In Piano scales, the book says there should be a curve (which I understand to mean crescendo and decrescendo). Is that true for flute too? The book says uniform tone - does that mean no cres/de?
Thanks

Is there really no-one there with an opinion?

Well I was always told to put in the cres/dim curve. I think what they mean by tone is changing it completely e.g.adding vibrato half way through or changing tone colour etc.

Definitely not, in my opinion. And I seem to remember the chief examiner answering this in one of the recent threads. It is all too easy for a flautist to get quieter on the way down, and this should be discouraged. Uniform dynamic is the way to go.

Musical shaping can be achieved byu the candidate being asked to play the scale as if it is a musical phrase, or to think of it as part of a piece. There is no need to put an artificial dynamic change in as well.

Uniform dynamic is, at least in my view, inherently unmusical. How do you think they should choose how to shape it when they are only told tongued/slurred? Are they expected to just decide to play it as they would in some random tune?

If you think of it as part of a piece you obviously vary the volume, as that is what happens in most pieces, you very seldom play an entire passage at exactly the same dynamic. If you got an entire scale passage in a piece then you would shape it and in the vast majority of cases you would certainly crescendo to the top of the scale before doing a diminuendo to the bottom. There is nothing artificial about it, just playing the scale musically.

The response i think you're referring to is this:

"4. What constitutes a 'musically shaped scale' - is a crescendo/diminuendo what is desired or is even tone more important? Does this differ from instrument to instrument?

Even tone is the most important consideration when forming a 'musically shaped' scale. The term 'musically shaped' incorporates such aspects as fluency, a sense of destination and a tempo appropriate to the grade being examined. Although the requirements do not differ from instrument to instrument the speed that scales are played at may vary! Full marks will be received for scales that are both blemish free and musically shaped."

So although she states that an even tone is most important, i.e. shouldn't be sacrificed to allow dynamic variation, she also refers to a musically shaped scale. Furthermore she refers to a 'sense of destination', i.e. going to the top of the scale then coming down. The best way of doing so would certainly seem to be cresc/dim, so long as the tone is even throughout obviously. At no point in this response did she suggest that a cresc/dim should not be observed.