My short answer is that I couldn't tell a difference when I listened to the recording all the way through. I listened a number of times.
I don't play the flute and hear them seldom. I'm sure my response will be treasured
![lol :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol_144.gif)
Ah.Martin Milner wrote:Part of my problem with this particular test is that I expect the high end of a flute to sound different from the low end
By Jove ! I think you've got it !!!!!!!!Chiffed wrote:
About flowery language, remember that writing about music is a lot like dancing about architecture.
No, no! Of course the low end and the high end sound different. That's not just the player; that's the way flutes and airstreams and bore sizes and shapes and all those things work.GaryKelly wrote:Ah.Martin Milner wrote:Part of my problem with this particular test is that I expect the high end of a flute to sound different from the low endThat's because you've had to put up with my playing on a number of occasions over the last few years and I'm crap. Sorry.
Yaay! I got bold font!Cynth wrote: Like Martin Milner, I felt if a change took place at the same time as a change in the register (hope I'm using the right word) took place I wouldn't be able to tell if it was because the register had changed or the flute had changed.
You might have to settle for color.Martin Milner wrote:Yaay! I got bold font!Cynth wrote: Like Martin Milner, I felt if a change took place at the same time as a change in the register (hope I'm using the right word) took place I wouldn't be able to tell if it was because the register had changed or the flute had changed.![]()
Next time I'm pushing for colour!
Mailner?Denny wrote:There ya go!Cynth wrote: Like Martin Mailner, I felt if a change took place at the same time as a change in the register (hope I'm using the right word) took place I wouldn't be able to tell if it was because the register had changed or the flute had changed.
ducks....
jsluder wrote:Mailner?Denny wrote:There ya go!Cynth wrote: Like Martin Mailner, I felt if a change took place at the same time as a change in the register (hope I'm using the right word) took place I wouldn't be able to tell if it was because the register had changed or the flute had changed.
ducks....
I do need to get new glasses.Cynth wrote: Like Martin Milner,
GaryKelly wrote:Where are they? I've seen 'em browsing the forum and posting to other threads. Surely those who continuously propagate the belief that certain woods possess distinct 'tonal qualities' would have absolutely no difficulty with this test? Of course, if they don't want to play, we can only surmise as to the reasons why.
I think that this is certainly not a black and white issue. I'm unable to listen to the test at the moment, but would expect to have a hard time discerning any difference. As for myself, I get different sounds from different flutes (even if only to my ears), and as others have said, the fact that pros can get 'their' sound from any flute may be largely a matter of emulation, an ability due to refined emboucher. Some can even emulate a wooden tone on bohm flutes. While I agree with your premise from previous threads that more is to be gained from dedication and practice than searching for that elusive perfect flute, I think the issue has been pushed too far.David Levine wrote:Jesus wept! Anybody who thinks that the material is irrelevant to the sound of the flute probably doesn't play one very well. For whatever reason -- bore finish, changes in physical structure, reaction to climate -- boxwood flutes sound different than blackwood or cocus flutes.
Tapping on a turned, solid piece of cocus produces a distinctly sonorous ringing tone, unlike blackwood or boxwood. Is it foolish to think that this quality would disappear in the finished flute?
To say that the different sound of a boxwood flute is due to the minute change it undergoes in the hands of a player is precisely the reason why we claim that boxwood has a different sound than other flutes. It is obtuse and wrong-headed to say that material is irrelevant-- or that a delrin flute made by Michael Cronnoly is as good as a flute made by one of the great modern makers. What great player is happy playing a flute made from a synthetic material?