Gordon wrote:So, Terry - let me see if I've got this right...
Assuming the comparison is in material only and not deliberately dissimilar designs, an ideally-made flute is created with the smoothest bore possible, the hardest materials, the least likelihood of air leakage or moisture interference, etc.. This is ideal both for functionality, and so that the maker is assured that the next flute will be as close to the same standards as the last flute, regardless of wood/metal/polymer choice.
I think the word "ideal" may be a smidge too strong here, although it's probably indicative that makers over the centuries have generally swerved towards the heaviest woods they can access and work (fruit woods in the renaissance;
boxwood later; ebony, cocus, blackwood and metals in later centuries).
Then it stands to reason (and objective listening) that the comparative results will be considerably more similar than they will be different, flute to flute. Boxwood, for eg, is treated more liberally with drying oils to compensate for its more porous makeup than blackwood, say - and ultimately the instrument behaves more similarly to blackwood (and blackwood to Delrin) than it might have otherwise behaved. When wall thickness, weight, and other manufacturing choices are in the mix, you are more discussing design issues, rather than material differences.
Correct. Though whether
boxwood treated ends up close enough to blackwood in performance is something we'd need to establish experimentally. A
boxwood flute gains something like 5 gms after oiling, so it's overall weight will still be less than blackwood. I feel I can detect differences, but I'd want to sit down with an otherwise identical flute in each to be confident that I wasn't falling for a stereotype. Perhaps surprisingly, although I've made lots of flutes in lots of materials, the need to get them out means they don't hang around long enough to permit leisured comparisons. And there's no point comparing a GLP in box with a Prattens in blackwood!
In other words, it's really the unintended differences (flaws?) in a flute's components that make one sound slightly different from another. And in the case of high-quality metal flutes, the differences become virtually negligible, and the design preferences for personal ease of play become considerably more at issue.
That about right?
Again "unintended" and "flaws" are perhaps overstated. If a maker is using
boxwood or a player asks for
boxwood, they are presumably doing it for reasons that work for them. But it does seem more likely to me that we are looking at the impact of "weaknesses" in the container for the vibrating air, rather than strengths. My feeling (still unproven) is that delrin flutes are more efficient than blackwood flutes, and so on down the line. But I prefer blackwood flutes to delrin flutes, and many others have commented similarly. But does blackwood add texture that delrin doesn't, or am I falling for romantic notions? Only tests will tell.
Terry
