m still lookin’… :smiling_imp:


Loren

8

Sorry, mon, I can’t. I (more precisely my wife) have an order for an exact copy fully keyed. It’s so old that Patrick can’t be sure of the dimensions, so we have to return it to him when our number comes up.