A good few years ago I went to a Steve Hackett concert. One of the musicians appearing with him was his brother John, playing flute. I was intrigued by his flute which had a kink in it so that although blown as normal the main body of the flute was held infront much like any other woodwind instrument. There is a picture here. This seems like a good idea to me as one of the things that puts me off resuming flute playing is that I soon get tired of holding it up, and I am a lazy ....

Are flutes/headjoints like his generally available? Do they have a special name and what do they cost?

The link to the picture doesn't work?

Was it a concert flute type instrument or was it a contra-bass flute?

Try this link

What a strange flute!!

Doesn't look like a contra-bass one at all.

It must have been made specially because if it was just an adapted headjoint then the airflow and resonance would be wrong and this would throw all the intonation and tuning as well as the tone quality.

If you want a flute like this then I think you'd probably have to get it made specially. If you asked at All Flutes Plus or at Just Flutes they'd probably be able to give you a better idea. You might need to be very rich first though.

Have a look at these

http://www.flutelab.com/vertical.html

Oh, dear, I was hoping these would be a bit more common (and cheap) than they appear to be. My daughter, Musical Maniac, suggests I make my own by taking a hammer to my ancient Boosey & Hawkes.. but it was an 18th birthday present so maybe not. OK I'm just going to have to build up my stamina...

OMG! he taught me the flute up to grade 5! what a small world...this was in the early 90's - I didn't even know he was a composer...random. I don't remember this particular flute being part of the lessons though...

That looks like such an uncomfortable hand position

Just a thought: Would it be helpful for those dual-instrumentalists whose other instrument is a saxophone?

I agree with Robodoc..it would be useful for players of multiple instruments or people with shoulder issues but apart from that it seems just wrong...not comfortable at all..

Andrew

I think flutes like that are designed for people with medical problems or disabilities meaning they can't play it normally - i once saw a website with loads of modified flutes for people who couldnt hold their arm in a certain way or even for people who had a finger missing!

I agree that the appearance of this flute is unconventional, and yes on the whole I expect they are made for people with medical problems, which counts me out. However, I'm not sure why you all think this arrangement would be any more uncomfortable than playing, say, a clarinet. Please explain! I am prepared to believe it would feel odd for a while to someone used to playing sideways but that's not quite the same as uncomfortable. I play both recorders and flute (badly) and, for me, even the big recorders are less tiring to hold than flute.

As for switching between flute and something else, I would have thought that differences in embouchure and fingering were much more of an issue than where you held the instrument. If I switch between recorder and flute it is fingering differences and lack of keys on the recorder which generally prove my undoing - I keep reaching for my recorder's G sharp key, only to find it's not there.

Oh, yes, I also wonder if the sound produced by the "bent" flute is travelling in the "wrong" direction, so acoustically different?

Good point But i think it's cause clarinets are designed to be played vertically and flutes are designed to be played horizontally, as in the placement and spacing of all the keys etc. But part of it is just that it looks so weird cause we're not used to it


I don't really see how it would help people who play saxophone or clarinet - infact it may make it more confusing as you could mix them up and play clarinet fingerings on your vertical flute

But how would you hold the flute? Clarinets have a thumbrest which allows your R thumb to support the instrument. Flutes don't. The flute relies on your hand shape and the instrument's balance, which you wouldn't be able to replicate on a vertical instrument. The keys would all be in the wrong places (or unnatural ones) as well. By 'unnatural' I mean requiring an unnataural or awkward hand/finger position.

It might well solve the shoulder problem but create a thumb/wrist one. It does have a thumb rest but resting all the weight on your right thumb and keeping the little finger key down for most notes would, I think, be likely to create tension in the thumb joint.

I have been experimenting with a Blu-tack thumbrest applied to my conventional flute. I can hold it vertically, keep my little finger down and finger all the notes quite comfortably. Of course I haven't done this for very long because the flute is impossible to play! Any flautists in Amsterdam want to visit Flutelab and try their headjoint out? Even if they're great I don't think I'll be spending Euros 1800 on one though