To meet another Music Ed. major is such a nice thing! I have been working on my classes for about a year now, off and on... Within a few years, I hope to be teaching somewhere around the midwest; I don't want to travel too far from home my first few years of teaching. Right now, I am getting my generals done at several different colleges before I settle down at just one college for most of my actual teaching classes.

Maybe, years and years down the road, we will pass by one another at a music convention and not even know we once talked on a flute forum! What flute do you play on? I read the post about Lafin headjoints, but I was a bit confused on what you work with right now. Do you play piccolo at all?

(Please don't mind my questions! I am just very happy to meet another Music Ed. major that is starting out, too.)

To meet another Music Ed. major is such a nice thing! I have been working on my classes for about a year now, off and on... Within a few years, I hope to be teaching somewhere around the midwest; I don't want to travel too far from home my first few years of teaching. Right now, I am getting my generals done at several different colleges before I settle down at just one college for most of my actual teaching classes.

Maybe, years and years down the road, we will pass by one another at a music convention and not even know we once talked on a flute forum! What flute do you play on? I read the post about Lafin headjoints, but I was a bit confused on what you work with right now. Do you play piccolo at all?

(Please don't mind my questions! I am just very happy to meet another Music Ed. major that is starting out, too.)

Sorry, dumb forum glitch... I know double posting is so horrible!

I'm a music ed major also. I just finished my first semester at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

<Added>

not semester...my first year. sorry about that. I just finished my first year.

That would be surprising, though the music world isn't all that big, so it could happen. I (usually)play a 14k Tom Green. As a backup I have a heavy walled Yamaha 581 (one of the older ones, so it's now the equivalent of their 674). I have, however played on many different flutes (at least 3 or 4 from every major maker, as well as many of the small makers and old French flutes, not to mention products from headjoint specialists). I do also play piccolo (in fact, I'm something of a picc specialist), and depending on the venue use either a Zentner or a Yamaha YPC-32, though I'm looking to replace the Yamaha with a 14k Haynes in the not too distant future. How about you....What equipment do you use?

The summer is here in 2 weeks and 2 days for me!! Well, that's when I finish uni for the summer and have nearly 4 months off. Term here ends with a big orchestra prom concert, which will be fun (like a last night of the proms, all the traditional fun stuff) and I have one more exam after that, then when I get home for the summer I will go back to playing in concert/marching band at home and there are loads of events coming up in the summer with that.

Apart from that I'll be spending my summer working, with a few visits to uni friends, some days out to theme parks etc. and possibly a week abroad somewhere hot and sunny! Ooo, and I'm going to buy a new car and hope I can remember how to drive because I haven't since September!!

I personally play on a D.C. Pro Three. It sounds like a jiff of a flute, but I wasn't ripped off. It's just not a very well known brand. I absolutely love it and I wouldn't trade it in for anything. It is a beautiful, gold plated, open holed flute with a silver headjoint and gold plated mouthplate (I have a touch of a silver reaction, so gold plating is what I need). It has a bunch of other things, too, but I would just be babbling if I talked about them all! I play on the same Yamaha you do! Ironic... I used to work on an Armstrong, but I upgraded after I made the toughest honor band in my state and needed something a little more professional... I have worked on almost everything, though, somewhere along the line (except a Pearl, a Jupiter and the brand Kara has; I can't spell it, I am awful at spelling flute brands and I wouldn't want to offend anyone...)
I am very happy with what I play on. I just need about a dozen new music stands for my community band! Gah! I like to keep a happy-go-lucky attitude, but seeing other people play on instruments that they have "outgrown" makes me sad, along with playing in a bad facility! You are right, the music world is a small one and small worlds don't get much money.
I am not so much about the instruments as I am about the actual music. I can do basic instrument repair on most band instruments (I had to learn because my school couldn't afford to send instruments in for repairs and it just became crazy!) but I don't consider myself an expert on anything, even flutes and piccolos. I am more of a conductor than a musician; anything with a baton is my forte, I think!

I will be graduating from university, spending a month messing about and hopefully travelling in Europe for a fortnight(Bulgaria/Romania/Croatia or Ukraine I think) then I will be starting my new job in August and hopefully taking up a post as a volunteer teaching English to asylum seekrs and refugees.

And reading all the books I haven't had time to this last year.

OH, right..disneyland..disneyworld..heehee i always get those mixed up. And i'm not exactly sure when right now..but sometime in the summer. i can't wait, FIRST TIME!! my goal is to take a LOT of pictures with different disney characters!:D..and of course ROLlar COasters! WHOAAA!! THis summer is going to be great! it'll be SO funny to see each other there anderwB...^_^ And what if we meet each other and don't realize it! that's fun to think about!..HAHAHA! i wonder how disneyworld is like....it's disneyworld..right?..yup. one in florida.

I have learned a bit of repair myself...The band directors in the area generally turn to me for free and fast emergency repairs on woodwinds. I'm going to be taking some classes from Landell on the subject, and hope eventually to run a flute repair business on the side to make a bit of extra cash. I personally have always been fascinated with taking things apart to see how they work...Tinkering is one of my hobbies, so what better way to makes some money than by combining a love of flutes with a mechanical inclination? It's interesting to hear you describe yourself as more of a conductor than a musician, because I am almost exactly the opposite. I consider myself a musician more than a conductor (that's not to say that I can't conduct), but I enjoy spreading a love of music, and any knowledge I might have, to other people, so I chose an Ed major over performance, though I intend to get a performance degree as well.

Disneyworld is amazing, schoolgirl. It deserves the name "The Magic Kingdom" I live right near Disneyland, and have been innumerable times, and absolutely love it (I'm a big Disney fan), but even Disneyland can't hold up to what DisneyWorld has to offer.

I am not so much about the instruments as I am about the actual music.

Yes, it is not what flute that is in your hands that make you the great player, it is how you play it. I can make my student Yamaha flute sound almost identical to my Powell.

I may get harpooned for saying this, but I genuinely believe that up to a certain point the instrument does matter. I do agree that the player has a greater impact on the sound than the instrument, but I don't believe that any given player can produce the same sound on any flute. If the instrument you are playing on is a poor fit for you, or is in poor condition, it is certainly not going to sound the same as a flute custom made for you and in perfect repair, at least not without (what I consider) an excessive amount of effort. I can play my Yamaha well enough, but it is absolutely nothing like my Tom Green. There are numerous factors involved (the scale is mediocre at best, the mechanism isn't as smooth and fast, the headjoint cut doesn't fit me well, etc.), but the Yamaha makes me work twice as hard for half the result. Certainly if you are a poor player as it is, having a professional flute will not make you play better, but I believe that after you reach a certain level, the flute you play on does have an impact.

Looks like I will be volunteer teaching summer school (teaching the 3 Rs). It will be good experience since I do my student teaching in the fall, then I can get a "real" job, or least a bigger paycheck.

awww.....summer is over here in my country...
schoolyear starts next month....
awwww.................