Forums > Santa Has Brought Me An Early Xmas Pressie

Andy-piano-flute

Dec 19 2006, 10:12 PM

......hope I'm not going to bore too many people but I persuaded Santa to bring me a handmade flute headjoint .......& it's wonderful

I got to try 4 - & was told that 1 was more expensive than the others, but not which one. So I played them all & chose the one that sounded the best & played for me the best - & it was the most expensive one

. In all honesty if I'd been given any 1 of them, & not a choice at all, I would have been more than happy

.

The only frustrating thing is that things are so busy at the moment I can only find a very few minutes to play

. Roll on the end of term!

nicki_flute

Dec 19 2006, 10:14 PM

Can Santa buy me an alto flute?

I bet you sound amazing Andrea, you did before, but now, woah!! Infact, is that you I can hear playing now?

My flute combination was the most expensive option...I was originally going to have a 311 body and handmade headjoint or the 574 whole flute.

Enjoy

andante_in_c

Dec 19 2006, 10:20 PM

Santa's very generous, isn't he?

What make of headjoint is it, Andrea?

Andy-piano-flute

Dec 19 2006, 10:24 PM

It's a William Simmons - difference between it & the others I tried is a 14k riser. With my Miyazawa headjoint I found it really difficult to get the very bottom notes to resonate & C4 was really difficult. Now the bottom octave is wonderfully full & resonant & the top octave has suddenly become a nice place

nicki_flute

Dec 19 2006, 10:25 PM

QUOTE(Andy-piano-flute @ Dec 19 2006, 10:24 PM)

It's a William Simmons - difference between it & the others I tried is a 14k riser. With my Miyazawa headjoint I found it really difficult to get the very bottom notes to resonate & C4 was really difficult. Now the bottom octave is wonderfully full & resonant & the top octave has suddenly become a nice place

I bet it sounds amazing - I love my WS headjoint

Was he a nice person?

andante_in_c

Dec 19 2006, 10:28 PM

It's always nice to find it's the flute that's deficient and not you, isn't it?

My Powell headjoint has a 14k riser (and lip plate), and it's very much easier to play than the Muramatsu. If I've been playing the Mura all day (it's my teaching instrument) the Powell seems wonderful afterwards.

nicki_flute

Dec 19 2006, 10:33 PM

Could I have a little play on a headjoint with a gold riser?

Or would it make me want one too much?

Andy-piano-flute

Dec 19 2006, 10:33 PM

QUOTE(andante_in_c @ Dec 19 2006, 10:28 PM)

It's always nice to find it's the flute that's deficient and not you, isn't it?

My Powell headjoint has a 14k riser (and lip plate), and it's very much easier to play than the Muramatsu. If I've been playing the Mura all day (it's my teaching instrument) the Powell seems wonderful afterwards.

....yes it is. I know there's the argument that if you are a good player you should be able to make a decent sound out of most instruments but I sometimes felt as though I was fighting with my old headjoint to try & get it to play the way I wanted it to sound.

ChevvyChev

Dec 19 2006, 10:34 PM

Congrats on the new head joint!

I too found when I got my new flute...it was just so much easier to play, and so much nicer and relaxed!

Andy-piano-flute

Dec 19 2006, 10:40 PM

QUOTE(nicki_flute @ Dec 19 2006, 10:33 PM)

Could I have a little play on a headjoint with a gold riser?

Or would it make me want one too much?

Yes ..
...& yes

nicki_flute

Dec 19 2006, 10:43 PM

QUOTE(Andy-piano-flute @ Dec 19 2006, 10:40 PM)

QUOTE(nicki_flute @ Dec 19 2006, 10:33 PM)

Could I have a little play on a headjoint with a gold riser?

Or would it make me want one too much?

Yes ..
...& yes

Can you get gold risers put on headjoints?

Thankyou

boneman

Dec 19 2006, 10:48 PM

And I thought it was only brass players that were paranoid about mouth-pieces!

Andy-piano-flute

Dec 19 2006, 10:48 PM

QUOTE(nicki_flute @ Dec 19 2006, 10:25 PM)

[ love my WS headjoint

Was he a nice person?

Yes, really nice...

nicki_flute

Dec 19 2006, 10:50 PM

Aw, cool!

SaxFan

Dec 19 2006, 11:49 PM

QUOTE(boneman @ Dec 19 2006, 10:48 PM)

And I thought it was only brass players that were paranoid about mouth-pieces!

nope... how many mouthpieces do sax players have?

We are all chasing the elusive perfection thing.
At least with a flute or with brass, you don't have to "match" up a reed as well

And no ligature to worry about!

sarah-flute

Feb 22 2007, 04:06 PM

Hehe, I knew you had a new hj Andrea, but only just saw this thread!

QUOTE(Andy-piano-flute @ Dec 19 2006, 10:33 PM)

QUOTE(andante_in_c @ Dec 19 2006, 10:28 PM)

It's always nice to find it's the flute that's deficient and not you, isn't it?

My Powell headjoint has a 14k riser (and lip plate), and it's very much easier to play than the Muramatsu. If I've been playing the Mura all day (it's my teaching instrument) the Powell seems wonderful afterwards.

....yes it is. I know there's the argument that if you are a good player you should be able to make a decent sound out of most instruments but I sometimes felt as though I was fighting with my old headjoint to try & get it to play the way I wanted it to sound.

I don't recall who said it or where

but someone said recently on a thread, that with a better instrument, you spend more effort on playing musically etc and less on just making the tone sound nice. James Galway sounds great on a student flute - doesn't mean he wants to have to work that hard in a concert!!

I so want a handmade headjoint.............

Malone

Feb 22 2007, 05:12 PM

QUOTE(boneman @ Dec 19 2006, 10:48 PM)

And I thought it was only brass players that were paranoid about mouth-pieces!

I knew someone once who played french horn and every orchestra rehersal he would take out up to nine different mouthpieces and a mirror and line them up on his stand. I think he worked out later on that the french horn just want for him...