FLUTE HEADJOINT

Enjoyment of a flute headjoint is so much a matter of personal taste that no one can really choose the best for you. I have shown the basic characteristics of each option which will help guide you in your choice. Silver is the most common material used in flute headjoints. It gives a fine projecting sound with a wide variety of tone colour available. Extreme brightness and full rich tones are easy to produce along with clear articulation and good dynamic range.

The ‘cut’ is simply the shape of the embouchure hole. This effects the response for the player and alters the characteristics of the tone colours available. Below I give a brief description of each cuts' characteristics.

CUT 1

This free blowing headjoint gives good projection in all three registers, with a wide range of tone colour. All difficult areas such as middle E, high G# and A are well matched giving a truly even sound throughout all registers.

CUT 2

The extra resistance of this headjoint gives a very stable top octave especially when playing quietly. Good projection and a wide range of colour are a feature. Articulation is clean and even throughout all registers.

CUT 3

This style is generally found to be the most resistive of the three. This built in resistance is especially useful when playing quietly, particularly in the third octave. Players are able to relax and produce a full and colourful sound at all dynamics. The mellowest of the three styles with a bias towards a clean and elegant sound giving an even tone throughout all registers with a good “Legato” quality.

CUT D4

This is a new design of headjoint and offers a very wide range of tone colour with great weight to the sound in all registers. Articulation is excellent and the headjoint is characterised by great resonance and projection in the sound with real stability to the player. The redesigned lip-plate contour gives real support to the lower lip.

Adler Wing Headjoint

This cut is used on the ‘Adler style’ headjoint which incorporates the ‘Adler style’ wings. These small winged shaped darts of metal, soldered either side of the embouchure hole on top of the lip-plate are designed to improve the strength of the low harmonics in the sound thus producing a very round and full tone colour. Due to the position of the wings the low notes are enhanced without causing any negative effect to the high register. This idea has been now been adopted by a number of well know makers.

Gold Riser Headjoint

The ‘riser’, (also known as 'chimney' or 'wall') is the section of the headjoint that spaces the lip-plate from the tube. Different materials give different characteristics to the sound.

A 9k gold riser has a little more harmonic content than the silver one and adds a certain amount of centre to the sound. The core sound of the headjoint may have the feeling of being a little bit more powerful.

The ‘cut’ is simply the shape of the embouchure hole. This effects the response for the player and alters the characteristics of the tone colours available. Below I give a brief description of each cuts' characteristics.

CUT 1

This free blowing headjoint gives good projection in all three registers, with a wide range of tone colour. All difficult areas such as middle E, high G# and A are well matched giving a truly even sound throughout all registers.

CUT 2

The extra resistance of this headjoint gives a very stable top octave especially when playing quietly. Good projection and a wide range of colour are a feature. Articulation is clean and even throughout all registers.

CUT 3

This style is generally found to be the most resistive of the three. This built in resistance is especially useful when playing quietly, particularly in the third octave. Players are able to relax and produce a full and colourful sound at all dynamics. The mellowest of the three styles with a bias towards a clean and elegant sound giving an even tone throughout all registers with a good “Legato” quality.

CUT D4

This is a new design of headjoint and offers a very wide range of tone colour with great weight to the sound in all registers. Articulation is excellent and the headjoint is characterised by great resonance and projection in the sound with real stability to the player. The redesigned lip-plate contour gives real support to the lower lip.

Platinum Riser Headjoint

The ‘riser’, (also known as 'chimney' or 'wall') is the section of the headjoint that spaces the lip-plate from the tube. Different materials give different characteristics to the sound.

This is an interesting material to work with and one that I have had a lot of success with. The addition of a Platinum riser seems to give a very rich sound with considerable weight to it. This is found in all registers of the flute with no apparent thinning at the top end which can be a problem on some headjoints.

Gold Lip-Plate Headjoint

A 9k gold lip-plate gives a slightly more resistive headjoint with a generally slightly darker tone colour.

The ‘cut’ is simply the shape of the embouchure hole. This effects the response for the player and alters the characteristics of the tone colours available. Below I give a brief description of each cuts' characteristics.

CUT 1

This free blowing headjoint gives good projection in all three registers, with a wide range of tone colour. All difficult areas such as middle E, high G# and A are well matched giving a truly even sound throughout all registers.

CUT 2

The extra resistance of this headjoint gives a very stable top octave especially when playing quietly. Good projection and a wide range of colour are a feature. Articulation is clean and even throughout all registers.

CUT 3

This style is generally found to be the most resistive of the three. This built in resistance is especially useful when playing quietly, particularly in the third octave. Players are able to relax and produce a full and colourful sound at all dynamics. The mellowest of the three styles with a bias towards a clean and elegant sound giving an even tone throughout all registers with a good “Legato” quality.

CUT D4

This is a new design of headjoint and offers a very wide range of tone colour with great weight to the sound in all registers. Articulation is excellent and the headjoint is characterised by great resonance and projection in the sound with real stability to the player. The redesigned lip-plate contour gives real support to the lower lip.

Solid Gold Headjoint

This material is much used throughout the world and produces a very rich and silky quality to the sound. Legato phrasing seems to be easier to produce. A gold headjoint can be added to silver or gold flutes to great effect. The result tends to be slightly more resistive to play on than an equivalent silver headjoint, something that a lot of players enjoy. The gold tube is very popular and gives the rich, full and sonorous sound that typifies this material. If you like the sound of a gold flute you are not going to find it in any other material.