hi, ive recently purchased a new flute. trevor james have been really please with it so far but yesterday my flute tutor told me the flute sounded flat and said i needed to push the head joint furthur into the body but the headjoint was already all the way in, she said take it back to the shop which i did, they tested it on a tuner and said its in tune, they did this by blowing in to the flute with no keys pressed down, he told me the natural note is a c. when i contacted my tutor she said the natural note is nearer to a c sharp not a c, so the flute it still flat, can anyone tell me what needed to be done to my flute to sound correct, ive not been playing long and now very confused.
I assume they checked the cork position...those flutes are actually built sharp, any of us here on the forum would have to see how you are playing, such as posture, angle of your head when you play, hand position and embochure , to accurately answer that question..
how do u check the cork position sorry if i sound dumb i dont know a great deal about the flute itself. my tutor has played my flute and it sounds the same when she plays
You check the cork position with the line marked on your cleaning rod. Put it in the headjoint, The line should appear to be in the center of the embouchure hole with the end resting up against the cork plate.
It is practically impossible for your TJ flute to be built flat. You may have the cork position out a bit too far if it is flat, but most often this is an player induced syndrome.
So check the cork position. If it is flat, Patrick's advice is correct. Work more on embouchure.. There are lots of situations from players problems that lead to sounding flat. Airstream angle and speed, covering too much embouchure hole with the lip, etc..
You could also have someone, preferably advanced and knowledgable, play it and help confirm if it's you or the flute. If they have the same problem, and you're unsure about the whole cork thing, then you can have someone look it at and make an adjustment if neccessary. If it works fine for them intonation wise, then you know what to do... work on your tone, support, posture etc. Do you have a teacher other than the tutor person?
hi Alieannie my tutor is my flute tutor she has played my flute and she says its flat when she plays it too, ive played her flute perfectly, when we have used a tuner it also plays flat. does adjusting the cork damage the flute in anyway? ive only recently brought this flute as i previously had a no named flute that was really bad had leaks etc, so i hope ive not made a mistake with this trevor james flute
If Joe's recommendations don't seem to fix it, it may be an environmental phenomenon. However, if your teacher has a tuner in front of you and the machine says flat than that shoots this theory down.
I have taught countless saxophone and clarinet lessons in rooms where the resonance of the room played tricks on my ears. Due to the sympathetic vibrations and difference tones present in various environments, playing in tune may not "feel" the best. You adjust to play where it "feels" in tune and according to fancy modern gadgets and gizmos you are 20 cents out in one direction or another.
First step, check a tuner. Second step, have someone else check the tuner for you so you don't adjust to what you are seeing.
I will be the last person to second guess your teacher, but if he/she is tuning by ear rather than machine the teacher's sense of "in tune" may be based on response and/or resonance of the instrument on certain pitches. It could be the environment, or it could be subtle leaks and inconsistencies messing with the overall response.
New does not mean leak-free. I am sure Joe can agree with me that the majority of factory-new flutes have the capacity to be improved further.
BTW gratz on the new baby Joe!
Jeff Dening
Jeff's Woodwind Shop
Holland, NY
woodwindfixer@roadrunner.com
If you don't know what you are doing, then messing with the crown cork position can indeed damage things, especially if you try to pull the cork out of the small end of the tube.
BTW, I once encountered a Gemeinhardt that was very flat. I eventually found that somehow the head had been made longer than usual. Perhaps it somehow just slipped through the factory, too long. If the problem is neither you, nor the crown cork, nor a cold air temperature, then it is a very simple operation for a well equipped technician to remove a few mm from the tenon end of the head.
One other thing....If using a tuner, check to see that it isn't mis-adjusted to a higher pitch...My students can sometimes hit the up button on the A= section til it's at a=445 or so.
Another one, Is this an Alto flute That would make it play a tad flat.....just kidding.
Realizing that this most likely isn't the problem because other flutes have been tried and they aren't flat, some players do have a tendancy to roll back a lot and cover over most of the embouchure hole with their bottom lip. They may also be holding the flute tight against the lower lip/chin. These things would cause flatter playing. If a teacher does this and advocates this, then both teacher and student would play flat.
As a last resort, "then it is a very simple operation for a well equipped technician to remove a few mm from the tenon end of the head."
As micron said. BUT this should be considered a very last resort because it isn't reversible and it may result on an out of tune scale if this isn't the real cause.
One thing to do is to place your flute next to this flute that does play in tune. The lengths of the two flutes should be very similar between the key locations and the head joint hole. If the keys pretty much line up but the head joint hole is way out there, then the HJ may be in fact too long and cause this flattness.
thanks to all that have responded i think its best i take it to a specialist and get them to check it out, then they are independant from my tutor and the shop where i brought it, i want it to sound good for when i take my grade 1 next yr
That might be your best option :-) That way you can make sure you are properly set up and take matters from there. It can be frustrating dealing with equiptment that doesn't work or play the way it should.
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That would make it play a tad flat.....just kidding.