My friend tends to drown me out on the grand piano so I’ve really been working lately on my tone to try and keep up with him. My playing style isn’t traditional so don’t hammer me but any comments on how to improve my tone further would be appreciated. The clip isn’t awesome so I didn’t put it under that thread 
I’ll leave the critiques to other and just say, that was a very nice performance indeed. 8 months? Impressive
Great clip.
And really nice to find a “novice” who does not want to be the bombastic next star of fast flute playing (as I wanted to be when I began…).
8 months on this flute. I had a little over a year on a Forbes keyless delrin before that. This flute is my first true wooden flute with all them keys attached. It’s taken a while to get to know it but I LOVE it.
I reckon piano’s are awful, so I would say, don’t play near the noisy horrible sounding things. It won’t drown the sound of yer crooked whistle then.
Great performance by the way. I really liked it…even with the waste of timber beside you.
Mick
Well, playing against a loud piano is not going to “improve” your tone because you’ll be
- working at volume, and
- (if you’re reasonably proficient, which you are) you will be sponteneously adjusting your intonation to be in “tune” with the unbendably out of tune of a well tuned equal temperament piano.
What I meant by improved tone is that usually I play with a combination of what classical flutists would call yellow and purple tones or soft vs. reedy. I find that I can only cut through the piano if I stay as reedy as I can through the whole piece. Since I’m not used to this, I crack more than usual. Low E is especially difficult. One time it popped up an octave and the second time (right before the transition from slow to fast tempo) I dug into it which took it way out of tune…but loud This piece is in Emin so the E’s are featured quite a bit.
Just wondering what you guys do to keep that reedy tone constant through the registers at speed. Is there some trick to it or just practice, practice, practice?
Oh and on the subject of equal temperament: We play hammered dulcimer and harp together also…128 strings between us. I have, though, seriously considered retuning the harp to an alternate standard that more perfectly fits with the key signature I’m playing in just to see what it would be like. I’m currently reading “How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony (and Why You Should Care)” and I’m working up the courage to try an older tuning.
Mark, I enjoyed your clip - nice (non-trad) approach. Good stuff. I think, however, that you are perhaps taking the wrong approach in what you are asking us here. Bottom line is that it is the pianist’s job to temper his dynamics to match yours, not vice-versa. No flute, not even a top-end modern Bohm instrument played as loud as possible by a good player can seriously compete (unamplified) in its low register with a grand piano playing loudly. A musician of your range and calibre knows this! Tell your pianist to start with a lower baseline volume for the piece so that he can still have room to get louder without drowning you - and to listen to you more carefully! Even Conal O’Grada couldn’t do what you’re asking!
As for your low E’s, I note that you are not generally venting the Eb key for them - they’ll come a good bit stronger and reedier if you do, though you may have to be careful not to push them sharp.
Very interesting read, that one. I would suggest, however, that, if you haven’t already, you do a lot more reading up on tuning systems before you plump for the one system advocated in that book, which is also, if you read carefully, not particularly advocated for keyboard or fretted instruments (and so, by implication, hammered dulcimers?). The book is brilliantly written, but he does have an axe to grind (which he makes no bones of, to be fair).
Meanwhile, very nice tone, I think. I wasn’t aware of any harshness, and reediness is nice, no?
Both points are well taken. We’ve talked at length about this. He’s aware of it and tries to keep it down but that’s a very good piano. We’ve also tried the top down but the articulation suffers. I’ve ordered a wireless setup and will play with that. We already amp on the strings to balance out my nylon vs. his wire strings.
Yes, venting the low E. I love to vent it but on this particular flute model, the E’s are a tiny bit sharp and venting either the low or mid E seriously sharpens them. It’s a pain sometimes, like on an A harmonic minor tune we play where I’m using all the keys. Making sure I’m NOT vented when working between F-E-D# is tricky. I’m in the process of having a C foot made for the flute to extend my range and arrangement possibilities and I hope that the extra wood on the end will help with my sharp vented E’s.
I more than half expected you to say something like this - as many modern makers are making flutes with the E sharpened to allow for the fact that a majority of ITM players just don’t vent the Es…!!! Trouble is, the slightly larger or more up-tube hole doesn’t give any stronger a tone in this always weaker note - which venting it does… As so often, a trade-off. My admittedly prejudiced take on this hardly needs re-stating! I’m afraid that I doubt your C foot will have significant flattening effect. You’d need a R- hand/lower body joint built for a vented E too (like what it oughta be 
!). Of course, you could experiment with a little wax in the E tone-hole (R3) to flatten it a bit so that you can vent (and so push harder/get reedier) without drifting sharp.
wow, that was close 
I do agree with you 
What’s your take on it, Jem?
Yes indeed including Henry Hill when he made my flute in 1832. Then again maybe he wasn’t considering ITM players?
Cheers
Graeme
I was just interested …
Harsh, that. Right. I’m going off in a huff.
I spent a bit of time finding 'im ya know
was it the skin tone?
Suggest you practice on a high pitched flute, like an A or a Bb or…
Really strengthens embouchure, which is the key to improving tone.