Blackwood flute 9 key on Ebay

[sarton]

http://www.ebay.nl/itm/282319216974?ssP ... 1558.l2649

[jemtheflute]

I'm baffled by the extension piece. A slide-closed sounding length of 590mm is already on the long side for use at A440.

[sarton]

Slide-closed without the extention piece the A of this flute is about 465Hz

[jemtheflute]

And where is the slide pulled to for a 440 A without the extra bit?
My sounding length data indicate that a nach Meyer style flute suitable for A440 use should normally have a SL under 580mm and play at 440 with the tuning slide open to somewhere in the middle of its range (8-18mm). I know that gives a tuned SL of c590mm, but it also affects the way the fixed scaling works, and these flutes weren't designed to be played fully closed up. A SL of 590mm should barely be playable as sharp as A440 with the slide closed, unless the player is an exceptionally sharp blower.

Having a tuned SL of c600mm on a conical flute should put the playing pitch well below A440 - 435 or lower.

[sarton]

That depends somewhat on the position of the embouchure hole to my lower lip but as an average it comes to 20 mm.
With the slide closed the A sounds about a half-tone high.

[jemtheflute]

Thanks for the response. That's really odd given the norms for these things. Can you measure, with slide closed, from embouchure hole centre to C# (1st open, L1) hole centre, and from there to the centre of the E (R3) hole and thence to the foot end? I'm wondering if anything has been shortened at some time (most likely the head). The measurements on the body will also help to see if this is as I expect a body built for A435 or not.

Also, when you have the A tuned to 440 (with or without the spacer - that's irrelevant), what is the tuning of the rest of the scale like both against a 440-calibrated tuner and in subjective terms of relative scale intonation?

[sarton]

Here we go
Centre embouchure to centre L1 213 mm
L1 to R3 196 mm
From there to the end 183 mm.

All + or - 1mm of course.

But for your other questions I hope you will excuse me. To much for a 87 year old...

[jemtheflute]

OK.
I'm out at work this-evening, but will do some measurement checks when I get home.

[jemtheflute]

OK. Home and measured a fistful of nach Meyer type flutes. There's a group of them which play at 440-ish all closed up or with a little slide extension which have SLs between 590 and 571mm. I also checked one seriously low pitch one which has an SL of 611mm.

The other figures prove to be relatively little help - they're ball-park with the 6 apparently near modern pitch ones I measured, apart from the E hole to end measurement which is very long on your flute - longer than the very LP one I measured. Amongst my sample the 590mm SL one has the longest embouchure-C# distance, but is ball-park otherwise. However, that particular flute has an appallingly sharp A relative to its scale!

Anyway, without wasting any more effort on what can't be a conclusive process without hands-on testing, I do think my observations support my original contention that your eBay flute really cannot be high pitch (need the extension) and probably isn't intended for around 440. It is often a bad idea to take A as your tuning reference with these flutes as the As are almost always a bit sharp in the scale, if not bizarrely so. Better to tune to G. But even then I'd expect a rather flatter low end and sharp A to show.

[sarton]

Thank you very much for your efforts to bring some light to the questions regarding this flute.
I do not know the origine of it, but i have a feeling that it could be east European or Italian.
I once bought it on Ebay, and in order to play simple duets with a friend of mine ( Boehm A=440) I thought it useful to lengthen the head. I am an amateur flutist with little experiance, and we had a lot of fun together.
Best regards, Hans.

[jemtheflute]

Not Italian, I think. German or Austrian or Czech/Bohemian. It certainly has some similarities to Kohlert instruments I've seen.

Having fun is certainly the main point!

[sarton]

I fully agree !!

[sarton]

Relisted on Ebay

http://www.ebay.nl/itm/282353322989?ssP ... 1558.l2649