Rockstro used to work with Hammy? I didn’t realize Hammy was that old. He’s kept quite well!
This could be explained simply due to the likelihood that the accomplished players spent more time actually playing the flutes than the beginners did. (Even if the beginners may have spent just as much time blowing into their instruments as the accomplished players did. Blowing into a flute does not necessarily equate to playing it.) We all know that the more a flute is played, the better it will respond. I doubt that the flute knows that the person blowing into it is Harry Bradley and not some rank beginner and calibrates its response accordingly. Although there are some days now and then when I could swear my flute has it in for me…
Padraig Rockstro did in fact work with Hammy. I should have been clearer. But I’m not apologizing. There are enough apologies in this thread.
John Kerr said:
I doubt that the flute knows that the person blowing into it is Harry Bradley and not some rank beginner…
The point that McGrattan was making is that the flutes did in fact change depending on who played them. Rockstro mentions this also. Maybe some change on the molecular level does take place.
Doubt all you want. This is an appropriate weekend to doubt, especially in light of the fact that RTE 1 is presenting “The Passion of Christ” tonight, further emphasizing that this is a black day in the country. No pints and no tunes tonight. The shops are open but the pubs are closed. There’s a message there but I’m not sure what it is.
Commit commerce but don’t drink?
Sorry for the topical drift. Sobriety can be disorienting.
Not discounting the fact that an experienced (pro) player probably treats the flute differently as regards to care, I wonder if there is something akin to how violins play better the more you play them.
There is a theory that the varnish in a violin (Especially with Strads, nobody is totally sure how he got the sound he did) will form minute microscopic cracks from playing due to the resonance of the wood and the vibration, and it is these cracks that contribute to the “liveness” of the sound, and the uniqueness that each violin has. When a violin is not played for a long time, these cracks tend to resettle and somewhat “heal” themselves.
Obviously a wooden flute doesn’t have varnish, but I’m wondering if the WAY it is played would produce different effects in the wood, i.e. a pro player would set up more harmonics and vibration in the wood, leading to different stress adaptations which produce a richer tone.
Be interesting to see a study on that done. Hey, there’s an idea! Terry, I’ll volunteer to be the quasi inexperienced player!
I doubt that the flute knows that the person blowing into it is Harry Bradley …
Not that my flute knows Harry personally, but I think if he did, it would. At the time of my comparison with Monsieur Skelton, my flute was only 2 yrs old and I was 3. The year before I’d passed it around to every famous and/or great flute player I could find, hoping they would blow some extra good luck into it.. , you know, ‘this is my new flute would you try it for me please’ .. and uh, ..
oh no I’m not superstitious..
Say, how did this get called ‘Lesl and Skelton’? It should be Cat and Skelton!
Never apologize. What would Rockstro do? Just get a grip, man!
Not doubting, actually. I was agreeing with you that flutes are improved when they are played. Just pointing out that it seems unlikely that there would be observable differences in how they improve depending on which good player was playing them. Good player vs beginner differences would most likely be because the beginners aren’t really pushing the flutes when they play them.
Christ, you know it ain’t easy. You know how hard it can be. The way things are going, they’re gonna crucify me…
