The Casey Burns Bb seems well in tune.
I can’t compare it with these other flutes,
never having played them. Still it sounds
very good and it costs 650, blackwood
head, mopane body–it certainly looks
good, too. It isn’t difficult
to play. I tried to get an Aebi
and just missed one, and I’m too old for waiting
lists (like that rationalization?) Best
I haven’t tried any others makers Bb, so I can’t really tell the difference. Tuningwise I don’t think Tom’s Bb is any different to a D flute. C# (meaning A?) is an issue as with most flutes. Cross-fingering helps to get an almost-in-tune C#. I haven’t tried 3rd Octave playing on the Bb so far, but I could not imagine Tom has made a compromise there. He insists that a clean third octave is very imortant for any flute even if you don’t play those notes.
Here’s a thread about fingerspan on the Aebi Bb I posted a few weeks ago (with pics):
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=16041
Claus
What are you crossfingering to make the C# more in tune on the Aebi?
I can’t conceive of anything except using the footjoint C#. Do you mean Cnat? C# and Cnat can be quirky on Bb flutes, so I’m not asking to be snotty.
Stuart
I don’t know if this is what Claus is talking about, but I have found that on some flutes, the C# can become clearer in tone and the pitch easier to adjust if you put down the last couple of fingers of the right hand…
Jens
Huh . . . I’ll try that and see what happens. Interesting.
Stuart
Yes, it is kind of counter-intuitive…
oooxox
Claus
That’s interesting. None of the permutations of OOOXXX, OOOXOX, OOOXXO, etc. do anything to the C# on my flutes! But hey. No two flutes are the same. Actually, they kind of muffle the C#, but none seems to change the pitch all that much.
I never even thought to try it!
Stuart