Silver v Gold v Wood?

[aznfluteboy]

Hello, this is my first post and hoping for your opinions regarding types of materials on flute headjoints

After a long time in solitude, I decided I wanted to minor in flute performance, since I really like playing, but I also really like another subject.
Anyways, because of my focus in music, I decided to consider a new headjoint. Not there is anything wrong with my headjoint, but I feel I can get more out of a different one. But I was considering a headjoint from nagahara because of recommendations from my school coach and my private coach. And I was wondering the pros and cons of each material wood, gold, and silver. Thank you for any help for this really specific question.

Note: I am considered a power player, using alot of air to get a rich and focused tone by the way.

Thank you

[Phineas]

Hello, this is my first post and hoping for your opinions regarding types of materials on flute headjoints

After a long time in solitude, I decided I wanted to minor in flute performance, since I really like playing, but I also really like another subject.
Anyways, because of my focus in music, I decided to consider a new headjoint. Not there is anything wrong with my headjoint, but I feel I can get more out of a different one. But I was considering a headjoint from nagahara because of recommendations from my school coach and my private coach. And I was wondering the pros and cons of each material wood, gold, and silver. Thank you for any help for this really specific question.

Note: I am considered a power player, using alot of air to get a rich and focused tone by the way.

Thank you

It does not matter much what the headjoint is made of as much as what you can get out of it. Wood is the only one out of the flute headjoint materials that kind of go to an extreme as far as available sound. Still, I can still get some pretty powerful sound out of a wood headjoint as well. IMHO

The only real limitation is your physical makeup(Lips, mouth, teeth, lungs, etc...). Otherwise you can practice on any good headjoint and get the sound you want. Some will just be easier than others.

For more insight/information, look under Section 5 in the FAQ It will give some of the information you are looking for

http://www.fluteland.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5859

Phineas

[lianeandflute]

the thing is also that materials can have a different sound for everyone. you have to try lots of different types yourself to see what works for you ultimately.

generally, this is what people tend to think the difference is:

gold: warm, dark
silver: bright, sparkling
wood: i don't know a lot about wooden headjoints on silver flutes but mostly people like to use wooden flutes/headjoints to try to get a nice classical or baroque tone colour for playing this type of music. but that's all i really know.

i tried a wooden flute once and it was quite resistant, but when i played it, it didn't sound much different to a silver flute (but this is different for everyone!)

it's just so different for everyone though, you have to try them and see what suits you. it also depends what you want to create out of your sound and abilities and gold or wood might not be right for you, you might want a powell silver headjoint or something. also, try nagahara but try other makes as well, not just different materials.

[lianeandflute]

http://www.larrykrantz.com/geneva.htm

a little further down on this page in the link is robert dick's view on some performers in a top notch competition playing gold and silver and how power players handle the materials

he says (i copied and pasted from the link above):

"In a recent thread on FLUTE about risers, I commented that I can't tell what metal a flute is made of when listening to an individual. I'm not so sure about that now. Almost without exception, players of gold flutes sounded somewhat muffled and unclear compared to those playing silver flutes. Often designed to have less higher harmonics in the sound (I checked with a noted flute maker on this), gold flutes are made to be "darker, richer" (as our discussion seemed to resolve to) by focussing the harmonics lower in the harmonic spectrum and supressing higher overtones. But it is those high overtones that give clarity, color and personality to the sound! Gold flutes may be wonderful for blending in orchestral settings or in the recording studio when close miked. But unless in the hands of a powerful player, powerful in sound and powerful in musical personality, "darkness" equated to less prescence, especially in the big hall. Of the three prizewinners, only the second prize winner played a gold flute, and she is quite the power player."

[cflutist]

Pahud is certainly a powerful player ... he plays a gold Brannen with a Sheridan HJ.

[lianeandflute]

some power players like to play on platinum flutes.

[cflutist]

some power players like to play on platinum flutes.

I have a wonderful recording of Gary Woodard playing on a Platinum Powell. This CD was made by Stereophile back in the 1990s. Doesn't Galway also play on Platinum now (he's got so many flutes I've lost track).

[lianeandflute]

yeah who knows! haha. i read somewhere that he said his favourite flute is his platinum flute. he is very much a power player too.

[cflutist]

yeah who knows! haha. i read somewhere that he said his favourite flute is his platinum flute. he is very much a power player too.

From Galway's Book - The Man with the Golden Flute
He's got an entire chapter where he talks about his flutes:

"A word here on gold flutes. Some people are convinced that gold makes no difference in the sound of a flute, but I disagree. Albert Cooper's gold flutes were brilliant sounding and more even in tone all up and down the scale than any other flutes I had ever played. In addition to these qualities, the lower register is more flexible and offers a greater range of tone colors. I have played only gold and platinum flutes ever since Mr. Cooper made me that first gold flute to play in the Berlin Philharmonic".

"Incidentally, there's another reason, unrelated to the tone, why I never went back to playing silver flues. Silver keys are not as strong as gold keys. If you're in an orchestra, this may not matter so much, but if you're touring all over the world, you really need the strongest flute you can get. You need something that will not alter or need regulating in the course of a tour."

"To date (2009), I've got 15 gold flutes, 3 platinum flutes, several wooden flutes, a bunch of piccolos, and two alto flutes - one gold and the other is silver. I also have a bass flute, a contrabass flute, and a subcontrabass flute. My favorite flute maker today is a man named Kanichi Nagahara".

[MissyHPhoenix]

Wow!!!! 15 gold flutes? Makes me appreciate my single Sankyo even more .....

[fluteguy18]

When I met Galway in 2006 I asked him which of his flutes was his favorite, and at the time it was an 18k rose gold Nagahara. It's the same flute that is in the poster that Nagahara gave out at NFA this past convention.

[aznfluteboy]

Thank you for all the advice, though off topic, but what information do you need to know before getting a new headjoint? Is it okay to use a headjoint with a different wall thickness than the body?

[cflutist]

Headjoints can be fitted to the body if necessary. My HJ is .012" while my old Haynes body was .014".

[lianeandflute]

jesus. so many flutes… !!!!! i just want ONE gold flute, and he has FIFTEEN. *sobs*

and i didn't even know gold altos were made!! i wonder what difference in sound is created with a gold alto, because altos are quite deep and warm already…

"a bunch of piccolos" lol