Is this flute basically a Pratten’s Perfected with extension keys for the G and D notes? On McGee’s site, the description implies that the keys are for the A and E notes, but the picture shows the keys extending holes #3 and #6.
Anyway, McGee makes his Siccama using the same body as the Pratten’s Perfected. So, it seems that McGee’s Siccama is for small hands that want to play a Pratten without compromise. Is this assumption correct?
It’s not exactly a Pratten’s Perfected with keys.
My understanding is that the keywork was added to 3 and 6 to allow the holes to be moved to their correct acoustic positions. The third and sixth holes (which are open to sound A and E) are compromises (the E/6 moreso in my opininion than A/3), which is why those notes can have tuning problems on a regular simple-system flute. A touch-key way to close the hole would allow two things: the hole to be bigger than that which could be comfortably closed with one’s finger, and the hole to be placed further down the flute (where it might be hard to reach). The extension of this idea (which did originate with Böhm, I think) is the modern Böhm flute, a “keyless” version of which would be impossible to finger. (Of course, I mean if there were such a thing as a “keyless” Böhm that lacked the holes for accidentals, and just had the six holes for the scale . . . )
It’s probably a lot more important on bigger flutes, like on the Bb, whose reaches can get quite large. In that sense, they DO help folks with small hands.
Siccama is an interesting idea which, in my opinion, doesn’t have a huge application in the D/Eb flute. A keyless Siccama (one with keys at only 3 and 6) wouldn’t be chromatic because you couldn’t half-hole it. A fully-keyed Siccama (which would be 8- or 10-keys, I guess, depending on the foot) would then have other keys you could vent to bring E, A, and everything else into better tune.
(Venting lower keys, like holding the Eb key down when you’re playing E–>B, for example, is kind of like making the holes below the note bigger.)
Does that make ANY sense?
Stuart
(edited a typo)
Yes, actually. Very interesting, too.
I have flutes, Boosey, Hudson, Chappell ( made I think by Booseys ) all of which are or have been Siccama flutes stamped Pratten’s Perfected.
I suspect that in the second half of the nineteenth Century all the makers were interested in was selling flutes and they just stuck on the best selling name they has available.
I find ( from my limited experience) that players very quickly forget the presence of the Siccama keys, and the smaller handed ones certainly seem to benefit.
Another possible advantage is that many of the flutes were made in what one could almost call the " golden era" and so were beautifully made with workmansip rarely reached today.
Here’s one for sale.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10183&item=3776547242&rd=1
oldflutes.com is a good reference for this kind of stuff. Here’s the page on Sicamma’s flute:
http://www.oldflutes.com/articles/siccama.htm
Terry McGee has some interest in this kind of flute, and he has a lot of good info in his site:
http://mcgee-flutes.com/ → search for Sicamma
AndrewK in this board also knows a lot about these flutes and occasionally unearths one. (Note: oops, i see he already posted in this thread.)
I think there are two considerations that might attract someone to a Siccama (these days). One is small or damaged hands - the stretch becomes very manageable - equal or less than a Boehm flute. I have a couple of customers who could not continue on with the conical flute without the Siccama approach. And as Sturob commented, this is more generally applicable to a Bb flute - most of us are at about the end of our stretch. The Siccamarised Bb has a stretch similar to a D flute.
The second point of attraction is the improved intonation and more equal response. On a normal 6-holed flute, A and E (venting through holes 3 and 6) are clearly weaker, and c# and F# tend flat. In the Siccama version, holes 3 and 6 can be placed where they should be, and hole 5 (the vent for F#) moved up closer to hole 4. Remember that there is just a semitone between holes 4 and 5, with a tone between all the others. So that gap should be smaller and the hole 5 to hole 6 gap more than double it. See why the tuning and response of the normal flute is a bit dodgy?
You’ll notice that the Siccama flute doesn’t address the flat c#, but a Siccama with a left thumb hole does. Every note is clear speaking and in excellent pitch. The harmonics are properly stacked up above each note, and the whole flute sounds smooth and clean. Like chocolate, one owner commented.
But there is a cost. It isn’t as nice having two keys under the fingers as having no keys, so most of us will prefer the slightly imperfect tuning and inequality in response for the sheer luxury of no keys. Having 2 keys is much better than having all keys though, so when we get to an age where the lungs are still strong but the fingers are getting weary, the Siccama will provide a welcome extension of our flute playing.
And yes, I based my Siccama model on my Prattens, keeping the position of the good holes (2 and 4) and moving the others around to achieve equal response and correct tuning. I could have worked from my Siccama original, but it seemed to make better sense to take advantage of the additional work Pratten did in the 1850’s and I’ve done since. (Pratten had been a Siccama player, and developed his Perfected from the Siccama.) In any case, the result probably would have been identical, as we all used Siccama’s bore design, and that plus the laws of Physics leave us little room to come to different conclusions.
Terry
Great stuff, thanks!
So would that example on eBay (see Treeshark’s message above) be a more or less typical example?
Stuart
Probably a better than average example. Hawkes seem to have made a big thing of Siccamas, as did a number of other makers in England and the US. The one pictured also has the Brille mechanism - the two ring keys on holes 1 and 2, connected to a duplicate c pad between them. It effectively opens the c key for you automatically when you play c# - another way of fixing the normally flat c# - but at the price of having two more keys under your fingers. Not too bad a price though, as these keys only move when you play c#, and then you can feel good about it as it makes those leading notes in D really jump out.
Terry
Just a quick note: David Migoya let me know that he would also like to be listed as a Sicamma connoisseur (pardon my French spelling, i’m in a hurry). He reminded me that his website lists the oldest Siccama known to exist (#32).
I believe this is the URL he was referring to:
http://home.earthlink.net/~migoya/id87.htm
And here’s a copy of the picture:
This is as good an opportunity as any to reaffirm what everybody already knows: Please don’t assume that i’m especially knowledgeable or that i take extra care in making my posts in this forum complete. I’m just a musician. The fact i didn’t mention David was an involuntary omission, due to my laziness and ignorance.
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