I enquired about the possibility of buying a flute from a maker
abroad who responded that, given CITES (and the fact that he has no
boxwood) he could only make me a flute in Mopane. My impression over
the years has been that blackwood is favored and that it has a better sound.
Also I wonder if mopane is more heavy. I’d like to know what folks think.
Mopane is slightly less dense than blackwood. (Lighter) But it has very similar hardness and density numbers, and is an oily wood just like blackwood. Very, very similar.
I haven’t played or heard one in mopane myself(at least in person) but logic and physics says that the design and construction will be far more impactful on tone than the material. I’d imagine that you would get as much difference between two identical blackwood flutes as you would between identical blackwood and mopane flutes. The air column and how it is disturbed (meaning the embouchure hole) is the most important part of any flute.
The texture of the interior will have a tiny impact, as well as any bit of resonance the wood has. There is no way to quantify such a thing, but my personal gut feeling is that, for such a similar wood, the difference would be ~1%. Now, if somebody would care to tell me what 1% of personal subjectivity comes to, that’s be swell.
Thank you. This is conventional wisdom, I know. And a consequence is that a delrin flute, a boxwood flute and a blackwood flute will all sound pretty much the same, all other things being equal. I don’t believe that, personally, on account of lots of hands on experience. I have a different theory, in fact, which I won’t go into in this thread (though I’ve argued for it elsewhere on this board). I recall that Casey Burns, at least when he began making low key flutes (Bb) made the headjoint of blackwood and the body of mopane, I believe because he thought a blackwood headjoint would sound better and more defined than an all mopane flute. I do not wish to rehearse the hoary debate about whether materials make a difference to sound. I’m actually interested in people who have played both mopane and blackwood flutes and will share their subjective impressions. Thanks.
I had a head made of mopane for quite a nice looking French flute. I mentioned my experience with it a couple of years ago and did not get any support, but will repeat it anyway. The thing tastes funny! As soon as
I start playing it, I feel like I have just put walnut shells or some wood in my mouth. (I was once a kid too) I don’t slobber that badly, but it doesn’t take much. Anyway, I don’t know if this is the mopane itself, some treatment to it, or a particular allergy. I have not experienced this funny taste with Blackwood, boxwood, delrin, or even cocus. But I do with this mopane head and don’t think it is all in my own head. 
Most interesting. I haven’t had that experience, though I haven’t myself played
mopane much. The closest I’ve come is a desire to eat the flute, mopane looking
so luscious.
p.s. I remember people saying that mopane had a ‘warmer’ sound than blackwood,
but this was well over a decade ago. I wonder what people say now.
Jim, you may remember this thread from a few years ago, where Terry made two flutes in blackwood and mopane:
https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/mcgoldrick-mcsherry-new-album/91/1
Casual testing showed no real difference in tone, and weight was almost identical. Just one data point, and each maker’s supply of mopane and blackwood might vary more than this, but I thought that was interesting.
I think the litmus test in a case like this would be swapping the mopane head between the two bodies to see if there’s a difference, and then comparing that to the blackwood head swapped between the two bodies.
There are so many variables at play that it’s hard if not impossible to do a truly controlled comparison. I’ve never personally seen two identical headjoints from the same maker; they may say they’re identical or close to it, but unless it’s all been done by machine with no hand work at all (e.g. no undercutting) there are bound to be some small differences that might affect the sound.
I have a mopane whistle by Chris Abell, and a blackwood whistle. The two of them sound different, but they were made about 15 years apart and he made some modifications to his fipples and the bores during that time so there’s no way to compare the two. I will say that a mopane whistle looks kind of like a Tootsie roll. 
Thanks everybody. Yes, I forgot that thread!
It sounds as though the tonal differences tween
blackwood and mopane, if they exist at all, are
minimal. Also nice to know mopane is somewhat lighter.
Much appreciate everybody’s input! Tootsie rolls. Yum!
I’ve tried every permutation of tests with two flutes of identical design, one in Mopane and the other in Blackwood (Including swapping heads and mixing the woods (as it were)). There is no perceptible difference, I’m sure some people can manage to persuade themselves that there is a difference, but there isn’t.
H
https://soundcloud.com/holmesflute/jug-of-punch-eddie-kellys-reels-n-holmes-dave-wood-guitar
Hi Jim,
Is it too late to contribute, did you already order it? I’ve been listening to recordings on youtube (hoping to buy my first Irish flute, and unsure about makers, styles, woods) and I have some things to share.
FWIW, it seems that most people either don’t notice any difference, or if they do, feel that it’s insignificant. But that doesn’t mean that’s true for everyone. In my case, it took listening to multiple recordings, back to back, several times, to get a sense of what I think of the different woods, and to me there are noticeable differences, not just in flavor but in how they play. Having said that, I don’t want to encourage snobbery, and I know that even a Maple flute can play Irish music beautifully.
I won’t share my two cents until I know whether you already ordered a Mopane, but in case you didn’t, here’s something to go on with, if you’re interested. It’s a video of Boxwood, Mopane, and African Blackwood flutes, played back to back by Sylvain Barou. They’re all Windward, so very tight manufacturing standards, and the room is big so you can hear the acoustics ring out. Densities are 61lbs/cf, 67lbs, and 79lbs, respectively, according to wood-database.com
“Sylvain Barou playing selection of Windward flutes”:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-Yo_hZOeDo
I think this makes as good a test as any to whether or not you personally notice any differences, and if so, whether it’s important to you. He’s a superb player (putting it mildly), so he can really push the flute and show what it’s made of, so to speak.
Thank you!
I played a mopane flute for about 12 years, and I really liked the wood as a flute-making material. It was extremely stable, regardless of temperature or humidity conditions, developed a glassy-smooth bore (oiling seemed optional), and looked great (it darkened significantly over the years but retained a bit of a redish-brown tint). I won’t wade into the material-effect-on-tone waters, Given the choice between blackwood and mopane, I’d have no hesitations choosing mopane.
Unless they were completely blind tests, it’s impossible to eliminate the possibility of hearing what you wanted or expected to hear.
It’s a video of Boxwood, Mopane, and African Blackwood flutes, played back to back by Sylvain Barou. They’re all Windward, so very tight manufacturing standards, and the room is big so you can hear the acoustics ring out
No matter how tight their manufacturing standards, it’s ultimately more a test of different Windward flutes than different woods.
And finally, YouTube sound quality as evidence for crucial differences in anything?
Love my mopane Casey Burns folk flute and mopane Glen Watson 4-keyed. Hard to tell the difference with blackwood (of which I’ve had several), I say go for it. Plus, in my view, mopane has a nicer appearance than blackwood.
Jim, having worked with and played both mopane and blackwood, I’d say the difference will be imperceptible. Mopane is just a few per cent less dense than blackwood. And as has been pointed out, it’s very fine-grained and oily, so it takes a wonderful finish.
I haven’t found any taste to it as BlueSalmon did. It does have just a hint of a nutty aroma when you turn it, but then it doesn’t have nearly the strong scent of many of the rosewoods. I inadvisedly got a couple of new to me species just before the CITES stuff hit the fan (they’re called East Indian and, I think, Burmese). Those things stink. If I bring one upstairs after turning it, the whole house smells like a rose garden.
Jim: You’re welcome! (another clip I found interesting, and my two cents, to follow below)
Chas: I was using the word “flavor” metaphorically, as in the timbre or color of the sound. But interesting story about the aroma of rosewoods! To clarify about density, Mopane is 15% less dense than ABW on average, according to the wood-database (67lbs is 84.8% of 79lbs).
Peter: If a tree plays a flute in the woods, and the whole forest is around to hear it, is it good music?
For Jim, and anyone else who might be curious about differences between Mopane and African Blackwood, there’s a deft player by the name of Brendan Mulholland who owns a Blackwood flute and what appears to me to be a Mopane flute (made of brick-red wood), and occasionally puts the red flute’s head on the Blackwood body. Here’s an occasion he did this: (this is one song from the concert, YT has others)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oSyBHjP5KE
I chose this song because at the 2:19 mark he shifts to playing the tune in the low notes (you may notice that the audience cheers here). I don’t think it would sound the same on an all-Blackwood flute. To my ears the Mopane sounds less dark and hard in the low notes than Blackwood typically does. So the notes sound more similar in timbre to the mids, making the flute more melodic, with smoother transitions. Blackwood can sound borderline percussive at the low end, with more contrast. The piece he plays is recognizable and familiar, but it might not be if the flute was honking out a hard low D, instead of a mellower note.
My two cents on Mopane compared to African Blackwood:
To me, Mopane sounds: warmer, more reedy, friendlier, simpler. More similar across it’s tonal range. In a sense “louder" in the low to mid range, though softer and less focused.
The same generally holds true IMO for other less dense woods to varying degrees. (Cocuswood at 74lbs, Cocobolo 69lbs, and Boxwood at 61lbs.) This may be partly why Stephane Morvan mentions people using Mopane as a Cocus alternative.
While to me ABW sounds: firmer, crisper, colder, and richer. More dramatic, bigger contrast from low to high, with darker more focused punchy lows and more uplifting, clearer, glassy-yet-fluidly-dynamic highs. ABW lows can be so dark they’re almost muffled. ( though of course this muffling is also affected by bore and wall dimensions) On the flip side, ABW has power and density in the lows.
I think a highly skillful player can push ABW further and get more dynamics out of it (to me this is demonstrated by Sylvain clip I linked to previously). However, it may be harder to play for the average player, as the low end offers more resistance to vibration, so is less responsive, but the effect is minor.
So I think it’s up to the player, what they hear, like, and want to work with. Most globally known players choose Blackwood to perform with most of the time, but that doesn’t mean it’s best for every player, occasion or style of music. I myself love it, but I also love the warmer sound of Cocus, and other woods.
The first flute he plays is made of African olive, not boxwood.
Whoops! Thanks Kmag for pointing that out! I’ve taken in a lot recently and got a bit turned around.
I apologize for not double checking my facts.
I think I got confused because it’s is a very similar color, and after checking I see Olive is only 1lb heavier than Boxwood (62lbs vs 61), so it would have a similar innate range of potential frequencies to resonate at.
But other things affect and select the frequencies. I see it also has fairly close numbers for hardness, strength and flexibility, but other factors can include chemistry (tannins, oils, waxes, resins) and microstructure (pores, grain, homogeneity).
I realize the idea that flute bodies resonate isn’t entirely accepted fact, but anyone who’s felt a flute vibrate realizes that this does occur some of the time, and usually moreso with some notes than others.
Flute acoustics are more complicated than a simple column of vibrating air being contained in a tube.
I know this explaination has become widely accepted, but it simply doesn’t take into account the physics of sound.
A container also acts, to varying degrees, as:
-Resonator (sympathetic vibration)
-Reflector (resistance to absorbtion)
-Filter (absorption and re-emission)
I appreciate these observations, Blue Salmon, many of which were my own impressions about the sound of these woods.
As to the contribution of the container, the last theory I expressed on these pages is that the molecular structure of the container conditions to some extent the vibrating column of air within, and so affects the sound. It doesn’t affect sound by radiating it outside the flute by vibrating, however. But heaven knows whether this is at all true.
Thanks to everybody! Will listen again to the clips. Very glad you’all are here.
Feeling the flute seemingly come “alive” under my fingers with a little vibration is a wonderful thing. However, I’m fairly sure that almost all of what I’m feeling is the air column inside the flute, buzzing under my fingers when they’re closing the open holes.
On a pre-Boehm flute design where you have at least one or two fingers closing a hole and “touching” the air column most of the time, it’s very difficult to tease out what part of this subjective feeling of vibration is due to the actual container material. And then, consider that players differ in their ability to drive a flute to its full potential – really getting that air column jumping – and it gets even harder to tease out the difference.
Flute acoustics are more complicated than a simple column of vibrating air being contained in a tube.
I know this explaination has become widely accepted, but it simply doesn’t take into account the physics of sound.
A container also acts, to varying degrees, as:
-Resonator (sympathetic vibration)
-Reflector (resistance to absorbtion)
-Filter (absorption and re-emission)
I don’t know enough about this stuff to rule out some kind of boundary interaction between the container and the air column, but as others have mentioned, smoothness and “reflectivity” of the bore is probably the dominant effect.
When it comes to choosing a wood species, I’m basically an aesthetics-first kinda guy. All other things like playability and tone being equal (which they never are, of course), I like having musical instruments that please my eye.
After playing a keyless blackwood flute for a while, I really got into the ultra-black and silver look. Very formal and distinguished-looking (might as well have something nice about it, because my playing sure wasn’t doing it justice). I thought if I ever got a keyed flute it would have to be blackwood.
Then I lucked into a secondhand keyed flute in cocus. Wowzer! Very different look and feel, I love it. I’m not a good enough flute player to fully appreciate any tonal difference in the revered cocus wood myself, but I’m sure getting off on the looks of that wood. If I ever get another flute it will probably be a Bb, and given the un-availability of cocus, I might go for mopane on that one.