Chiff and Fipple Forums

Hmm. G0d forbid should ever a cocus and a boxwood flute sound identical. Could be quite possible. Heresy! (in a wood-centric universe). ...if you go to extremes (e.g. my pine Prattens), so the real question is how similar can timbers be and yet be distinguishable by listening or playing. Terry, I g...

So wood -- at least dense woods -- make little, if any, timbral difference unless they will be left unpolished or rendered as xylophone blocks (or guitar tops). That critical design dimensions, head joint lining (ooh silver, sexy!), room acoustics and most important of all, player skill all trump fl...

Hmm, not unlike the Shroud of Turin or Lorenzo's oil controversies. Unfortunately someone will always disagree with the most carefully designed, executed, and reported test protocol. Therefore the myth lives on or is supplanted by another. For those who insist material is not immaterial better have ...

Over the years I have and had six Copley flutes (same and different keys) that I had acquired second hand in wood and in delrin. The delrin ones sound, play, and look great. Given a choice, I'd take delrin for the reasons Dave already mentioned. Just a guess but Delrin seems to taint people's choice...

Aran islands. Skip the sweaters but nothing else.

Kraków, Oświęcim (Auschwitz).

How many people looked at the mirror when they first learned to play? Evidently we're hoping visual cues will assist in our learning process. I think the real question is does it eventually become a crutch? Ultimately Julia is right -- minor corrections to our embouchure, posture, and grip are based...

I think the thing is that of course the state of the global economy must have an effect on wooden flute sales, just as it is having an effect on every other aspect of life, and will continue to do so for some time to come. However, you couldn't really measure those effects or extrapolate from any a...

You're saying it is and isn't correlative with macroeconomic trends. No. You misinterpret. I meant I would not claim or intend to suggest that (I had the technical expertise to say that) flutes are a legitimate or meaningful macro-indicator. However, it doesn't seem unreasonable (as a layman) to su...

Do eBay flute (R&R) prices really tell us anything about the status of the economy, disposable income, or consumer habits? I wouldn't see them as macro-indicators, for sure - and I don't think most (if any) of us here are trying to argue any such thing. I certainly didn't. However I do think th...

The ebay listing states, "Interested parties outside of the UK will need to arrange their own postal collection and payment please". Chances are this listing escaped everyone's radar. Anyone outside the UK who spotted it likely got cooled off by the terms. Do eBay flute (R&R) prices re...

On the matter of gouging, I once bought an antique eBay flute for a rather nice price from a certain member of this forum. I hadn't expected to win when I had placed my bid but I did. However I was charged $75 shipping, which I paid, and had expected at the very least tracked shipping (I've had guit...

If there was a clearly discernible timbrel difference between the different flute material offerings, the debate would have ended long ago. But the mythos carries on partly due to no one bothering to put digital calipers and making critical measurements of their flutes (almost all of us own more tha...

Are there any pros or cons to switching a flute from a corked tenon to a threaded one or vice-versa? If your flute is synthetic, then I would say synthetic thread has the advantage over natural cork (never tried synthetic cork) insofar the flute can be left assembled for longer periods without worr...

I've never tried blu-tack but that's like driving on the spare tire. There's no reason why shellac wouldn't work assuming no issues with the key, pad size, tone hole, key spring, or pin/block mechanism.