Sedi wrote:
I think the main differences have already been summed up. The temperament is up to the maker, really. I think it is too general to say that simple system flutes are not equal temperament. So far I have not found much info on maker's homepages about that. Some tin whistles for example are not equal temperament (AFAIK Generations for instance) but others are. I am not sure if the "old" simple system flutes were equal tempered or not. From what I found, some where and some were not tuned to equal temperament.
Right, it's mostly a division between antique 19th Century flutes that may have been aimed at other concert pitches than 440 Hz and the need to cover three octaves, vs. modern makers making conical bore flutes where 440 Hz is a given, and they're just adjusting pitch with the first two octaves. That's all we need for "folk" music like Irish and Scottish trad.
I think most contemporary conical bore flute makers are doing a very good job of getting at least reasonably close to good 12TET intonation without requiring too much work from the player in "lipping" up or down. I've been pleasantly surprised at how close to 12TET I could get with both my initial Windward flute and the Thomas Aebi I'm playing now.
It's not just subjective, I test it with the TTtuner Android app on my phone that records and analyzes the playing of a full tune, so I'm not chasing the needle in a way that doesn't represent actual playing. Hat tip to Terry McGee who linked on it with his web site, and introduced me to the idea of RTTA analysis:
http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/RTTA.htmUse one of these analyzers if you want to see what you're really blowin' on your flute! It goes way beyond just making sure your first octave A note is at exactly 440 Hz with the tuning slide. That may not even be the best target for your specific flute, to get the rest of the range in decent tune.
My best intonation on my current flute is with tuning on a G note and letting the A note be a hair sharp, to get the rest of the notes into 12TET intonation. In the modern session world of every other fiddler using a digital clip-on tuner, and even local pipers tuning with apps on their phone to 12TET, I think it's the way to go. Other than solo performance of course, where you're free to express the music in whatever temperament seems appropriate for the music.