Someone asked me by pm if I thought my new Peter Noy flute sounded Boehmish due to the
rounded rectangular embouchure cut. i would normally not be so hasty to put up clips of a flute
that i’m not used to yet but since its come up here goes.
I traded an Olwell Nicholson for this flute and am not dissapointed
but really the two flutes are very similar. I sound like me. I sounded very similar on the Olwell flute.
One note I think sounds better on the Noy {posssibly because of the short foot} than the Olwell is middle d an important note to my ear and one not often discussed. I think the flute plays well in an style from smooth to breathy and I don’t find that the embouchure cut in any way limiting so far or ‘uninteresting’. I am still getting the hang of the second octave which takes less focus perhaps but this is not a bad thing.
I think Boehm flutes sound like they due more to the cylindrical bore than the larger squarish embouchure cut and
due to the person driving them.
I am not used to this flute {only had it a week} yet but I think you can hear from the clips that it is not Boehmish sounding.
Also some have claimed this cut makes it like a different instrument or not traditional sounding.
It does sound like a modern Irish flute compared to my two antique flutes but than so did the Olwell and every modern maker
who is aiming for a larger ‘Irish’ sound whatever that is.
Claims have been made in the past that this type of headjoint is only for people switching over from Boehm or with loose embouchure technique. I am finding it great and really not all that different from any other flute. Its very punchy sounding and gives the player a lot of feed back noise which I like.
Anyway here are four quick clips I made so I could hear myself on the new flute:
The first two sets are from a Jack Coen recording I’ve been listening to all week Warming Up a really fantastic album if you don’t have it.
I’m guilty of finding the modern-cut Noy embouchure somewhat less flexible and interesting than his Rudall cut. Of course, if I could play like Patrick and make it sound like this, I’d have a completely different opinion. I loved the way the thinned head felt – it’s so light, to me it literally made the flute feel more nimble and responsive.
Great clips, and it’s always good to see a wonderful flute in the hands of someone who enjoys it and does it justice. I’ll have to dust off my copy of Warming Up.
Hi Chas and Michael,
thanks for the kind words. I read all of your old Noy posts in old threads while waiting any chance we could see a pic of your Noy?
crown and one key I think? Thanks Pat
I’m about to post pics to the photos thread. I think I’ve figured out how to finally take in-focus pics – have the flute on a non-textured surface. DUH – you wouldn’t know I do optics for a living.
What a flawless looking piece of boxwood. No knots or heavy grain. beautiful. My Noy is a bit knotty by comparison.
Visually the holes look real small. I’d love to have a go. Do you vent with the e flat? i imagine it will well play either way. meaning straight whislte fingering will work eqaully well. Thank you chas what a nice flute.
I’ve had a couple of Noys come through the shop over the years. Both had the RR embouchure. Both were absolutely amazing. I still pine for them. Should never have listed 'em.
I also had a Boxwood Boehm head whittled for me by Peter. The Boehm head sounded lovely in a Boehm-ish way. The RR conical flutes were all Irish.
The right-hand section is actually noticeably darker and with a more pronounced grain than the other pieces. The original foot piece was the same. The keyed foot is a retrofit – once I discovered the traverso and that this flute cross-fingers so well, I asked Peter to make a keyed foot. The new footjoint is a better match to the head and LH piece.
I try to always vent the F#. The flute was originally unkeyed, so I think the E is a little sharp vented (I’ve never checked it with a tuner). As with the traverso, it doesn’t make much difference for the upper notes of the first two octaves, but it really helps in the third octave.
Thanks Chas,
I have been toying with the idea of venting all the time on my eight keys. I keep watching the key masters like Niall keegan and Calum Stewart and thinking why am I not doing it but I rarely notice that much difference as I have been playing a long while without thinking about it and kinda like the unvented F sharp better. I can do it consciously but not unconciously yet. So the venting doesn’t really help crossfingering. I cross finger g sharp in both octaves on keyless flutes and as long as the passage is quick its fine. Proabably eb keys wont help until you get up higher octave.
I see you make some boxwood whistles must try one sometime. Have you tried to make a flute yet or ar eyou thinking in that direction? Take Care, Patrick
My experience is that the G# is in tune in the lower octave and has to be lipped down a bit in the upper octave. Venting the Eb, especially in the upper octave, tends to sharpen it even more.
I haven’t gotten to flute-making yet. I want to wait till I’ve mastered whistles. After the current batch I’ll be trying my hand at conical whsitles, a la Jon Swayne and Phil Bleazey. Same mouthpiece design, tapered bore. I’m really looking forward to that, but have about 5 cords of wood to split and stack first.
(My wife and her step-father and I spent a generous 8 hours today hauling wood from up the street. The power company is taking down trees in the neighborhood, and these folks had a red oak about 5 ft/1.5 m across taken down. The pieces toward the bottom weigh at least 300 lb/140 kg, extremely wet [lots of sap flowing these days], and have knots and crotches everywhere. Hopefully half a day tomorrow, then the joy of splitting it all, along with the 110-year-old white oak the power company cut down in our yard.)
My 2 cents on the modern cut that Noy does. I’ve played on them for the better part of the last ten years probably. I have other flutes and recently have been playing one of his x-flute heads which is also one of his unique type of designs that is different from what other makers are doing. Anyway, I’m not a big fan of boehm “sounding” flutes, but never felt that way about his headjoints with that cut. To me they sound like powerful, precise, driving timber flutes. I suppose it’s what you’re used to and what you like. Of all the good players I’ve seen put one of my Noy modern embochure flutes to their lips, never once was I like “oh that sounds like a boehm flute” or had it sounded too smooth or anything. Again I think it comes down to the player more than the flute in alot of ways, and what type of flute music someone wants to play. Also like someone else here said the conical bore is a big part of what makes a boehm flute different. I think they’re really easy flutes to play and really precise, and the thinned ones are super light which is cool in my opinion. They may not take the super huffy, over-blown northern style of playing as well as some other flutes designed for that. That being said I’ve heard people play mine that way and they were able to do it quite well. Anyway, just my opinion. I don’t claim to be any type of flute expert just speaking from my own experience.
I loved the way the thinned head felt – it’s so light, to me it literally made the flute feel more nimble and responsive.