<p>My D is auditioning for conservatories for next fall. She has a solid silver Burkart, and is considering upgrading to a gold flute. At her first audition, they asked her what kind of flute she plays, and we were wondering if this information has any impact on a final decision, or if the students are expected to get a certain kind of flute for a specific school. Do most conservatory students have gold flutes? We saw several on audition days.</p>
<p>Some students get gold flutes while in high school and some conservatory students do not own a gold flute at all. A flute made of gold, or even just the headjoint, is not necessarily better for all students and for all pieces. Gold gives a different timbre to the sound than silver, but that timbre may not always be what you want for a particular piece. It also makes a difference in how the instrument responds, particularly in the upper register, and depending on the exact alloy used, it may make a noticeable difference in the physical weight of the instrument.</p>
<p>My wife is a professional flutist and the modern flute she uses most has a silver body but three different headjoints - silver, gold and wooden. She will change them from piece to piece depending on which sound she wants. She tells me that most of the difference is made by the headjoint, so that a gold headjoint on a silver body sounds very close to a gold headjoint on a gold body.</p>
<p>Some conservatories have instruments that students can borrow while there, so you may wish to check that out as well before buying something new.</p>
<p>A gold flute is certainly not standard. Sterling is the standard for professional flutes. If her Burkhart serves her well there is no reason at all to change that. The committee will not use that for or against her in their decision. My daughter plays a Muramatsu and she is always asked what kind of flute she plays by committees.</p>
<p>Funny, my D was asked what kind of flute she played the minute she moved into the NYSSMA Level 6! I think its a way of making conversation and attempting to put a student (contestant) at ease and to provide a point of conversation.
It’s a personal preference and as long as your D’s current teacher is pleased with her progress and feels that she is adequately provided for, I would leave things just as they are. If possible, try to locate a “flute fair” within driving distance of your home ( look on the Internet or check manufacturer’s web sites)- they usually have some Master Classes and recitals to attend and always feature a huge vendor’s area where everyone from major manufacturers of flutes to individual craftsmen who take orders for “rose gold headjoints” or “engraved lip plates” set up shop and have all kinds of instruments and accessories to try. ’ Back in the day ', when D was still actively playing, we would make a day of attending such an event, and it’s a great way to get familiar with new technology and ways to customize one’s instrument.
BassDad, funny you should mention about the different headjoints your wife owns. I was looking at an on-line pic of the woodwind section in a major US orchestra just yesterday, and noticed that the two flutes and the piccolo each had a different kind of headjoint-one silver, one gold and an ebony. Wonder what sort of sound they were aiming for?!</p>
<p>It is not at all unusual for piccolos to be mostly made of wood with silver keys. Occasionally you see one that has a wood headjoint and a silver body and sometimes one that is all metal. Metal generally produces a louder, brighter sound than wood and most piccolos really do not need the extra edge that metal would give them. Woods commonly used for piccolos include grenadilla, cocobolo and cocus wood. Some people have allergies to cocobolo and cocus, however, so it is usually a good idea to find out whether you have that particular allergy before ordering an instrument made with that wood. The one you identified as ebony was most likely a dark grenadilla.</p>
<p>Wood headjoints are kind of specialty items for flutes. My wife uses hers for some types of ethnic music and for certain classical / early romantic pieces that were written before Boehm system flutes became commonplace. She also has a couple of Baroque flutes (entirely wood except for one metal key) and several Renaissance flutes of various sizes (entirely wood, no keys at all) that she uses for Early Music.</p>
<p>She plays a hand-made Brannen Brothers silver flute most of the time for standard repertoire, but uses the gold headjoint when she wants to give a bit more oomph to the lower octave or octave and a half.</p>
<p>With the picture that you saw, I am guessing that the piccolo had the wooden headjoint, and the two flutists just felt more comfortable with different metals given their playing style and the part that they were playing at the time. Another possibility is that one of the flutes was made of white gold, as is sometimes done. Still, there are a lot of professionals in big time orchestras using silver, so gold is definitely not a necessity for conservatory students.</p>
<p>I think you are right that the question to students about their instrument is to get them talking and feeling a little more at ease. Sometimes there can be a reason for pursuing the issue a little further, however. When my wife takes on a new student, even a fairly advanced one, the first thing she has them do is assemble their flute, then she inspects it and has them take it apart again and demonstrate how they clean it after playing. She says some of the students she sees have not been instructed on the proper way to assemble, disassemble and clean the instrument without disturbing the keywork and that often takes up a substantial part of the first lesson. She says that she can tell a lot about a student by going through this routine before she has heard them play a single note.</p>
<p>I think the question might also have to do with the actual difference in the tonal qualities of flutes as with all wind instruments. The makers are pretty much known in many instances by their darkness or brightness of sound. My DD prefers a darker tone and chose her Muramatsu for that reason (and of course that it chose her as all instruments choose their performers:-)) Miyazawas and Powells were too bright, the Burkhart too easy to play (no, I don’t get that one either :-)), etc., etc. My son for example a euphonium player chose his euph for it’s particular tonal qualities, a dark but not quite british sound. While I cannot tell the diferrence with most flutes, I could probably come close to identifying pro euphoniums by their sound in a blind test…</p>
<p>My assumption is that most panelists have heard most flutes enough to guess as to the maker. With proficiency each performer “bends” the inherent tonal qualities of their instruments to conform to the piece. Sometimes a panelist might be asking to fit together what he/she is hearing.</p>
<p>Then again, sometimes they say things like “I thought that was it” and it’s no more than that.</p>
<p>While a lot of the flutists choose to upgrade their flute either in their senior HS year or before their freshman year in college the majority of the conservatory-age flutists I know do NOT own gold flutes for two main reasons.</p>
<p>a) An entire flute made of gold can be very, very pricey. What college students have that kind of money? I know a few players who have a gold head joint and then a silver body.
b) As with buying any instrument you want to make sure that you make the best sound on it, one flute with one player may not sound how you want it to sound when you play it.</p>
<p>Hey BassDad - I’m envious of your wife’s collection! I was going to make the suggestion of playing around with different headjoints, but you beat me to it, and with FAR more professional level knowledge.<br>
Flutefam - see if you can find somewhere to try out different headjoints with your existing flute. The variation in sound can be radical.</p>