Hammy Hamilton’s Flute Blog

It’s worth reading - especially for fluters:

http://hammy-flutemaker.blogspot.com/

Thanks, I’ll be reading his blog! He makes a reference to “The Flute” by Ardal Powell. So, I took a peek …
http://books.google.com/books?id=GC3gNFJGzd8C
~ YMMV ~
Something quoted from Boehem caught my attention, “The difference caused by embouchure (viz., method of blowing) is so considerable that in many cases it amounts to more than a quarter, in some even to a half tone; therefore, in making the flute to any given pitch, it is not enough for me to know the number of vibrations; I must also have some knowledge of the player’s embouchure. For instance, I have never yet met with a flautist who played as sharp as myself on the same flute, excepting Toulou, who was celebrated for the largeness of his tone. Dorus would have played a tone flatter on the same flute.¹¹” chap. 10, “19th c. ecleticism”, p. 190

😏 So, is an embouchure which sounds a high(er) pitch something to aspire to? Or simply a flute made to one’s specifications.

Yeah, I found the embrouchure-pitch thing interesting too. I tend to play quite flat and hardly ever have the tuning slide out unless its really hot. Once I borrowed a folk flute off a friend, and couldn’t play it with others cos it was under pitch when I played it.

That’s really interesting… I have always played sharp, and it’s taken me a lot of work with my embouchure to manage that. I know other professional flute players who play as sharp as I do…

I think it’s not about the quantity of air going through the flute - but about the size of the opening in your lips, and maybe the shape of your mouth, space within your mouth etc.

But I can always get in tune by just pulling out the tuning slide… whereas for players who play flat, it’s a much bigger problem.