i have a yamaha with a gold plaited lip plait and i have to say that it has changed my tone for the better, does anyone else have one ?

i must go to bed now - i'll check your answeres tomorrow

great forum !! - so happy to have found it

megs

I had my whole flute gold plated and the results were wonderful. It plays with a more full, rounder sound now.

i agree with micron! i was reading an article by james galway and he said that a gold flute plays exactly the same as a normal silver one! however, a gold lip has a much warmer touch! i would by a gold flute just because it looks so good!(if i had the money that is!!!)

I accually don't like the gold color on flutes. Accually I would probably get a black one if I could because it has almost a "wooden" look. But for now I'll just stick with silver.

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well, It hot weather a black flute might draw more heat to it than a silver which could make it a little sharp.

gold plating on the lip plate is purely cosmetic, its the player anyway, not the flute

The others are quite right. Gold plating will do nothing for the sound itself, though the psychological impact may be evident in your playing. I play a solid gold flute, and that does affect the sound, but even the gold in it has a very slight impact in comparison to the player and the headjoint. The gold plate is very thin, and will wear off over time. These things are purely cosmetic, and do not offer any benefit to the way the instrument plays.

oh wow !!! a solid gold flute, i would love to have one of those - you must be a professional player then !?! i dont think i no any one who has a gold flute :-)

can anyone tell me how to get a picture above my name instead of this creepy man thing

I'm a college student (a freshman, actually). Just go to your profile, and directly under the creepy man thing should be a button that says something along the lines of "add image". Click that, and then just follow the directions.

thanks fp06 - it was easy wasnt it - silly me

I play a solid gold flute

Really? I don't think you have ever mentioned that before.

I know I have mentioned that before, but as Meggie is rather new to the group, I thought it might clarify where my statements were coming from for her. There are, after all, quite a few people making assertions that they have no support for, flute-related or not.

It is very, very unlikely that gold plating changes the way a flute performs in a discernable way. Both science and serious testing have demonstrated this.

Will all do respect, I disagree. Give me a silver flute then give me my gold flute of the same model and anyone can hear the difference. I have heard that plenty of times before. Scientist can do all the test that they want, but they are not the human brain and can not tell us what we hear.

Obviously that is quite true, but the material debate is long and unlikely to end anytime soon. Some people swear different materials sound different (I say the difference is extremely slight and far outweighed by the player and the head), while others swear just as firmly that they make absolutely no difference. As it is impossible at the moment to produce two flutes that are exactly the same with the exception of material, the point is moot because we cannot prove it either way.

moot - thats a funny word, im gonna have it as my word of the day :-) i will see how many times i can use it !!