Chiff and Fipple Forums

Anyone tried this? I've come across a maker who has a nice one, although he's in Texas, a bit far from me...and I watched a youtube video demonstrating the tuning/intonation, all good.
I struggle with classic flute embouchure, but if I put a whistle head on it, giving me a fully chromatic whistle, won't I lose the flute dynamics?

AuLoS303 wrote: but if I put a whistle head on it, giving me a fully chromatic whistle, won't I lose the flute dynamics?

Um, yes.

AuLoS303 wrote:Anyone tried this?

A million times, you'll see it a million times after you, and you'll find yourself saying to others what I am saying to you here. And eventually you'll let others do the talking. The idea's predictable as dirt, when you think of it. So why don't we see more of it in practice? First, it's already well known that simply sticking the two together isn't enough; it takes a lot of work and research to get a good result for intonation, or everyone and his dog would be doing it. That out of the way, my guess is because in the end, the hybrid satisfies no one. From a musical standpoint it doesn't fill any gaps, but detracts; as you have already guessed, you lose the flute's dynamics, and by another measure you have married a fipple to something more costly than you really need for it.

AuLoS303 wrote:I struggle with classic flute embouchure...

If you didn't you would be some kind of anomaly. An adequate level of embouchure proficiency can take anywhere from a year or more likely two, to as much as five years, and a teacher will probably make the difference. Some people struggle with certain fine points all their lives, and the really dedicated will think of their embouchure as a work in progress no matter how good they get.

I think it's better to think of embouchure not as a destination but a direction, of being either off or on the right track. I was never fully confident that my embouchure could be thought of as being plainly on the right track until after about fifteen years or so, and even then I saw I still wasn't done; I was just on the right track (IMHO), with more to go, but at least the direction was now clear and I no longer felt in the dark. It was no longer a struggle so much as it had become navigation. There's really no end to the potential for improvement.

The trouble is, as a beginner with no access to other flutes to play, you can't really tell if your flute is a good one. So you're never quite sure how much of the bad playing is down to the player, and how much to the flute (I was given it by a Facebook friend ,the brand is Fortissimo)

AuLoS303 wrote:The trouble is, as a beginner with no access to other flutes to play, you can't really tell if your flute is a good one. So you're never quite sure how much of the bad playing is down to the player, and how much to the flute (I was given it by a Facebook friend ,the brand is Fortissimo)

To assess the merits of your flute you need a good player to try it. Frankly, start with a teacher or at least a seasoned mentor; otherwise you will be rudderless.

AuLoS303 wrote:The trouble is, as a beginner with no access to other flutes to play, you can't really tell if your flute is a good one. So you're never quite sure how much of the bad playing is down to the player, and how much to the flute (I was given it by a Facebook friend ,the brand is Fortissimo)

I've just looked up the brand "Fortissimo". I was surprised to find that the company was based in Cheltenham, not far from me. However, it appears from the website to be run by a company called "Pembury Trading Limited" which was dissolved earlier this year, having not filed accounts for some years. Nevertheless, the website itself appears to be live, so something is not right here from a legal standpoint, apart from anything else. Well nigh everything on the site is shown as "out of stock". The flutes are listed at an incredibly cheap price. That is, it would be incredible if anything remotely playable could be made for that sort of money.

The enterprise appears to have been run (still run?) by two people called Nicholas Keith Stone and Laura Valerie Brand. I wonder if I know them ...

(Maybe liquidating stock, so no back up service.)

The Dixon ABS one piece flute works reasonably well, to get you going, I had difficulty with both embouchure & fingering, but after a little bit of practice, it is coming together enough that I felt confident enough to buy a more expensive delrin flute (from Damian Thompson), so for about £38 you can get something worthy of its cost, & if you gain confidence, then look for a better one.

benhall.1 wrote:

AuLoS303 wrote:The trouble is, as a beginner with no access to other flutes to play, you can't really tell if your flute is a good one. So you're never quite sure how much of the bad playing is down to the player, and how much to the flute (I was given it by a Facebook friend ,the brand is Fortissimo)

I've just looked up the brand "Fortissimo". I was surprised to find that the company was based in Cheltenham, not far from me. However, it appears from the website to be run by a company called "Pembury Trading Limited" which was dissolved earlier this year, having not filed accounts for some years. Nevertheless, the website itself appears to be live, so something is not right here from a legal standpoint, apart from anything else. Well nigh everything on the site is shown as "out of stock". The flutes are listed at an incredibly cheap price. That is, it would be incredible if anything remotely playable could be made for that sort of money.

The enterprise appears to have been run (still run?) by two people called Nicholas Keith Stone and Laura Valerie Brand. I wonder if I know them ...

Well its certainly playable, and in tune! It just needs one element, a good player