Spouses/SO's Can't Tell the Difference

[Whistlin'Dixie]

So, in order to start a thread as a spin-off from another.

David Levine wrote that his wife honestly couldn't tell the diff between his flutes except for the loudness factor.
Everyone else?

In my (limited) experience, I have often thought that my family couldn't tell either, and they probably can't, really...
But for one memorable episode.

I had played the Hammy exclusively for several months prior to bringing a Byrne flute on board. As is normal in my house, nobody was on hand to witness the unwrapping of the package, and ~
I proceeded to sit in the kitchen and play some of my usual repertoire (collection of about 4 tunes ~ well, maybe it's not quite that bad... ).
Two different (teenage) family members walked through randomly, and commented "Mom, your flute playing is sounding pretty good lately!"

Now, it's not like they could distinguish one blackwood keyless flute from another, in order to comment on the difference, but there was at least "something" there.... These kids are well used to their mom's tootling, so nobody usually makes a comment or even notices..

When I listen to someone recently play one of my blackwood flutes compared to a boxwood, sure, the flutes sounded fundamentally the same, but still, there was something different there.

Well, that's about it ~ anyone else have spouse's that can't tell the difference....?

Mary

[peeplj]

Shannon can tell the difference between the Hamilton and my other "Irish" flutes. The Hamilton has such volume as well as a distinctive ring in the sound.

Also, she can distinguish the antique 8-key from the others, I think more by its unique scale than anything else.

But I do think she'd agree that for good or bad I always sound like me, no matter what flute I'm playing.

--James

[Father Emmet]

Significant others are the ones that are still smiling.

[chas]

My wife can always tell the difference between my Bleazey and the other two flutes. It has such a mellow, buttery sound. She can usually tell the difference between the Schultz and Olwell, the latter having a bit more of an edge and a tad more volume to the sound. There are days, though, when I can get that out of the Schultz, too.

[Whistlin'Dixie]

Significant others are the ones that are still smiling.

Hey I'm still smiling after only 24 years!!!!!!

Mary

[greenspiderweb]

Significant others are the ones that are still smiling.

Hey I'm still smiling after only 24 years!!!!!!

Mary

Me too! 25 in September! But, I try to make it my policy not to play when my wife is about-my choice. The cats don't seem to mind, so I'm thankful for that! They can sleep through anything, short of bagpipes(not tested yet)!

I don't think my cats can tell the difference either, back on topic.

[RudallRose]

My wife of 10 years has little knowledge of, and even less interest in, my flutes aside from their aesthetics. But, she has commented that an old boxwood Monzani flute that I played when I met her is her favorite sounding one. She doesn't distinguish between the others, but that Monzani is, to her ear, her favorite. So much so that I have been precluded from disposing of it until a suitable/acceptable "replacement" is located.
Maybe it was because romance was in the air when she first heard it and it's left its mark ever since. Who knows. It is the only flute she ever comments about.
By the way.....the replacement arrived last year.....but I've not gotten the gumption yet to sell the Monzani.

[JessieK]

Dan can tell the difference. He usually prefers the one I like less (in a given comparison). I think it's because instruments often sound different to the player than to the listener(s). Still, if an instrument feels better to the player, said player will probably get better music out of it.

[dwinterfield]

I'm still a beginner and I'm playing the whistle not the flute. (I'm at the "getting noises from it" stage with the flute). Still, there's another aspect of spouse response. Lately the teacher has suggested playing some familiar songs from memory i.e. Battle Hymn of the Republic, Amazing Grace etc. My wife immediately started commenting on how my playing is improving. The tradtional jigs, hornpipes etc are getting better but still ragged. Is the difference the instrument you're playing or the listeners appreciation of the comfort with your tunes.

And Jessie "usually prefers the one I like less" is in the spouses job description.

[Doc Jones]

I recently had several (5 anyway) flutes in my home by famous makers. One of them was my Burns boxwood Rudall copy.

I played them all for everybody that would sit and listen. Without exception they preferred the Burns. I should note that this was not my primary flute and I did not feel I was laying it to its potential at that time.

Women were especially "wowed" by this particular flute. So, in the interest of maintaining my status as ultimate chick magnet, I went with the Burns.


Doc

[DCrom]

I'm still a beginner and I'm playing the whistle not the flute. (I'm at the "getting noises from it" stage with the flute). Still, there's another aspect of spouse response. Lately the teacher has suggested playing some familiar songs from memory i.e. Battle Hymn of the Republic, Amazing Grace etc. My wife immediately started commenting on how my playing is improving. The tradtional jigs, hornpipes etc are getting better but still ragged. Is the difference the instrument you're playing or the listeners appreciation of the comfort with your tunes.

I think you've edged into the "learn by ear" vs "learn from score" issue.

Without getting into the debate further, I think that a good part of playing any tune well is knowing what it should sound like - rhythm, pacing, and phrasing.

Tunes that you already know well from listening, (or have a good knowledge of the general style) will usually sound a lot better than pieces, even comparitively simple ones, that are total unknowns.

I'm still just so/so on whistle (and quite a bit below that on flute) but there are a few tunes that I sound pretty good on, including a couple that are moderately difficult. But in just about every case, they are tunes I know, and loved, long before I ever tried to play them.

[ChrisA]

Maybe she's humouring me, but my SO claims that the blackwood Copley I just got has a very
nice tone compared to the delrin Seery I had been playing. (Still -do- play, actually, since
it's always assembled, it gets use ... often in the morning, when I just -have- to whip off a quick
set before commuting to the day job...)

I certainly find -playing- it a much better experience, because it's so much more responsive
(although, I've had to start actually bringing my volume down... I can play loud enough to partially
deafen my right ear if I go full blast... gotta look into the earplug thing before that becomes
permanent...) However, truthfully, on other people's clips of Seery vs M&E vs Copley vs McGee
vs Olwell... they all sound like the player. I think tone carries a little more live and close-up, but
mostly affects the player.

--Chris

[Whistlin'Dixie]

How is it that we usually have a (strong) preference, then, for the sound of certain of our flutes compared to our others, if it's true that when listening to ourselves recorded, or someone else plays our flutes, they all seem to sound similar?!?!?!? What makes a particular flute soundd better to the player's own ears? Are we deluded?

Mary

[chas]

How is it that we usually have a (strong) preference, then, for the sound of certain of our flutes compared to our others, if it's true that when listening to ourselves recorded, or someone else plays our flutes, they all seem to sound similar?!?!?!? What makes a particular flute soundd better to the player's own ears? Are we deluded?

Our ears hear the sound from a different angle and from MUCH closer. I think if you got a really good clip-on microphone and clipped it to your ear, the flutes might sound as the player hears them. I remember my wife talking about how, when she was young, she strained to get the last little bit of breath out of her sound. When she complained to her teacher about the difficulty, he said that it just wasn't worth it -- nobody listening would ever hear it.

As I said above, I wouldn't say that my flutes sound similar. When I had a Copley and a Schultz, they sounded similar, but they played differently -- the Copley had a much easier upper octave and the Schultz a much easier lower.

[ChrisA]

I think there's resonances that we can hear that others can't, the same as with voices... the
sounding column of air seems to extend, or at least reflect, right back into the mouth with
good intonation (I can feel it on my lips and tongue, as well as my fingers.) And sound
dampens rapidly with distance, so much might be lost for a listener even a short distance
away.

I think we may be fooling ourselves to some extent though... because the -feel- of the playing
is different, we might hear it differently. And the experience of how producing those sounds
feels is pretty important, I think.

Of course, the flutes aren't -entirely- without different sound, certainly if you take a
cheap-local-fair bamboo or pvc flute and compare it to a well crafted wood flute, anyone
can hear the difference. And I think I can here a difference between a narrow-bored,
small-holed flute, and a wide-bored, big-holed flute. -Dramatic- shape differences make a
difference, and certainly a badly cut embouchure can ruin a flute's tone. But for reasonably
well-made flutes in the same kind of shape... maybe my ear's not good enough, certainly I
have enough trouble learning tunes by ear! I think mostly, though, the listener can't perceive
much difference directly.

Maybe Terry McGee will take up the topic for his next study and we'll get a definitive answer.