Why so much length above the blowhole and cork?

Irish Flute
1

Looking at basic Artley concert flute…

So the question is, when you look at a flute from the outside, why is there so much length above the embouchure hole?

Some of this is due to the acoustically necessary space between the hole and the cork, and some of it is due to the tuning mechanism, yes. But the length seems excessive. Why is the cork so long?

So maybe its a dumb question, i dont know.

I am particularly interested because I make simple wooden flutes with a stationary (glued, not tuneable) cork, so it seems that I really dont need the extra 2-3 inches there beyond the space between the embouchure and the cork plus the 1/2" or so cork i use. However my flutes look unusual without that length! Ha

For the life of me can’t find any mention of this in my books or online…

Thank you all, I’m really glad to be a part of these forums

-Adam

2

I don’t personally make flutes with threaded stoppers, but that certainly requires some space. The cork itself needs to have a certain length to accommodate threaded rod. The crown needs some space to fit within the head joint. And you need a little bit of travel space for the cork itself. Taken together, it doesn’t seem that there is a lot of wasted space in the average flute head joint. They all seem to be a pretty standard size (speaking of Boehm head joints). I’ve made wooden transverse flutes with glued stopper and left a fair bit of length at the top end, but that was for aesthetic reasons, and also because I use a lip plate. You need space for the lip plate itself, and then it looks goofy if the flute terminates right at the edge of the plate, so I leave a bit of extra length.

3

The extra length of the head beyond the cork also has an impact on the feel of the flute in the hand. Specifically, it affects the balance.

4

My guess would also be balance.

5

Between stopper gizmos, lip plates, aesthetics, and feel/balance, I think that answers my question. Thanks all. I’ll also add that, with wooden flutes with a glued stopper, it adds extra structural strength to have more stopper: a solid end of the flute. Helps if youre like me and like to take your flutes bush-whacking!

6

I keep a rolled piece of paper with my contact details on it in that space in my flute(s), I might just get my flute back the next time I leave it in the back of a taxi!

H

https://soundcloud.com/holmesflute/sets/holmes-flute