Ellis bamboo flutes

[Flutern]

Paddler,

I too am grateful for the thorough review of Geoffrey's bamboo flutes: I've enjoyed reading Geoffrey's blog notes on his website about his encounter/experiments with bamboo flutes, so it's very interesting to learn more about how these flutes are made, and the stringent selection process that goes into making these deceptively simple flutes.

I actually have a question: from what I understand, these flutes come with a lip plate. Could either of you (paddler and/or Geoffrey) elaborate on the benefits that the increased chimney height brings? Does it improve tone, power, responsiveness, ease of playing? Do Geoffrey's flutes always come with a lip plate, or do some bamboo pieces have walls that are thick enough that they don't need one?

[Geoffrey Ellis]

Paddler,

I too am grateful for the thorough review of Geoffrey's bamboo flutes: I've enjoyed reading Geoffrey's blog notes on his website about his encounter/experiments with bamboo flutes, so it's very interesting to learn more about how these flutes are made, and the stringent selection process that goes into making these deceptively simple flutes.

I actually have a question: from what I understand, these flutes come with a lip plate. Could either of you (paddler and/or Geoffrey) elaborate on the benefits that the increased chimney height brings? Does it improve tone, power, responsiveness, ease of playing? Do Geoffrey's flutes always come with a lip plate, or do some bamboo pieces have walls that are thick enough that they don't need one?

Hi Flutern,

As for lip plates, the increased chimney height improves the ease of tone production in the first octave as well making it more robust. You don't want it too deep, because beyond a certain point it makes the second octave less responsive. But there is a pretty flexible zone in there were it's a great benefit. Some pieces of bamboo absolutely don't need the extra depth (depending upon the species). In fact, some of the timber bamboos have wall thicknesses that would be far too much. But the bamboo that I use for these transverse flutes is bambusa multiplex silverstripe. It is a fabulous material (this is the same species that Patrick Olwell used for his flutes), but the walls are usually just a bit too thin at the location of the embouchure hole to be optimal, so by adding the lip plate I can fine-tune the chimney depth. Theobald Boehm said of his flute that the optimal chimney depth was 4.2mm, and my experience has been that he is right on the money. On this type of bamboo flute you can go deeper without any ill effects (some of mine are as much as 5mm or a hair over), but I try to stay between 4mm and 5mm.

So on this style of flute I always add a lip plate, and at this point it is the only species of bamboo that I use for this style of flute. There are others that work admirably. I know Barna Gabos uses Temple Bamboo (semi-arundinaria faustosa) which has many of the characteristics of the silverstripe and I'm sure it makes a great flute. I did harvest some Temple Bamboo at one point, but it was not large enough--probably because the climate it grew in was not optimal. Bamboo is a very hardy plant, and something like the bambusa multiplex silverstripe will grow where I live in Northern California, but it won't ever get full size like it does in the tropics, so it wouldn't be useful for flutes. I have to explore whether this is ultimately true of the Temple bamboo, or if I just harvested some spindly stalks .

[Flutern]

Thanks, Geoffrey, for explaining the role of the lip plate on your flutes. IIRC, I read somewhere that Charles Nicholson's own flute had a very short chimney, which made it powerful(?) but very difficult to play for anyone but him. I'm writing this from memory, I might have made it up completely.

[Geoffrey Ellis]

Thanks, Geoffrey, for explaining the role of the lip plate on your flutes. IIRC, I read somewhere that Charles Nicholson's own flute had a very short chimney, which made it powerful(?) but very difficult to play for anyone but him. I'm writing this from memory, I might have made it up completely.

When I was working on my own line of head joints for Boehm flutes, I got to do an extensive survey of head joints from many of the big makers (Powell, Haynes, Brannen, Cooper, Arista, Chu, Altus, Sankyo, etc.). Even though Theobald Boehm had recommended the 4.2mm depth, modern makers almost universally opted for greater depth, most of them being close to 5mm or a bit over. The exception was David Chu (I got to examine a boxwood head joint that he made). He was closer to that 4.2mm mark, and in the opinion of my partner on that project (Ron Korb), it was the best of the lot. But the versions with deeper chimneys did have a more powerful tone in the first octave (and to some extent in the second). The versions with the 4.2mm chimney (including my own) had better tuning balance stretching into the third octave. A lot of players commented on it. But it's a trade-off. For a lot of silver flute players, that big sound that the deeper chimney supports is more important.

On bamboo I can really notice the difference. I've made a few where I left them "au natural" (no lip plate) and the chimney depth was around 3mm. No question but that tone development was not as easy. An extra millimeter can make a substantial improvement.

[Flutern]

When I was working on my own line of head joints for Boehm flutes, I got to do an extensive survey of head joints from many of the big makers (Powell, Haynes, Brannen, Cooper, Arista, Chu, Altus, Sankyo, etc.). Even though Theobald Boehm had recommended the 4.2mm depth, modern makers almost universally opted for greater depth, most of them being close to 5mm or a bit over. The exception was David Chu (I got to examine a boxwood head joint that he made). He was closer to that 4.2mm mark, and in the opinion of my partner on that project (Ron Korb), it was the best of the lot. But the versions with deeper chimneys did have a more powerful tone in the first octave (and to some extent in the second). The versions with the 4.2mm chimney (including my own) had better tuning balance stretching into the third octave. A lot of players commented on it. But it's a trade-off. For a lot of silver flute players, that big sound that the deeper chimney supports is more important.

On bamboo I can really notice the difference. I've made a few where I left them "au natural" (no lip plate) and the chimney depth was around 3mm. No question but that tone development was not as easy. An extra millimeter can make a substantial improvement.

Thanks, Geoffrey, it's fascinating to read how such small differences make such a big difference

[Flutern]

As I was browsing the web I stumbled across the source for what I mentioned earlier in this thread regarding Charles Nicholson's own flute.
https://www.olwellflutes.com/post/varia ... int-design
It turns out that my recollection wasn't quite accurate, but it wasn't completely wrong either . Here's the relevant part:

Some players prefer a headjoint as much like those of the original 19th century Nicholson flutes as possible, which were fully-lined with brass tubing and featured a thinner wood head tube than the earlier London-made flutes. This thinner tube dimension means that the embouchure “chimney”—the measurement from the inside to the outside of the flute—is not as tall as on earlier flutes. While this makes for an amazing tone in the hands of a skilled player (part of the revolution Charles Nicholson helped to bring about), these flutes are not always as easy to play for someone with less experience, and a taller chimney seems to provide a consistent sound more easily.

[Geoffrey Ellis]

Some players prefer a headjoint as much like those of the original 19th century Nicholson flutes as possible, which were fully-lined with brass tubing and featured a thinner wood head tube than the earlier London-made flutes. This thinner tube dimension means that the embouchure “chimney”—the measurement from the inside to the outside of the flute—is not as tall as on earlier flutes. While this makes for an amazing tone in the hands of a skilled player (part of the revolution Charles Nicholson helped to bring about), these flutes are not always as easy to play for someone with less experience, and a taller chimney seems to provide a consistent sound more easily.

A succinct summary of the situation! I forgot about Patrick's blog on the subject--I had read it some time back but didn't recall this quotation that was included.