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One thing that I noticed was that Miyazawa build their flutes with A at 444 Hz (according to their website). What sort of problem is this likely to give when playing with an instrument tuned at 442 Hz? I know that I can pull the head out further, but then the flute is likely to be out of tune with itself on some notes. Any thoughts?
It's not hard to play with instruments pitched 2 Hz off from yours, but assuming your information is correct, you may have some problems playing with instruments at A-440. That will really depend on how flexible you are pitch-wise. I play a Tom Green flute pitched at A-442 with instruments at A-440 all the time, and there is no problem at all there, but if it is too big a difference, you'll be having to work quite hard to match pitch.flutecake wrote:I´ve been looking for a new instrument (old flute is unplayable) and test-played a few a couple of weeks ago. The favourite was the Miyazawa PA-202. Obviously, this was also the most expensive
Thanks in advance.
If it had stayed standard it would have, but just as before, different regions have different ideas of what pitch is, and even between different kinds of ensembles there can be a difference. As time goes on, pitch continues to rise, and there's no way to know if it will stop at A-446 or A-450, etc. The best we can do is buy a flute that is at or near the pitch we intend to play at, and then learn to become flexible enough to adjust when we venture outside our own idea of what an A is.flutecake wrote:I though standard pitch was supposed to stop all of this confusion....
Well, I don't think I am good enough to be thinking about custom flutes yet, the standard scale will do fine for me! Anyway, I don't have the patience to wait - my current flute won't play F# (amongst other things) which is restricting my choice of music somewhat.fluteguy18 wrote:My Miyazawa is tuned to A=442. This is Miyazawa's standard scale. But, as previously stated, they can custom make a flute to any scale you desire.
Definitely have your flute checked over before spending money for a new one. There obviously is at least one relatively major leak (most likely several), and some attention by a qualified tech could put it in almost new condition. Flutes are like cars....You have to give them regular maintainance, or they're going to break down on you.fluteguy18 wrote:Have you had your flute looked at by at technitian? It sounds like your flute is long overdue for a checkup!
Er, yes, about 10 years overduefluteguy18 wrote:Have you had your flute looked at by at technitian? It sounds like your flute is long overdue for a checkup!
. It's a student model (Embassy Besson - don't think they are made any more) which I bought second hand for 100 pounds when I was at school. My teacher told me before my last exam that I would need to upgrade soon - this was quite a few years ago, but I stopped having lessons while I was at University and have only been thinking about starting again for about the last two years. , so I am looking around and test playing as many flutes as possible, but so far it seems to be between the Miyazawa and Pearl (have tried a Quantz 665 and would like to give the Dolce and Elegante a play). I would be less concerned about what the flute is made of and more concerned about how it sounds/feels for you. Silver content will make almost no difference to the flute...It's all in the design and the quality of construction. Keep your options open, as there are some good plated instruments that blow cheaper solid silver flutes out of the water.flutecake wrote: Taking all of this into account I decided that it might be time for the upgrade to a decent quality instrument with a silver head and reliable mechanism.
flutecake wrote:
On the subject of maintainence - how often do you usually get a full service on your flute? I am assuming that you shouldn't really wait until it doesn't play any more.
