I’ve noticed that when I play my M&E my high a and b are very sharp and I have to rotate the flute considerably to put it in tune. I am sure that it is just the way I play, does anyone have any suggestions to help me. I think it might be because I have to blow faster air to get it in the second octave, but I don’t know.
I don’t know if this helps, but i play all notes with the embochure hole turned more towards me than i would with a metal flute. I align the far end of the embochure hole with the center of the finger holes, more or less. I also blow more low and “inside” the flute than i would with a metal flute, using more air speed.
My advice is experiment with different ways of blowing, and when you find the right way, the notes should be more or less in tune and have more or less the same strength.
I suspect the position of the tuning cork in the headjoint may be off.
It should be one bore diameter up from the center of the embouchure hole–or about 19 mm.
Best wishes,
–James
I’m still rather sharp in the third octave on a Bohm flute. My teacher cites one possible reason is that I’m trying to do too much with airspeed and not enough with embouchure.
Just a possibility…
[edited for typos]
As Microsoft would probably say, “that’s not a bug, it’s a feature.”
Most well-made simple system conical-bore flutes will have a sharp A and B that are especially noticeable in the second octave; they’re designed that way. It’s partly due to various compromises that need to be made in order to get all the notes playable in tune (including notes in the 3rd octave), but I like the sharpness of those notes because it means I have to direct my breath more into the embouchure hole to bring them down to pitch, which in turn gives those notes more focus and allows me to play them more quietly so they’re not shrill.
In contrast, it’s much more challenging to play the high A and B on a cylindrical-bore bamboo flute, because those notes are a bit flat and you have to blow them out to bring them into tune – that can make them sound loud and fluffy, unfocused.
So my advice would be to just keep leaning into those notes, roll the flute a little bit in and/or drop your head down a bit when you hit those notes to bring them into tune. There’s no need to adjust the cork or anything. That’s the way to play most conical-bore flutes (except for a few models that are designed to play in tune in just the first two octaves, such as those by Hamilton or Cotter).
Now, for 3rd octave tuning, the position of the cork makes a big difference. You may be able to move the cork a little (say a millimiter or two, too bad if you don’t know metric! 
) and fix your third octave without changing anything in the other two.
Wooden flute players had a much more hands-on attitude towards the cork and moving the blasted thing. Boehm flute players see the cork position as a sacred thing that can’t be touched, but well, it can. I’ve done it myself and i’m still alive and playing. :roll:
g