Silver head joint or new open hole flute?

[klucas]

Hello,

I joined this forum a couple of years ago as a beginner. I am now getting a bit better and joined a local band.

A couple of people in my band say open holed sounds better but others say to invest in a really good head joint. One has a super expensive head joint on a closed hole Yamaha 211. To me, they all sound amazing

This question is just me being curious as I am no position to buy either. But Just out of interest, which would you recommend - a new open holed flute or a silver head joint for existing flute (I have an Altus 807 closed hole)? The 807 has a silver lip plate.

K x

[Kaylyn]

I would say to invest in a nice headjoint over switching to an open hole flute. A lot of very good players use closed hole flutes. I say this especially since you have a nice model closed hole flute in the first place.

A lot of people think that if a flute is open-holed it is somehow more advanced or of better quality. I beg to differ. In my community band I sit next to a vintage closed-hole Haynes on one side and an open hole Armstrong on the other. Guess which one sounds better? (Not to knock Armstrong, but you get my point). Hope that helps!

[Rossweisse]

Shopping for a new instrument is really fun yet you already have a good flute. My recommendation is to find a fabulous head. Going from a silver lip plate to a solid silver (or Wood!) head will make a world of difference in your tone. Open hole versus closed doesn't really make a difference once the novelty of what you can do by partially closing holes wears off.

Happy hunting!

[FluteMonkey]

The open holes themselves make littler or no difference in the quality of a flute. However, open holes have become the standard for anything beyond a student model flute. So in a sense you could say that closed holes are an indicator of a student model flute. Still, Altus makes very fine flutes. If you're generally happy with your Altus, switching to a high quality head joint is an excellent and economical way to upgrade your flute. You get most of the benefit with a fraction of the cost.

When it comes time to start flute shopping I'd suggest that you explore both routes. Try out some new flutes within your budget and try out some new head joints on your old flute. You may be interested in my articles on buying flutes and headjoints:

http://www.flutemonkey.com/IntermediateFlute.html
http://www.flutemonkey.com/headjoint.html

Hope this helps.
Lisa