Pyrioni wrote:

"this post will probably get like 4~5 thumb downs soon, lol, but the painful truth"
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But I don't think it's your opinions or words that are receiving the thumbs down.

I recently played my Sankyo 401 with a guitarist in our youth orchestra at the International Airport :

Gabriel's Oboe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXorSinqJ6c

Laputa in the sky:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ogsdGoqKLA

Bach Badinerie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et_WuxDkfQU

but the mic was terrible, guitar's high notes totally didn't come out. but I love my Sankyo

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travel2165, yeah, I'll work extra harder to improve my playing, thanks. :)

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I think Hall's acoustic is better than Mic, for Sankyo 401
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axrDOIhmsTs

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I remember principal flautist Zevang said before that Sankyo is your main instrument, and your headjoint is NRS-1 ~ same as mine, also you said your backup flute is Muramatsu, same as mine. Wow, we have the same preference. :)

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Sankyo NRS-1 headjoint is the most difficult headjoint to control, with highest and steep riser, but its potential is very high, lots to explore.

Here is a good link to look at for information on buying a flute. http://www.jennifercluff.com/faq.htm. She has a detailed section on what to look for. You can also browse http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Galway-Flute-Chat/messages?o=1. This is the Galway Flute group with input from many major players and there are numerous posts relating to this topic. One intermediate flute that seems to get a good review is the Azumi. Personally I would look at the Guo New Voice flute for $1000. Listen to it on youtube.

Pyrioni wrote:

"travel2165, yeah, I'll work extra harder to improve my playing, thanks."

No, it's not your playing either that is getting all the thumbs down. You have great flute skills.

"You have great flute skills."

Thank you travel2165 ^_^ , so happy... Patrick helped me a lot this year. how about my tone? I have been working on it recently

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6-XMDVfN58

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and it's Sankyo 401, wonderful flute, keep discovering its potential everyday, its high notes are effortless! also its mp/p/pp/ppp on high notes are so easy to come out. Love Sankyo a lot. :)

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technique is a must.. Pahud recently just said "To be a good flautist, good technique is required and is very very important, then you need good tone, and then you need to tell a story from the music you are playing"

"No, it's not your playing either that is getting all the thumbs down."

Some guys wrote me private messages just yesterday:

"Please keep posting"

"I don't know why the others on the board seem to be picking on you. You are an excellent player and you do know your stuff..........I had a scholarship to study at the xxxxxx Conservatory of Music."

Well she has gotten a few to try out. I figure a decision should be made in the coming weeks. She was able to borrow a Powell of some sort this weekend and adored it. We will see if that changes based on more trials. Now another friend of ours is also looking to have her daughter upgrade. At least all of my questions are saving you all the trouble of answering for another N00B.

Powell is very good for orchestra, many professional orchestra people use Powell. All of my teachers (ex-principals and professors) use Powell in orchestra. Very projective and powerful and loud. This brand may be good for your daughter, since she likes playing in band.

Yes with the Gemeinhardt is diffcult to play in tune. I play on a Miyazawa but I still keep my old Gemainhardt and I have it just for my diaphgram-training. I like the high note sound from my old Gemeinhardt but it is though to stay in tune.
Nice to see that someone also like the Azumi flutes. The Azumi flutes are the only intermediate flutes that I like.

I am cringing at what the reactions will be here. We went to one shop in town with one of my daughters instructors. While there we tried a number of flutes: Gemeinhardt, Brio, Jupiters, Armstrongs, and Avanti.

After playing a number of them, the settled that the Avanti is the one out of the lot she has looked at and it played sooooo wonderfully. The tone was great and she was able to reach farther on the registers.

I have searched the forum but am looking for more information on the Avanti line and the long run record of the instruments.

What are the differences between a "Beginner Flute" "Intermediate Flute" and "Professional Flute"?
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Mostly marketing. A flute is a basic wood or metal tube with holes in it. And a headjoint that creates the sound. What metal it's made out of hardly makes a difference. Flute makers justify their huge markups by marketing their metals and fancy features, but the only real difference is usually the care and quality that they put into their headjoint. So some pro models sound weak and some basic odels really sing.

Even the same make and model can sound drastically different, so you should try several of the same model to find the one that sounds the best.
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What price ranges are there for the levels of flute?
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It makes no real difference, since the smart money is on a handmade headjoint and a basic plated body. But it's just money. I've heard student models that sound better than pro models in some cases (though not usually).

Hence the age-old advice of having to try the thing in person first. Some flutes are sick dogs and some are wolfs ready to attack. You don't know until you try one, though.

Forget about materials and precious metals, what are the difference between beginner, intermediate, and professional flute??

From my experience:

Beginner/student flute - machine cut headjoint, not precisely cut, (except Yamaha flutes are more precisely cut by computerized machine~therefore you can find the yamahas are same anywhere in the world), you do not find purity of tone on student heads. Student body is coarsely made, there are many gaps in its mechanism -causing minor leaks and shifting, keys are harder to press -making your fingering action slow and hard pressed(causing bad habits for players).

Intermediate flute - nowdays they are just using handmade pro headjoints on student body that's all. (sometimes they are made by apprentice or less experienced workers, or paying less attention to headjoint cutting by hand, or called semi-handmade)

Professional flute - Headjoint is handmade, made by experienced headjoint makers, they give it much more attention into making and cutting, because they want to keep the reputation, they cut while playing testing it each time of cutting, therefore you can feel the headmade heads are PURE in tone, not just easy to play and responsive! It's the Purity that you can feel as a professional player. Its body are well-made, no gaps, therefore no leaks no shifting, scales are great, the mechanism is so perfectly fit, that you can just lightly press the keys, and the keys respond so well and so fast, making your fingering effortless and extremely fast and responsive.

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also the pads are greatly different between student and professional flutes:

most student flutes use SOFT pads, because it would be easier for less experienced workers to adjust the keycups and pad leveling - therefore save time during mass production. soft pads are easy become sticky and to swell up, also the key response is poorer, slower.

most professional flutes use MEDIUM-HARD flat pads, more experienced workers will take more times and more attention to adjust the keycups and pad leveling, but the key response is great!! much faster and smoother. But the problem is medium-hard flat pads are harder for technicians/repairmen to adjust, time consuming and requires lots of experience and patience, if your local technician or repairmen are not good enough, your professional flute when out of adjust could sound more terrible than a new student flute!!

Wow! Could this kid get any more of an ego? I listened to some of his youtube videos and I am not impressed. Focus more on your sound production.

Flute 1 in grade 4: Jupiter De Medici 911RBS
-Decent flute, smooth keys, too little warmth for my taste. About a thousand dollars. It served me well until grade 7. I didn't have to get anything repaired because the quality was better than your average flute.

Flute 2 in grade 7: Amadeus AF700
-A whole lot better than the above. Body and headjoint were sterling, and it produced a very warm tone that made me practice even more to maintain it. The mechanism was pretty smooth, though I remember servicing it a few times to get rid of a couple of leaks. But overall a great flute for just under $2000. Then I came into grade 9.

Flute 3 in grade 9: Sonare SF-707 body with Powell 14k Aurumite headjoint
-This was where I really grew passionate about the flute. It was an excellent flute, and I believe the headjoint was the best part of it (it was 14k rose gold on the inside, sterling silver on the outside with a 14k riser). It was pretty well build, but, like the above, leaked a bit sometimes. And the mechanism wasn't as smooth, somehow harder to move the keys, which made my technique a little bit worse. The great tone makes up for it though. I felt it was worth it at a hair above $4000. Only complaint was the mechanism. I'm about to switch to a Powell 14k Aurumite or Sankyo 10k, now that I'm in my 11th grade.