I don't have 5 flutes like you do, just three now.
But I just got my new Brannen that I have been waiting five months for. I already had a 14K Williams headjoint, so I sent it to them and they made the barrel to fit it. That way I can use this HJ on my Haynes as well.
It has silver mechanism and a 14K body, toneholes, and rings. I also got the Split-E, C# Trill and D# Roller.
So far I like it very much. It is very responsive and allows a multitude of tone colors. It also projects quite well, especially in the low register and has a great scale (my 38 year old Haynes was flat in the low register).
IMO it puts my 1972 Haynes to shame. That flute is probably older than most of you and the scale wasn't very good back then. I'm keeping my thin-wall Haynes as a back up flute, but also as one to use when playing chamber music because it has a sweet tone.
I will use the Brannen for my orchestra playing.
And I also have a Gemmy (silver body, plated keys, gold springs) that I take camping and play in the outdoors.
Congrats! It's a moment of so much happiness when you get a new instrument and realize that it's so much better than the previous you had. It shows you've been in a sort of hold state. Now is the time for growing again.
I felt just like this when my new Sankyo arrived 2 years ago. Only six months after that I've got my Nagahara headjoint. Those were two giant steps. Right now I can say I'm still working on raising my level of playing. Before that I had a limitation, my old flute with its hard as a stone headjoint. Now it's the opposite situation. I have a flute/headjoints combination that expanded my limits to a higher level that let me do things I couldn't do before. Therefore I had to learn again :-)
At first I was indecisive about the D# roller, but it was a piece that we played at the Masterclass that conviced me to get it. I tried the oil the pinky trick, but it still didn't work very well. That with the fact that this was to be my dream flute settled it for me. BTW, it works pretty good.
I think Miyazawa also offers a C# roller too.
I also considered the Half-Closing Thumb Key (it is supposed to help the Ab3 speak better) but decided against it since there was an alternate fingering and another fingering using the C# Trill for it.
Is your Haynes flute a "handmade" or a "commercial" model? Those at least are the terms that most used instrument sellers use.
I'm going to NYC next month to try as many Haynes commercial models as I can (most were made with C foot and closed holes), especially those with heavy wall (.018). I've heard that some of these are amazing instruments to have, especially at the price -- which is usually not much over $2,000.
My Haynes is the "handmade" model with soldered tone holes that was made/purchased in 1972 for $1095 (I still have the original bill of sale). Open hole, Inline-G, B-foot.
I had the Haynes factory add a C# Trill and Split E in 1989.
It is a thinwall 014" flute and doesn't have the projection that my new Brannen has. But it has served me well for the last 38 years since I bought it while in high school. In 2006 I had purchased a 14K Williams Headjoint which did improve the sound from this instrument.
I forgot what it was like to play my Haynes HJ until I had to do so for the last month and a half while Brannen had my Williams HJ. Brannen will actually make a barrel to fit your exisitng HJ if you want so that you only need to purchase a body from them.
I had played on my Junior High School teacher's Commercial Powell back in the late 60s and thought that was a great flute. It had a really dark sound to it which I liked.
Yes, I'm most interested in the older Haynes heavy-walled commercial flutes because of the legendary sound they have -- with all the projection one could want. And I can deal with and adjust the A = 440 Hz tuning when required. -
I also tried a Haynes handmade thin-walled flute recently and really, really liked the headjoint. The people with whom I was playing chamber music that weekend definitely noticed too.
No, it is not a plated flute, but rather a solid 14K Rose Gold flute with sterling silver mechanism.
<Added>
Should also mention that this flute is heavier than my Wm. S. Haynes flute.
My Haynes (.014") is 15.20 oz, while this flute (.012") is 17.70 oz. It is due to the denisity of the gold (being 14K is only 14/24 or .585 pure).
searching...
R25_50C_R150px.jpg)
