I've been playing the flute for quite a while now and have always bee proud of my flute - nothing too special - just a solid silver yamaha head with 24K gold lip plate and riser matched up with a plated Open hole with B foot pearl. And as far as I can hear, I can make a really good sound out of it. I can fill a music hall with rich low notes and find the upper register no problem, but i was approached by what I call a flute snob who said I ought to upgrade at least my headjoint to a 'proper one' like powell, williams or Mancke, but I see no reason to when I can get a perfectly beautiful sound out of my current set up and see no good reason to spend up to £2000 buying something I could have a good night out on - or debt! I'm needing some guidance here! Help! Do you think this person was right and I should upgrade to a better head? I quite recently sat my Performance Diploma on this flute and passed fine.
Thanks for your help!

x

I would go and try other headjoints and compare it to the one you have?
aw, it sounds awful! I prefer my yamaha 311 flute to my new one - altus body, sheridan headjoint (which is three times the price of my yamaha )
good luck!
take care
thomxxx

Good luck if you do decide to go 'headjoint shopping'. Just a note of caution - it can become a lifelong obsession - looking for the perfect combination!!

hillyb

Sounds like snobbery for the sake of snobbery to me, if you're happy with your current set up - and let's face it, you can't be doing too much wrong if you just got your dip!!

By all means have a go on some new headjoints, but I don't think you need to upgrade to a "proper" headjoint if the one you have 1) works for you and 2) is already a solid silver one with a gold lipplate.

You may start trying new ones and go "wow", and decide you do want a new one after all, but if you find you're still happy with the one you have then don't let flute snobs tell you it isn't good enough!!

hey thanks sarah-flute - glad you're on my side!!!

It's awful isn't it the way some people can make you feel insecure about your flute, i have an andrew oxley head with 14ct gold lip and riser coupled with an emerson solid silver open hole b foot flute which i really love, my main problem with the emerson is that it's tuned sharp but hey, that can be sorted out easily !!

I thought about going to this years british flute society convention, but was informed that i would probably get laughed at playing the flute that i have. I haven't had this combination of flute for long but already i'm finding it difficult to cope with the smirks but i just can't afford to replace it with anything that would make "them" feel happy

Sometimes i listen to this http://www.thegalwaynetwork.com/vanclass/ubcclass.htm
please click on platinum/gold/silver at the bottom of the page ............. it makes me feel better.

perhaps we could start a skanky flute club .......... people with powells not admitted

I have to say as a Powell owner, that lots of people are very sniffy about Powells and think that Altus is the only way to go. Try mentioning the word 'Powell' in one of the main London flute shops, and see what reaction you get.

that brings a thought to me andante, i know that powells have recently took a bit of a dip with their newer models, what was the best "era" for powells ??

Couldn't answer that, I'm afraid. Depends on model as much as anything. My headjoint is only a few years old; the body is slightly older because I got it secondhand.

If you're happy with the setup you have at the moment, I'd say stick with it! Ignore the flute snobs out there

Strikes me that possibly some people are just jealous you've done so well with an "inferior" flute

I don't recall the url but somewhere online there's a soundfile of James Galway playing a platinum flute, a gold flute, and a silver student Yammy (I think that's the combo) - he still sounds more like James Galway on a silver flute than most of the "flute snobs" would on a Platinum one.

Of course it helps if you have a great instrument (though yours sounds pretty fab to me!) but still - it ain't the flute you blow, it's how you blow your flute!

I recently went to Topwind in london and tried out around 30 headjoints, mostly more expensive than my current powell signature headjoint. All i can say is that not a single one could compare to the one i play on. Most importantly its what works for you best. If a cheaper Yamaha headjoint allows you to do whatever you want, then thats the one for you.
A more expensive headjoint would take time to get used to, probably having to change your way of playing to adapt to the cut of the headjoint, however that may allow you to explore new sounds and colours.

As a player of a beautiful Powell, I think that's a highly unfair comment, and I'm actually quite upset!! I don't consider myself a "flute snob", and although I love my Powell flute, and feel very lucky to own it, I also realise that my flute is not the perfect flute for everyone else on the planet!! I narrowed my flute search down from about 40-50 flutes (...you name it I tried it) to a Platinum Altus and the custom Powell I currently own, in the end (in my opinion) the Altus came nowhere near to the Powell...but that's just for me, and the way I play, and where I am right now in my musical path. If the sound you are making on your flute is a good one, one that you are happy with and on a flute which you feel comfortable playing, then I see no reason to change your set-up!! Surely the impact of a flute is surely in the sound you make rather than the shiny-ness/expensive-ness/material blahblahblah ?

I also tested out some handmade headjoints, several by Ian McLauchlan, all very beautiful and gorgeous sounding. I then saw him in the back of the shop playing his flute, and had a chat to him about flash plating and the like...anyway, to hear his flute he played with a fresh, clear sound and a beautiful tone...when actually looking at his flute, its nearly black with tarnish and looks nothing like a shiny new expensive flute....but he loves that flute and it makes a wonderful sound, so why change!



Go with what YOU feel, rather than what others think!!



p.s. The powell was also highly reccomended from the several Flute shops, both in and out of London!

p.p.s I still love to play on my first flutes ... a student pearl with a solid silver headjoint, and a solid silver yamaha. I love exploring the new things I can make them do as I progress as a player, and enjoy the differing sounds my flutes make!



Hope that made some sense?!

I think that there is no point upgrading unless you can hear something in your present set-up that doesn't satisfy you. What other people hear doesn't count! (It might be valid, but if your experience doesn't back it up, it's useless, isn't it?).

Powell vs. anti-Powell. I've posted this before, but a few years ago, a Japanese flute magazine posted a list of prominent orchestral flautists and their instruments (Japanese orchestras). Wouldn't you know it, the Japanese flautists played foreign instruments, and the foreign flautists played Muramatsus, Altuses, Matekis, etc etc! The grass is always greener over somebody else's fence!

On the subject of Powell, Topwind dont like Powell flutes becuase of many lip-plates falling off their headjoints.

Someone raised this one on one of the flute lists recently. No-one had any evidence of lip-plates falling off.

I did a lot of research before buying mine...and I have never heard of this before! Not even from Topwind...and in all honesty I don't use Topwind as my first shop of choice...I find them all a bit to pushy, trying to "make" you buy things, rather than letting you have a chance to explore things for yourself! I know they are highly rated by most, but I have never left there feeling satisfied with what they have told me, and I always feel like the "inferior" player having spoken to them. ...Maybe that's just me?!

xoxox

I didnt find them pushy at all. I went in, got asked by each of the staff if i needed help, but i was just looking through the music library. Also tried many headjoints, wasnt finding what i wanted so asked if they did any powell heads and was told they wont because of the headjoint problem.
Its quite a small shop compared to the other 2 big flute sellers, so did feel like they were watching every move i make!

I've just bought myself a handmade headjoint made by Altus and it seems to be very responsive and i got it with a huge reduction on the RRP, It'll do for just now, but might really push the boat out later this year! Thanks for your advice!

well dont go shoping until you're sure you want to search for the perfect headjoint! IF You're happy at the mo then that's fine, perhaps a few years down the line consider it. But remeber a name is not everything and i've heard that powell isn't as good as it used to be! The japanese makes seem to be on top of their game and you've already got a yamaha so stick with it!

Hi Tori Flute,

I ran across this posting while out browsing the web, and felt strongly compelled to register here so I could offer my support. That 'snobbishness' reminds me too much road bikers who look down on others because they don't have the most expensive components in their setup, never mind how well they ride, or fishermen who turn up their noses at you 'cause you don't fish with XX brand. Etc. Ridiculous.

If that flute works for you, then it IS your instrument and voice, and nobody else's business. You probably play beautifully on it, and can likely outplay lots of those folks with more pricey instruments. (I've seen plenty of rich amateurs with flutes I can only dream of owning) This is what is important; musicality, phrasing, intonation, technique, sound, etc.. The folks in question probably never tried the instruments they snicker at. They should; there are some quite good flutes coming out of Asia these days, at affordable prices. I recently tried a Pearl in our local music shop here, and thought that it was quite good; an instrument I could happily use for work.

So go to those society meetings, play your best and show them what you can do!!

regards --Lars Johannesson, Santa Cruz, California.
http://www.larsjohannesson.com/music

Well said!!!!