Rockstro's fingering charts for 8-key flute

[jemtheflute]

R.S. Rockstro's seminal and controversial late C19th Treatise on the flute is often referred to in flute-interested circles for all sorts of reasons, but is fairly difficult to lay hands on. It is not currently in print so we are dependent on the second hand market or public libraries to access it. Then, it is an obscure publication that never had a large circulation, and my experience is that even those libraries which own a copy (usually only larger County Central Libraries or Universty Music Libraries, in GB at any rate) don't usually have it on the public shelves because it is so rarely asked for. The two occasions in my life I found it in a library (in Exeter and then in Cardiff), it had to be ordered up from the "stacks".

About 4 years ago, when I first started venturing onto the Internet (in my local public library!) I did a search for it for reference purposes which almost by chance brought up a second hand set of the 1980s facsimile reissue of the 2nd Edition (of 1928) published by a Dutch specialist flute literature publisher (now sadly defunct) available from an online-trading book store in Holland at an affordable price, so I jumped at the chance and made it an early Xmas presie to myself that year!

Enough background: I have several times here on C&F made reference to Rockstro's comprehensive fingering charts for the "old" (as he terms it) 8-key conoid flute including basic, alternative, "sensitive" and special context usage fingerings with evaluations of their usefulness, advantages and disadvantages, plus a shake/trill chart. (He has charts for later types of flute too, including Bohm which I haven't bothered with). It is a fantastic resource.

I have now scanned the Simple System ones onto my computer and compressed and pasted the images into a Word document. I'm not planning to upload the 10 resulting images here because Copyright subsists on the 1986 facsimile - one or two pages OK, but I think more would be pushing the issue in a public forum.... Drawing up derivative copies to evade the copyright issue (and clarify Rockstro's less than ideal graphics and layout) would be too time consuming a task for me at present! (I may have a go in the future, but don't hold your breath!)

However, if anyone is interested in seeing/having these charts, please pm me. I do not think e-mailing out a few copies to direct requesters of my compilation document really constitutes a serious breach of copyright (morally at any rate, if still questionable legally!) on an out-of-print specialist reference work that is extremely unlikely to be reprinted in the foreseeable future.

Even better, if there is anyone here who has the time and interest and would like to undertake re-setting the content of the charts in nice modern computerated ways to make them clearer to read and easy to post on the web without breaching copyright, please let me know - I'm more than happy to collaborate with advice, proof reading etc. It would be great to be able to make it readily accessible and permanently available here on C&F.

[flutefry]

Jem, great idea. I'd be happy to rework the charts, and to add the commentaries on the alternative fingerings. I am by no means a computer graphics specialist (!!), but I have the time and the inclination.

Hugh

[jemtheflute]

Thanks Hugh - and also Jack Bradshaw who has also tentatively offered, sight unseen! I've already zapped bumf to Jack, but why not make this a collaborative project (within reason... don't want to over-complicate) or at least, if you and any others who may offer don't mind, maybe take separate shots at it and then we can chose the best, or make a composite with features from several???? Or cycle drafts around between you/us for a "peer review".

Anyway, Hugh, I've harvested your e-address from your signature and I'll copy to you what I sent to Jack.

Anyone else up for that? The offer for just having the chart stands too. And would anyone like to do the same for the Langey/Boosey & Hawkes chart (which has some differences not included elsewhere and is maybe more pertinent to later flutes)?

Meantime, it is worth reiterating in this thread that most, if not all (I haven't done a point-by-point check) of Rockstro's alternatives are in Rick Wilson's composite chart.

It is also significant/amusing that Rockstro does not anywhere give oxx ooo (with or without Eb key) for top-of-1st-8ve C natural, although he has 5 alternative suggestions for that note!

[Aanvil]

Send it along Jem.

You know I'm not clear about copyright laws in the EU/UK but republishing something from a public treatise, especially something that old, seems out side the range of ownership even for that Dutch Co. I doubt they purchased or secured any rights at all.

Here is the States something that old would fall under public domain and its free to use for what ever you wish. Even profit.

[jemtheflute]

OK Aanvil - I'll add you to recipients and send it anon.

Thanks for the encouragement re: copyright. I really have no idea about that, but better safe than....getting Dale into moither! If the fast-developing exercise in re-working it comes off, that will be very much more readable and altogether better than fuzzy scans and will dump the copyright issue completely, so I'll continue to hold off with the originals as per the OP.

Oh yes, as a bonus, all requesters of the Rockstro will also get a scan of the Langey/Boosey & Hawkes chart too.

[Nanohedron]

Wonderful!! And while we're waiting, here's a pic of the man himself with piccolo (unkeyed?), and R.S. Pratten, seated with an early Boehm stick.

[jemtheflute]

Nano, Mr Pratten's flute-in-hand is on a Bohm tube, yes, but it is one of the "hybrid" systems - substantially "old flute" fingering but with platter keys on rod axles to shift and enlarge the tone-holes..... sometimes these kinds of design got labelled "Siccama" because they borrowed in part his ideas and merged them with Bohm's tube and mechanism's technology but not his tone-hole distribution, actual mechanism or fingering. I'm not sure that Pratten didn't put his name to some such also. Not so "early" either as Bohm's "parabolic head" and cylindrical body were his second big push at change with ongoing developments to the mechanism too. So a hybrid like this one can only come after Bohm's main second generation design was established (and had shown itself advantageous enough to rip off)!

The long F is a dead give-away! Grand picture, though - thanks for contributing it!

[Nanohedron]

And thank you for the clarification, and the point about the long F key. You know how it is with some of us exclusively simple-system concert fluters: if it has platter keys (nice term!) all over it, we think it's....a Boehm.

But, yes, I would definitely be interested in those charts, too.

[jemtheflute]

Sure thing, Nanohedron - but I'll be needing an e-address to zap 'em to and yours isn't in your signature here - pm it to me and they'll be on their way.

As for "platter" keys, it's (I think) an anglicisation of the French "plateaux".

[plamas]

Appropos the message I posted today...the Rockstro charts are included as an appendix in The Irish Flute Player's Handbook.
All the Best
Hammy