What trumps what?

Irish Flute
1

So for sound…
This is what it seems to all come down to.
Embouchure size/shape?
Bore size ?
Finger hole size?
Embouchure depth?
Finger hole depth?
Material?
Player?
Anything else?

What ranks where?

What is most important for sound?

2

Practice trumps all.


Rob

3

I agree with Rob (even though he was PROBABLY being sarcastic!)… Having tried (and owned) a LOT of flutes in the last 1 1/2 years, I find I can now get a good sound out of most well-made instruments. When I say “good”, I don’t place myself by any means with the great players, just better than I used to be!

Pat

4

Sarcastic? MOI???


Actually, I meant it. Getting your embouchure together is the single most important thing in tone production. What would sound better, Molloy on a Pakistani flute or a rank beginner on an Olwell?


Rob

5

I think that practice was covered by the player option, but it is a worthy option.
(that is proper practice with a usable instrument)

6

The player. What sets a great flute apart from a really good one? In my opinion, the cut of the embouchure hole.

7

The points about the player aside, I agree that the majority of a flute’s character seems to be determined by the headjoint, and most of that is probably determined by the embouchure hole. I’ve tried the same headjoint on a variety of different flutes and the sound was remarkably similar, whereas putting different headjoints on the body of one flute gives it a noticeably different sound each time.

8

Okay so far we have

  1. player
  2. embouchure
9

Bore size ?
Finger hole size?
Finger hole depth?
these are interrelated design issues (as is embouchure size/shape/depth to a large extent)

10

Interconnected, but one can still choose a large or small bore and have different finger hole sizes and body thickness for each.

11

If I were in the market for a flute, here are the things I would check out (in priority sequence):

Ease of tone production (response)
Tone quality of the instrument
The ability to play down to low C (gotta be an 8-key!)
Intonation from octave to octave and from note to note
Embouchure that complements how I blow (no wasted air)
Metal-lined head (I prefer the clarity of tone and the volume, although I know others differ on this)

12

I agree that the player trumps all and the embouchure cut is a distant second. However, there was a recent comment on the flutemakers list, I think from Rod Cameron, that nothing can make up for a poor bore design. That means basically everything besides the embouchure cut, I presume – taper, texture, smoothing out the finger holes (no abrupt edges), etc. All of which are interrelated as has been pointed out. So it’s all important, which is why a great flute maker pays attention to every detail.

13

So are German silver or silver keys better?
I am looking for a ranking of what is most important in a flute.
I think bore could be agreed as #3.

14

silver

15

Keys have pads on them, so key material would have no effect on the bore, which is what I was talking about. Flutemakers have discussions about pad material, but I’ve never heard sound come into that. Durability, resistance to careless owners, yes, sound, no.

16

So you would say that material of the keys is close to the bottom of the list?
What about the pads material?
Pewter plugs verses the softer stuff?
I am working on #4 it seems keys are around #57.

17

I don’t think pad material is much to go by. Pewter is, I believe, only used on the C# and C keys. Mine are pewter and work perfectly, but I’m sure softer pad material will work as well if the flute is designed for it.

Key material is of no sound consequence whatsoever, as I believe has been made clear.

18

With the occasional exception: https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/an-unusual-rudall/66716/1

19

As a maker, I figure it’s my job to make the best flute I can, and let the player’s skill take it from there. About 5 years ago, I decided to get more serious about making a full-fledged flute, and some details became clear only recently.

It’s been said that many details are interconnected, for example: a greater rate of taper tends to require the cork to be set farther from the blowhole. In my experience, many other details make contributions without working against some other detail: they just make the flute better, sometimes in broad ways. To approach overall “perfection” (user defined), each detail has to be at its best. Any one detail can be out of place to spoil the “perfection”, and the other details cannot make up for it, so there’s really no hierarchy of features. Some features are hard to modify (such as having a new reamer made). The skilled maker needs to know what each feature does in order to make a good combination. I think these design features are worth adding to the list:

Bore finish
Bore shape, steps, scheme of taper; where does it change?
Endstopper position (interplays with rate of taper, among other things)
Endgaps between sections (these create steps in the bore)
Tuning the notes by undercutting above/below: this affects more than pitch
Extremes of hole size
Profile of the tonehole chimneys (undercutting, toprounding, etc).