Okay. I have been withholding my opinion on this subject.
I personally disagree with the statement that the metal material changes/impacts the sound. I feel that it does alter it to some degree, but primarily the cut of the headjoint and overall design and craftmanship determine the sort of sound qualities that a given player can get from it. I have test played many different flutes of all different metals, and really the headjoint cut in my opinion makes the biggest difference. I have played some gold flutes that had a very bright sound, and some silver flutes that had a very dark sound [a specific Haynes and Louis Lot come to mind].
I do agree with the fact that the metal materials affect the way the headjoint responds. I agree with that whole heartedly. Silver tends to be quick in response, Gold has a little more resistance, and Platinum is very responsive but requires a lot of power in the player themself.
What I personally think, is that the PLAYER is mostly responsible for the kind of sound they produce. You should be able to produce bright and dark sounds. Of course, your basic tone will be on the bright or dark side, but you should be able to do both.
James Galway does have a very "thick" sound. But it is also a very sweet sound. To my ears, he sounds very bright. For comparison, listen to a recording of J. Galway, and then listen to Christina Jennings (
http://www.christinajennings.com/?page_id=24 ). Listen to the recording of Griffes 'Poem.' She too has a sweeter sound, but it is very dark in comparison to Galway's.
Dark vs. Bright tone qualities in my opinion have always been about texture of sound and overtones/sound partials. Dark tones tend to be mellow, deep, and have a lot of the lower partials when it comes to the overtone series. Bright sounds generally have a "zing" to the sound, tend to be shallow but shimmery in quality, and have more of the upper partials in regards to the overtone series. This is just my opinion on the matter.
So, I would NOT invest in 2 flutes. I would invest in 1 good flute that can do both. One type of sound is not neccessarily better than another. Galway was Principal of the Berlin Phil. He has a brighter sound [in my opinion]. Emmanuel Pahud is the current Principal of Berlin, and his sound is darker, but in a warm velvety kind of way [whereas Christina Jennings or Marina Piccinini have sort of a Chocolate sound to them].
There are all sorts of different sounds out there. When I went to NFA this past summer I heard all sorts of sound types. One that I still remember quite vividly was a young man who had a very bright sound, but had all of the characteristics of a dark tone at the same time. Very interesting.
I recommend that you listen around and find someone who's sound you want to be like. Christina Jennings and Marina Piccinini are my two favorite players right now. The more I listen to them the more I find aspects of their tones and styles creep into my own.
Just my .02
okay... maybe my .50
