Chiff and Fipple Forums

Yep, 'silver' flutes are a lot thicker at the tenon/slide. Even so, I've spent thousands over the years (school money) having slides of all sorts refitted. There's a trick you can do with a nylon-tipped drum stick to do emergency tightening of flute joints, but it's the kind of thing you only want t...

Construction method is riveting.

If I bought it, would it be cent by mail, or cent by courier?

Can you play Kurt Weill on it?

Can't help much about the price, except to point out the 'dealers' list in the flutemakers thread. I'm trying to evaluate my Goulding 8-key, and there seems to be quite a range. Mr. Migoya? Mr. Cornia? Doc? ? (Keeping in mind these guys are in business, and this is kinda like cornering your doctor a...

what most people mean when they say "C flute", "D flute", or C# flute". But are we like most people? :P Three trivial points: -Our usual naming system (D flute is concert) works fine. Calling it a D flute in C (sorta like an F trombone that's in C ie nontransposing) would b...

And the Bb is such a big stretch that the D doesn't seem like a pain anymore! Yep. You get comfortable with a Bb or an A and the rest of the flutes seem like hotrods. If I want the low A to feel comfy, I just play an old Buescher Tru Tone baritone sax. Keywork by the Marquis de Sade. Or a ginormous...

True enough. Simple certainly evolved, where sax was invented. I've picked up a 19th C sax and was surprised to find few surprises. Played just fine. Picked up a flute with an open G# and my brain fell out. Same with Albert system clarinets.

There are 2 types of long tones, the way I see it: very slow scales or arpeggios, and 'Clarke' studies. I like both. Slow scales do a few good things: 1. gives a chance to concentrate on tone quality 2. lets you fix posture / grip / position issues 3. lets you extend the comfort zone, both when the ...

jim stone wrote: I've also played a lot of non-standard tunes (e.g. fiddle tunes, old time
tunes, even pop tunes and blues) with others, and these come in handy.

Singer: Can we take that up a semitone?

Me: Sure. Let me grab my accordian.

Singer: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!

I'd love to be able to say that I'm perfectly comfortable in all keys and modes on the flute, and that my Eb and A are for tone colour and extended range. While Hindemith and Glazounov are fine for me on sax, I don't think that even 'period' keys and chromaticism (1840ish) will be within reach in th...

Teaching and performing... neat morphed topic. On performance anxiety: Yes, we rehearse, practice, woodshed, and beat the tar out of material (and in Ginger's case, do it better, backwards, and in high heels!). If the problem in the 'in front of people' part, practice that! Any bit of visualisation,...

Corking joints (oooh, that sounds nasty!) is easy and fast once you get the hang of it, and cork sheet can be bought very thin. I like waxed silk floss or pure synthetic thread, even on clarinets. It's user-servicable. If I had a cork-jointed metal whistle, I'd likely just leave it assembled then ad...

They're decent. I wouldn't really recommend them for those who don't play sax or clarinet. The embouchure required is just too finicky. They are capable of some pretty astounding sounds, from 'good alto sax' to 'high bass clarinet' to 'duck going through a meatgrinder feet first'.

I'll second brewerpaul: a lower whistle can be way easier on the ears. I often practice on a Generation Bb, and for real quiet (and a sweet tone and easy upper register) on an O'Brien copper Bb. My mezzo A Burke is wayyyy too loud for quiet practice.

Ooops. I'm out of date. Thanks!

Got one and love it. It's surprisingly powerful, and seems to respond more like a conical (traditional) bored instrument than any other cylindrical bored flute I've played. Hole spacing is comfortable, it's light, and it's bombproof. I've played it in a session, but got a bunch of funny looks (likel...