Indeed. Later makers, eg Potter with his Patent Flute, reduced the bore to around 19mm to extend the range beyond what was needed in Quantz's time. http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/PottersGerm ... Patent.htmpaddler wrote: ↑Wed Aug 10, 2022 3:39 am The value of a wider bore was well recognized by at least one baroque flute maker as early as the mid 1700s.
Johan Joachim Quantz (1697-1773), a hugely influential flute maker, was famous for such things as inventing
the tuning slide, and designing flutes with two separate keys for D# and Eb, but his flutes also had a larger bore
than was common at that time, or today, or any time in between.
Which all, interestingly, makes it very similar to my larger bore version of a C flute. It's scaled up from a typical Rudall & Rose Bb flute, with a head bore around 20.9mm. It has a lot "bigger" sound than my other approach, scaled down from a Rudall D flute. And covers the range we need comfortably.I have a set of detailed plans for several of Quantz's flutes, and notice that he used a head bore of 20.4 mm!
This particular flute had several corps de rechange (interchangeable upper body sections for use when playing
at different pitch standards), and the widest point in the bore for each of the body sections varies from 20.3 mm
for the smallest, to 20.5 mm for the largest. This is for a D flute, but it is pitched lower than modern standards.
The intention seems to have been to optimize the bore for something close to A=392, which is more like a
C# flute at A=440 hz, but the interchangeable body sections allow the pitch to be changed up to A=415 hz for the
shortest section. Whichever way you look at it, this is proportionately a very large bore.
Also, note that this is a conical bore flute, not a cylindrical bore, parabolic head, Boehm-style flute, so it is quite
applicable to the conical bore Irish flute designs we use today. Quantz flutes are reported to play very well across
the full range of notes used in baroque flute music, so definitely beyond what we typically use in ITM in the upper
registers.
Heh heh agreed, Paddler. We think we're pretty cool working from well-developed 19th century originals, ironing out the bugs they left us (and the bugs accrued over the intervening period). But Quantz and probably some of his contemporaries were developing the conical bore from the previous renaissance cylinder bore flutes. With none of the advantages we have at our fingertips!Given the extraordinary level of sophistication and attention to detail in Quantz's work (it could even be argued,
far surpassing anything since!) I think it lends considerable weight to the argument that there is merit in a larger
than standard bore. For a deep dive into Quantz's mindset and level of mastery of all things flute-related, you can read
a translation of his original 1752 treatise "On Playing the Flute" (400+ pages). It contains an absolutely mind-boggling
level of detail about flute playing, performance practice, tuning standards, etc. After reading it I was left with the
feeling that almost everything we think of, and a lot that we have not thought of, has already been thoroughly explored
hundreds of years ago ... and written up, published, patented, built and sold.
I was also left with the strong impression that Quantz didn't do anything by accident.
I've played this flute of Quantz in the Library of Congress back in the 70's. The Curator had a lunch appointment and left me there with instructions to close the door when I left. I believe they don't let you do that any more! Note the adjustable screw stopper, the tuning slide and the enharmonic D#/Eb keys, all Quantz innovations. And an extraordinary number (6) of corps de rechange to meet anything likely to be thrown at you, expecially when combined with a tuning slide! The flute is believed to have belonged to Quantz's student Fred the Great. I'm sure he could afford it!
More about Quantz at: http://jjquantz.org/flute-builder/
So what with the evidence from both Quantz and Boehm, I think we have developed the prima facie case for trying the larger bore for Irish D flutes!