I’m interested in hearing from people what expressions they use or might use to describe flute tone, good or bad. “Dark”, “reedy”, “sweet”, “loud”, and “muffled” would be some examples. What others spring to mind?
Terry
My wife once described my tone as “Penetrating”!
She said it would go through walls, ceilings, floors and doors; there was no escaping it! 
if you have access, rockstro’s treatise contains a concise sprectrum of opposites somewhere buried in it’s large volume. i thnk they were labelled constituents of tone. ‘full’ vs. ‘hollow’, ‘shrill’ vs. ‘sweet’, ‘dull’ vs. ‘brilliant’ etc. i used that as a guide for labeling what i hear.
When I am playing: Stuffy, muted, insipid, weak, thin
How I want to sound: Full, fat, round, chocolaty…
An instructor recently suggested that I avoid sounding “tentative”. He was right, and it was useful to hear.
Hi Terry,
Time for you to post some sound clips that we can all listen to, so we can start arguing about adjectives…
Clinton
In addition to those mentioned so far… in no particular order or degree of seriousness: resonant, round, fruity, evanescent, scintillating, forced, forceful, buzzy, clean, clear, trumpetty, pure, dirty…
Dry, breathy, raspy, honk (although I don’t get that one), bright.
That sure is some “crazy” tone you’re getting there, Buster.
I don’t know, Clyde. I just call it my “down home” tone.
When I want to make a big impression, I play with a “lush” tone.
“Lush” or “fluid”, which is the better tone quality, I ask?
Limpid.
Access? Never leave home without it!
i thnk they were labelled > constituents of tone> . ‘full’ vs. ‘hollow’, ‘shrill’ vs. ‘sweet’, ‘dull’ vs. ‘brilliant’ etc. i used that as a guide for labeling what i hear.
Well remembered, rama! OK, for the record, here they are (expressed as antonyms):
Power/Softness
Volume (or Fullness)/Thinness
Brilliancy/Dullness
Sweetness/Harshness
Clearness/Impureness
Acuteness/Gravity
He has some additional terms in his analytical passages defining the terms above, but I won’t go into them just yet. I’m impressed by the range of ideas coming forward, so let’s exhaust that vein first.
Terry
liquid
It would be a logical step. There are probably plenty on the web already (ideally unaccompanied). Anyone care to nominate one?
Or should we start with the one I used already? What adjectives does this evoke?
http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/Sounds/Lament%20of%20the%20Three%20Marys.mp3
(Have patience! It takes me about 20 seconds to download.)
Terry
Or should we start with the one I used already? What adjectives does this evoke?
http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/Sounds/Lame > … 0Marys.mp3
That’s a really hard exercise. I’d say, trumpetty, full, fat, dark, vibrant…
Also, other adjectives would be needed to describe the tone of northern players such as John Mckenna or Harry Bradley, but my knowledge of english words isn’t enough. Maybe something like pushy, jumpy, breathy (but in a different way from how it was intended before, can’t find the right word)…
may i suggest that these adjectives go more towards rhythm than tone?
You may be right but i’m not too sure. Could it be that this way of playing does affect the tone…?
yes many things may affect tone i suppose but generally would it not be be better for the tone related adjective to describe the result rather than the alleged causation?
I like “fat” as suggested above. Also I forgot “meaty” &/or “beefy”. And “hard” oughta be in the mix, so presumable “soft” too. Even “heavy”?
“Harsh”, “grating”, “uneven”, “insipid” would all get used with clear negative connotations.
Two from me and one from SO (in that order):
Turgid
Pregnant
Wambly