Chiff and Fipple Forums

Hey I just wanted to leave this note here...

The essay "Acoustics for Flutemaking" was published in FoRMHI Quarterly No. 150, August 2020, as
Comm 2131 Acoustics for Flutemaking, by Adam St. John

Dang! I totally missed this thread. I wrote an essay on practical flute acoustics this spring, that you may be interested in: it addresses both wall thickness and undercutting in detail and in summary (summary toward the end of the essay). In proper forum etiquette, rather than merely directing yall...

Is it possible that there was some sort of gasket covering this rough surface? Or some material or substance that has since worn or washed away? I suppose such practices would be well known...

Very strange. You dont think it was an ornamental item? A decorative piece to sit atop a piano? Perhaps the makers were hired hands who didnt really know what they were doing except to follow instructions? Or it was someones early attempt at copying an existing flute? When I first started out making...

Hey everyone, It's my honor to share with yall my work. I think you may be especially interested in my essay on flutemaking. The essay, "Acoustics for Flutemaking" is available on the "Acoustics" page of the website. Or for download more directly, here: https://www.scribd.com/doc...

And dont fall into the trap of thinking that tone must suffer if playing quietly. In other words, when playing quietly dont go thinking "oh this lackluster tone is just because im playing quietly." Not at all. Instead strive for the quietest, sweetest, darkest, whatever, tone. Flexibility ...

Playing quietly is usually considered to be a more difficult and advanced technique-- the mark of a good musician-- on flute as well as MOST instruments. It requires more restraint-- or, well, ideally you learn to just be relaxed and not have restraint involved in the first place-- it requires more ...

So I've started using my tapered reamer. (See thread at http://forums.chiffandfipple.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=108339 ) . After stumbling upon the effect, and then researching more in Nederveen and Benade, I see what Casey and Walt are talking about here. To a tuner, the 2nd octave plays about 20-...

Definitely dont use gorilla glue or any glue that will expand as it dries! Violin makers and other instrument makers use hide glue, but I would not recommend this because 1) hide glue is meant to hold together parts which already tightly fit, and it is made to break or come apart when the parts them...

Two things: One, the reamer works excellently! Powder-fine saw dust as if I was sanding, and it didnt take too much pressure nor lock up my old lathe. Also! I was interested to read Bill's advice to drill large to small, because a large bit in a smaller hole tended to follow one side wall of the sma...

I agree that, when playing into a mic, a lot of sound comes from the embouchure hole. However there is somw conflict of interest here: the embouchure hole stays stationary while playing-- and thus is easier to mic-- while whatever is 'the open tone hole' or 'open end' shifts around as you play-- and...

Well I dont recommend trying to turn down 4 ft of steel rod on a wood lathe with an angle grinder. Nor with your friends grandpas angle grinder that is missing its safety guard and likes to learingly eye your hopefully gloved hands. Bad vibes in the wooden wood lathe warp your boring style, it gets ...

Perhaps I should mention, I would bore the whole lenth with the 5/8" drill, then bore the downstream portion of the flute with the 3/4" drill, then ream the head end of the flute with the tapered D bit.

Thanks, that PDF is a great addition as well! So I think I'm going to go forward with a rough plan for making my own D bit tapered reamer. The drills, bores, and the processes of flutemaking and tool making that I'm working with are seemingly less precise compared to the standards of many of the pro...

I wanted to create this thread to make this information easier for newcomers to find. Making it more blatantly titled. Also to add some resources and invite further discussion. Please do post links or references! There is an old thread, in which an inadverdent/accidental but excellent discussion of ...