Flutists: Should I capitulate to E6?
May 10, 2021 10:44 AM Subscribe
I'm thinking about getting a new flute which poses two questions: Will it be better than my present flute and how do you try out flutes in the age of Covid-19? Details below.
First some context. I took up flute again in retirement after a lapse of 45 years. How well do I play? Just good enough to be second chair in an HS band (but that was mostly based on senority), and still an HS-level player. All the seniors looking to go to music school play lots better than I do.
My flute is a Haynes closed-hole model like this except mine is offset G and a year younger. My parents bought it for me in 1960.
After having lessons for several years, my problems with E6 are pretty much limited slurs on jumps from several steps away, especially from A5 because physics. But of course, etude writers want me to have plenty of practice so it's a daily irritation. My attitude has always been "sure you can get a new flute to fix E6, but what about F-sharp6?" but I'm running out of patience. I've never played a flute with a split-E mechanism. Please give me an idea of your experience.
I'd also like to hear about experiences with the high E facilitator, aka G Disk. My intuition says that there must be a downside or else the manufacturers would have made adjustment of the G hole universal.
Or to summarize, have manufacturers learned anything important about making flutes since 1949?
A new flute would be silver and in the $5-10K range. Money is not a problem.
First some context. I took up flute again in retirement after a lapse of 45 years. How well do I play? Just good enough to be second chair in an HS band (but that was mostly based on senority), and still an HS-level player. All the seniors looking to go to music school play lots better than I do.
My flute is a Haynes closed-hole model like this except mine is offset G and a year younger. My parents bought it for me in 1960.
After having lessons for several years, my problems with E6 are pretty much limited slurs on jumps from several steps away, especially from A5 because physics. But of course, etude writers want me to have plenty of practice so it's a daily irritation. My attitude has always been "sure you can get a new flute to fix E6, but what about F-sharp6?" but I'm running out of patience. I've never played a flute with a split-E mechanism. Please give me an idea of your experience.
I'd also like to hear about experiences with the high E facilitator, aka G Disk. My intuition says that there must be a downside or else the manufacturers would have made adjustment of the G hole universal.
Or to summarize, have manufacturers learned anything important about making flutes since 1949?
A new flute would be silver and in the $5-10K range. Money is not a problem.
Hopefully a flautist comes along to help. I am an amateur oboist, and a more modern oboe would be easier to play in general than one from 1960.
Here is a thread on a different forum discussing the split E mechanism. Another thread on the same forum suggests that more modern flutes have a better scale which makes them more in tune with themselves.
At the price point you are looking, you will want to try several to find the one that suits you best (including trying different headjoints). I'm in a different country, here reputable music shops would send out an instrument for you to try at home, if you are unlucky requiring a deposit. This should still work despite Covid.
posted by plonkee at 2:09 PM on May 10, 2021
Here is a thread on a different forum discussing the split E mechanism. Another thread on the same forum suggests that more modern flutes have a better scale which makes them more in tune with themselves.
At the price point you are looking, you will want to try several to find the one that suits you best (including trying different headjoints). I'm in a different country, here reputable music shops would send out an instrument for you to try at home, if you are unlucky requiring a deposit. This should still work despite Covid.
posted by plonkee at 2:09 PM on May 10, 2021
Response by poster: Thanks for the links to the various forums and chats. I found some useful insights.
posted by SemiSalt at 6:16 PM on May 10, 2021
posted by SemiSalt at 6:16 PM on May 10, 2021
« Older Have impromptu Covid memorials sprung up in other... | Where should I sell my high-quality vintage... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
Unfortunately I don't have any feedback from personal experience, either, but it looks like Fluteland has a pretty active message board, including a discussion on the exact problems you are asking about. Based on that it looks like there are specific techniques you can implement to improve things, as well as something called a "donut" that you can place in one of the G# toneholes to reduce venting, and that has about the same end effect as the Split E on newer flutes.
Also there is an active Facebook Flute Forum where you could ask about this.
posted by flug at 12:57 PM on May 10, 2021