I have long regarded the promotion of precious metals for flutes as marketing hype, intended to con players into buying precious metals for a lot more than the flute maker bought them for.
Now stainless steel would be a really difficult metal to make flutes from compared with with silver, gold, etc, because it far harder, does not machine as well, and is more difficult to solder well.
Yet now we have it, a stainless steel head, and wouldn't you believe it... the sales hype says it is unsurpassed in the way it plays.
I have no doubt that it does play well, because it is made by a good designer of heads, but I very much doubt that precisely the same design would sound any different made from steel or a standard student flute material.
" The Lopatin Flute Company has begun producing all-stainless steel head joints. In 2004, we began offering sterling silver head joints with stainless steel embouchures. These respond with remarkable ease and security, yet produce a dark tone which is one might expect from a head joint with a great deal more resistance. Now the selection of materials has expanded to include all-stainless steel head joints. They are simply unexcelled in terms of responsiveness, and dynamic range. So much sound, and yet so lightweight!"
Note his new Teflon stopper too, with hype about a "resonance chamber". You may as well hang some sea shells from your flute, for all the resonance such a space detached from the air column would add to the sound of a flute.
IMHO. Whatever will these guys come up with next? It doesn't really matter; the hype ALWAYS claims that it is better than anything before. History is already full of discredited snake oils and devices with magic claims.
Yes, a Teflon 'cork' may have the odd benefit (and to be sure some downsides as well), but sell it for its REAL benefits, not ridiculous claims that cannot possibly stand up in the real world of acoustics.
Well it does give this maker a chance to sell his lump of stainless steal at a higher price by about twice that of sterling silver and at a bargain for a buyer since it won't rust very easily in salt water.
The worst metal is probably titanium. as you can't really work that very easily but yet they've tried making a few flutes out of that. What's next, Kevlar (The bullet proof flute/body armour combo) or carbon glass composites.
Actually, assuming that silver was used because of it's ability to be shaped easily and soldered, I kind of blame those two guys, Galway and Rampal for starting this precious metal craze. -those men with the Golden Flutes.
It is about time instrument keys were made form "Liquidmetal" - trademark.
It is super strong, very rigid, low density, corrosion resistant, pleasant appearance, etc, can be cast almost as easily as plastic at a low temperature, and comes out of the mold so accurately, that if surgical scalpel blades are cast, the don't even need sharpening.!!!
It SHOULD enable keys, and maybe even the body, to be made for a fraction of the price, and be far less bulky and heavy.
It also has amazing energy properties which would be wonderful for food for hyping up imaginary acoustic properties in advertising.
It is currently used for some sports gear, for a very strong, light metal case for a cell phone, special scalpel blades for eye surgery, and I don't know what else.
Some day into the future, this may be a discovery as important as the use of steel, or plastic.
Sounds neat Micron,
Maybe a flute manufacturing company in your future. Imagine a flute that you can run over with a car and nothing happens to it.
~Bilbo
I really thought you were joking with this liquid metal stuff. It reminded me of Terminator II indestructible enemy.
But these guys at Liquidmetal.com seem to be serious -at least in their marketing.
Now, stainless steel, isn't a little allergenic compared to silver? Some people even need gold or gold or gold covered lip plate because of this problem.
Good point. Quite a lot of peole have an allergy problem with stainless steel because it has a lot of nickel in it.
Liquidmetal has no nickel (which is one reason is being used for the frames of glasses).
"LiquidMetal is a next-generation metal that consists of steel, chrome, manganese, carbon and silicone materials and because it is nickel free, it is hypoallergenic."
So it would be a great material for flute embouchure hole/lip plate. It could be cast to a perfect copy of a Powell, etc, and cost perhaps only a couple of dollars to make. Of course, you would have to pay $1000+ for it - - because of all the associated hype and initial exclusivity.
I wonder if Mr Lopitan is working on this right now. I presume it would be many times simpler and cheaper to make a liquidmetal head than a stainless steel one!
Micron, I'll keep my eye out for any flutemakers stealing your idea! What do you make of the flute with square toneholes? Visually, it's quite repulsive...
I think it would be a lot easier if flutes were just left with being made of gold, silver, or that cheap metal that they have to silver plate. (sorry i don't know the name, it might be nickel silver)
It would be a lot easier if the marketing BS stopped!
Square holes? this is a good flute designer, so the flute apparently plays well, but not because of the square holes, which probably introduce more problems than they solve, with regard to engineering, pad sealing, and acoustic perfection.
I'd be a bit wary of "liquid metals", if it's really so hot, why would they have a website rigged up to look like something from TelSell. I'd expect corporate details, links to articles in Nature, and PhD's. Not Flash animations...
However, I think their website is there to present a genuine scientific breakthrough product and describe its unique properties
It is a testament to this company that respected and high-profile, leading edge companies are gradually using this material.
In the final analysis, it is the product breakthrough that is important here, not the names attached to the production of it, or university degrees, etc. There are probably as many revolutionary breakthroughs that are NOT attached to high-profile qualification. The website is a promotion to INDUSTRY, who understand the amazing properties of this material, and may think of ever-increasing new uses for it.
For decades, the laser was a technology looking for a use. Look at the huge variety of its uses now! Look at plastic. The early plastics took a long time to be trusted and used, and further developed.
We are looking here at is probably the embryonic stage of a huge revolution in materials, just as big as the one that got a Nobel prize recently, getting plastic to conduct electricity, with huge repercussions.
Personally I think it may be just a little ignorant to belittle that bouncing-ball phenomenon. It represents some material properties way different from anything seen before in technology.
However if you do a Google search on "OTC:LQMT", mentioned in the website, I am sure you will find among the many hits, the information you require.
searching...
