The Flute

Call Mike Irwin UTLM UNISA (Flute teachers Licentiate 1983)

THE FLUTE

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING APPLIES TO STUDENT- NOT TO INTERMEDIATE AND PROFESSIONAL FLUTES

Choosing the right flute in student range will take you to grade 8 royal college very satisfactorily - don't be overwhelmed by "marketing" that recommends intermediate flutes for beginners

Before To make a flute sound great you need to focus on long notes excercises - much a like singer. making mostly ooo vowel sounds and then ahh for instance can open the sound to more breathy nice sometimes but sparingly ------
angle of the lower jaw / height on the lower lip of the headjoint all come into play and id advise go to 1st instrument flute teacher rather than a 2nd one ,,,,,,1t instrument generally will have focused on tonal control more.
How does this effect your playing on each different flute ,,,,,,,,

yes different brand flutes have their idiosyncratic sounds but all of them have their won appeal and the differences when they are played properly are subtle ......... some might prefer a slightly darker sound some brighter ,,,,,,its personal
The first step however is the make the sound good enough on any flute to benefit from all the flute has to offer,,be patient ------ give yourself 15 min like am mediation on long notes ..it becomes very centering and soothing eventually - a year to 2 later - gradually by month you'll start benefiting from a decent flutes "inherent sound capabilities "years - just as long as it would take to develop a great voice
SO the flute is not really the issue soundwise if it is a well known brand like Yamaha Jupiter Pearl Gemienhardt etc. A newer one like Regency also has good long term sound capability.

FLUTE PARTS - STURDINESS

As to mechanism sturdiness over time - brands that have been around
or very long time have established parts distribution worldwide:
Yamaha Pearl Jupiter Gemeinhardt flute.
Resale value - an important criteria in choosing a flute as you may well want to go to an intermediate flute later. Again "Yamaha Pearl Jupiter Gemeinhardt" always have good resale value

the basic parts - springs pads will always be around as they come in "standard sizes" if one cannot get the originals for all flutes -but once gain established brands may be a wiser choice as the other parts like rods / headjoints etc although one can always find whole tube headjoints footjonts etc others to fit if the flute was unfortuntley damaged by misuse ( otherwise these parts will never give problems)

Pearl have a pinless mechanism ( no springs) and one rod intead of 3 so less parts to go wrong but springs and rods (if overhauled- see below) [and oiled by you too regularly ] are the least of the parts needing replacement and not expensive - replacing pads take much more time and are more costly ( pad relcment and setting is a major part of overhaul costs and this applies to any flute - each pad might take 30 mins or more to replace and reset )

Flute Sound quality

Over years of teaching I've experienced this Perhaps a Yamaha student model leads ever so slightly quicker to a more "powerful sound " in SOME cases. Its very appealing for a year or two but spending 15 minutes a day on tonal exercises one starts to want variation in sound.
The Pearl Trevor James and Jupiter will end themselves to more variation - especially a brilliance quality , with not quite the same fullness / resonance of Yamaha. But if you DO the tonal exercises you'll get the same depth as a Yamaha but added brilliance that perhaps the Yamaha wont give you .

However be realistic - are you going to do the 15 mins long note tonal excercise ?
There is nothing wrong with wanting a "quicker result for depth and buying Yamaha - thats a definte advantage but as mentinbed there will be a little more limitation in other aspects of tonal colour then.

We supply a software program to flute purchasers written by myself to make practising a lot more fun , playing along with an orchestra which is the only one of its kind worldwide . ( Teachers are also welcome to enquire about a purchase licence though this is free to our own purchasers )

So assuming if not the sound how do you choose ?
Things go wrong with ALL flutes . If someone sells you a flute and doesn't tell you at the outset that you'll have to have it overhauled every 2 years or so then you might be in for dissapointment if you are having a conventional setup

here is breakdown of overhauls procedure written by the workshop we work with.
If you treat the flute well and if its played 30 min - 1 hour day over 3 years you might pay ( present rates - R900 - R1800 depending on the repairer and the flute condition )

FLUTE OVERHAULS and REPAIRS

So assuming if not the sound how do you choose ?

Things go wrong with ALL flutes . If someone sells you a flute and doesn't tell you at the outset that you'll have to have it overhauled every 2 years or so then you might be in for dissapointment if you are having a conventional setup

We do have an alternative setup methods please enquire - if you want for instance a longer guarantee) for the flute pads from 5 to 10 years we can fit custom pads and so on . We need ot ask you questions as to the skill level you play and hence time spent playing etc to help you determine what your choices are.

here is breakdown of flute overhauls procedure written by the workshop we work with.
If you treat the flute well and if its played 30 min - 1 hour day over 3 years you might pay ( present rates - R900 - R1800 depending on the repairer and the flute condition )

Things contributing to the need for overhaul :

Article below copyrighted to Musicraft our specialist flute repair partners:

"Many factors control the cost of overhauling a Flute. Details like Age, condition, make and model play a large part. Customization is another important factor. Inspecting the Flute first is essential in order to assess the extent of the work required and also to give an accurate quotation. Complete stripping of the instrument then follows. This includes removal of all keys, worn pads, old corks and springs. Complete keywork and tightening is done, including swedging worn hinge tubes and removal of any play between pillars. Hand-burnishing methods will restore the action to a like-new performance level. (A new set of silver steel shafts are fitted on very old Flutes or badly worn keys.) All tone holes are checked and correctly levelled where neccessary. A thorough cleaning & polishing of all keys, rods, pivot screws, tone holes, body surfaces & bore is done. pads, corks, felts & springs need replacing. Keywork is carefully balanced, regulated and aligned. Instrument is then reassembled and lubricated to a good playing condition".
 

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