I just had a long chat with Patrick Olwell. I hope to graduate to a bigger-sound flute in the next couple of years, and figure I need to get on the list soon. He makes three styles of headjoints in boxwood: fully lined, partly lined, and unlined. Does anyone have experience with lined vs. unlined boxwood? I’d kind of like a flute that “barks” a little bit, which would indicate the lined head. But I’d like to keep the buttery sound of box, which would indicate unlined. A slide would be nice but not totally essential, so half-lined might be best. Does the lining change the character of the sound or just focus it a bit more?
Good question. I know a lady who plays a lined Olwell boxwood, and while capable of strong tone, it’s quite rich and buttery to my ear. She gets “honk” out of it when she wants it, and that’s pretty buttery, too, if that doesn’t sound too contradictory. As I recall, Pat has a preference for lined heads on his instruments.
I prefer the unlined boxwood, but if you like a tuning slide, I’d suggest partially lined. Boxwood has a very special sound (and smell).
Lined, of course!
Unlined, of course!
Partially lined!
On the other hand, my dog is unlined and she barks just fine. So maybe unlined. I think we need a poll!
Glauber, go to your room.
Now that Glauber has gone to his room we can talk. I have both fully lined and not lined flutes. The Dixon rosewood is unlined and yet can be made to honk if one is inclined. The Lehart which is fully lined I think is more versital in timber and voice. Not to mention LOUD. My old German 8 key is fully lined and is very hard to honk. Its an Eb and is mostley mellow and pure. But it will buzz if you push it. I like the idea of a tuning slide so I would be more partial to lined heads but I could change my mind in an instant. I guess you would just have to get your hands on any of them and try them out.
Tom
I’ll be getting some headjoints from Peter Noy to compare soon. One will be unlined. The wood will be blackwood, though, so the boxwood perspective can’t be addressed, unfortunately; still, maybe a review could shed some light on this if Peter OKs it.
If it were me I’d ask Patrick what he prefers
and take that seriously. Best
Chris Layer (awesome flute player in NYC) plays an Olwell boxwood flute (6 keys) with a lined head. He gets some fantastic sounds out of it – pretty much any type he wants. I’ve gotten my lips on it a couple of times, and I nearly melted from the beautiful sounds that came out of it. Warm, buttery, and gorgeous, but still quite powerful.
Man, that is one nice flute…
Steven
I haen’t compared lined and unline boxwood flutes, but have played lined, partially lined, and unlined blackwood flutes. All of them could “bark”. I think the primary difference betwen unlined and lined that I noticed --YMMV – is that the lined heads are maybe slightly brighter, and a little more responsive. Some people claim they’re louder, too, but I dunno. The unlined heads had a slightly woodier tone, a bit darker.
My McGee has an unlined head, and I like the sound.
Good luck!
–Aaron
I’ve got an unlined Olwell Flute in Boxwood. It’s a RR small holed Flute. It is a modest barker. I don’t really need to have it bark as I play this Flute for solo stuff, mainly 18th century tunes.
If one were playing alot in Irish sessions, a bigger holed instrument would give you that honking sound, and of course a lined headjoint to tune in a somewhat wider range. It just depends on what your doing. Of course having 2 instruments with these different qualities would be great.
I think alot of people feel they must move up to a big session Flute (RR or Pratton), when what they really need is a small holed RR Flute.
So as I see it…playing ALOT of sessions…get a lined Pratton or bigger holed RR Flute ( big lungs help)
Kitchen Table Player, solo or with a couple other musicians…get a small holed unlined RR Flute ( minimal breath requirments)
and yes only get Boxwood, once you’ve had it you won’t go back!!
also consider having a nitric Acid wash on the boxwood to give it a nice patina!
Ben
Boxwood smells great, as mentioned earlier.
Normally I would go for a lined head, but with boxwood I think a lined head is more risky than with blackwood: boxwood is pretty susceptible to warping, and a lined head might increase the risk that it would crack when it tries to warp.
I have a Wilkes Bb in boxwood, and it warps in winter unless I keep it humidified in a sealed case. The headjoint is unlined, and there are no cracks. I don’t know what would have happened if it had a lined headjoint.
I’ll second the raves for Chris Layer and his boxwood Olwell – that’s an amazing flute and he plays it really well. Very strong and penetrating tone when he wants it to sound that way (it’s one of the loudest flutes I’ve ever heard in a session), but soft and buttery when he wants it to sound sensitive.
..or as Homer (Simpson) ,would say… MMMM, Boxwood…
You should smell the stuff fresh on the lathe…it smells JUST like buttered popcorn… I used to think I was crazy, but my wife noticed it too…
A lined headjoint seems to give a little more definition and focus to a flute’s tone, but sometimes you don’t want that. I’ve got an unlined boxwood Olwell, and it’s a real screamer. I’ve got an e-flat middle section for it too, and man, I can make all the car alarms on my street go off when I play that thing. I love it. Our man Josh (aka drummerboy) has one with a lined headjoint, and it’s incredible too. Shrug. I prefer mine, but mainly because I know it like the inside of my mouth, not necessarily because it’s unlined.
Re nitric acid stain: boxwood develops its own patina over time, and IMHO it’s always much more interesting-looking than when it’s stained. You can look at my flute and tell exactly where my hands and chin rest on it. Which is another very cool thing about it – it’s indisputably MINE.
If the boxwood flute is to be your main flute then I’d say get it lined and take care that the head doesn’t crack. If you have another good flute with a lined head then get this one with an unlined head.
An unlined head, especially with boxwood, will have a lovely tone. I have an unlined Olwell in blackwood and a lined head with my boxwood. The unlined head gives the flute a wonderful sound.
Having a flute with a tuning slide simplifies matters. Sometimes I play so sharp that pulling the unlined head out to get to A=440 effects the tone adversely. But if you do get the unlined head and find that you have problems tuning then you can have Patrick make you a lined head and barrel to fit right on and you’d have the best of both worlds. And still have money in both pockets. Olwell’s prices are still reasonable compared to some other makers.
David, it had never occurred to me to order two heads. That’s brilliant!
Thanks everybody for your replies and opinions. I think I’m gonna make the trek down to Nellysford one of these months to try out a bunch of his flutes.