Rudall & Rose Patent Head technical demo video

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jemtheflute
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Rudall & Rose Patent Head technical demo video

Post by jemtheflute »

I have just posted this video illustrating how a R&R Payent Head actually works to YouTube: https://youtu.be/qnkPVhK9_34

There are links in the video blurb to associated material on Terry McGee's website, here on C&F and on the Flute History Channel on Facebook.
I respect people's privilege to hold their beliefs, whatever those may be (within reason), but respect the beliefs themselves? You gotta be kidding!

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Tell us something.: irish music, specifically slow airs played on different whistle keys, also lower keyed flutes like Bb, but only from modern makers who have managed to get the hole spacing a little closer. And finally learning some fiddle tunes, mainly slow airs again so that the whole family don't go mad with the sound of a cat being strangled.
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Re: Rudall & Rose Patent Head technical demo video

Post by sponge »

Hi Jem,

many thanks, I keep hearing the patent head mentioned, but never really took much notice of the design, it all makes sense now, when owners comment on the weight,
so thanks for the insight, very informative, not that I'll ever get anywhere near an R&R patent head or standard one, but defo worth knowing about, and quite an eye opener, as I was
not expecting the telescopic winding system, and i'm guessing no modern makers have tried to adopt/adapt the system?

all the best sponge
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Terry McGee
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Re: Rudall & Rose Patent Head technical demo video

Post by Terry McGee »

Good stuff there, Jem.

The range you measured (425 to 458Hz) seems pretty appropriate to span between Low Pitch (of the day), 430Hz, to High Pitch (of the day), 455Hz.

It still puzzles me that they put so much effort into optimising the slide-to-stopper-distance relationship (which as you've shown does keep the octave relationships in synch), but did nothing to fiddle the body scale length to optimise the body scaling over that range. The body scaling seems more appropriate to the lower pitch, making it hard enough to play some of these flutes at modern pitch (440Hz), let alone cranking them up to 455Hz!

Baroque flutes took the opposite approach. They supplied several "corps de rechange" to rescale the body for the range of pitches needed. But left the player to fiddle the stopper position. Interesting.
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