I have a C foot...and proud!

I went to a camp where I was the only upgraded C foot. It felt odd when the flute choir I was in had a low B and had to speak up about it...

And I played second part of an arrangement (for a flute choir thing at school) of "Handel: Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" (sp?) and it had a B (it's because it was originally for violin, I think)...I wasn't the only one who had to speak up, thank goodness.

Tibbiecow, the instrument the sonatas were originally written for, is confusing.
They could be for Oboe, string or flute /recorder.

The leaflet in a commercial CD I have says the Opus 1, a kind of pastiche published by Thomas Walsh in 1730 had works "for the treble recorder or the oboe, but usually the choice of solo instrument was left open". i.e in the German edition I mentioned before, there are works said to be for Querfloete (our flute) and for Blockfloete (the recorder).

The Sonata Op1 Nr 1b, with the low B, is marked as being for Querfloete.

Whatever the original instrument was, the interesting thing is that this old edition (1955) already has the B low. There is no mention that an Alto flute is required (or a B foot). Was the B foot so widely available at that time (1955)as is today? I do not think so.

for all:
I am considering buying a C foot for my Yamaha YFL674. I could either keep or sell the present B foot. (most probably keep it). But, how can I be sure the new C foot receiver will fit in the body tenon? How do you change these parts (short of testing them directly, something I will probably not be able to do if I buy in USA)?

Does anybody have a C foot suitable for this instrument to offer?

Jose-Luis,
I know that Liz of Winds 101 had an ad running last year in usedflutes.com. She was asking if anyone had a B-foot to trade in for a C-foot. She had several Yamaha 400 series flutes with C-foot, and her customers wanted a B-foot, so was looking for any available trades. As far as I know, a C-foot from the Yamaha 500 series and up should work just fine. It may take a small amount of fitting. If you need to have it fitted, you have to realize that your B-foot may not work anymore without teflon tape on the tenon- or at all, if the fitting is 'the other way around'.
Also, you can order just the footjoint from any Yamaha dealer, but they are expensive, especialy if they are silver with pointed keys. (The Yam. 400 C-foot would likely fit, and is silver tube, but the keys are not pointed and would not match the other keys on the flute, if this matters to you.)
You may be able to find (really cheap) a C-foot from a Yamaha 200 series- it would be plated tube and keys, but the price would be right, and it would play just fine.

Thank you for the information.

For the moment I am not interested in trading in the B foot because I prefer to keep it and also because it would reduce the flute value if I ever want to or have to sell it.

But the main problem is the possible need of fitting the tenon, I do not like the idea and I would like to keep the interchangeability between the C and B feet.

The reason is that right now it would be easier for me to play with a C foot (or so I guess, based on my experience with my other flute that has a C foot), but maybe in the future I would come back to the B foot.

I will remain alert in case a Yamaha 200 or 400 series shows up. I do not care much about the metal of the tube, just the general quality and the status of the pads and mechanics.

I also saw the ad and right now have written to Liz: I also wrote to allflutesplus (in London), hope they have something.
Thank you for your information.

it's not necessary, but i do like having the option of that note. the low octave is so beautiful...haha why not be able to play more of it? though i did notice when i got my b foot flute that the high notes were a bit more difficult to play...especially high c...i couldn't even get it to speak at all for a while. was it really because of the b foot? or the new headjoint? ..maybe a combination of both?

I also have problems with highest C, but I do not think it is related to the B foot. I can play OK up to B, but then that C often fails.

But Low C is also difficult for me because of the two rollers.
I can play the low C easier and faster on my other flute with a C foot.

Anyway, I can test my theory now, because I found that my old Gemeinhardt C foot fits OK on the new Yamaha (which is not the case with the the GMH Headjoint)

Flauta, I think that you may have discovered the need to use your Gizmo key.
The Gizmo key is actually just a little knob that lets you close the low B key without closing low C# and low C.
High C on a flute with a B foot speaks more easily when you add the gizmo key to the standard high C fingering.
Many flutists CAN play high C without the gizmo, on a B-foot, but it is easier on some instruments than others. In any case, give the gizmo a try and see if high C is any easier.

BTW, if your B-foot flute does not have a gizmo key, you should be able to press the low B key independently of the low C and C# keys. This is how it is on my older Yamaha 481H.

I think the gizmo key (actually, an extension of the low B key) was added to make it easier to close the low B key independently but is not really necessary, as long as your right hand pinky is flexible and strong enough.

Tibbiecow, answering your question, I work at a simphony orchestra for almost 20 years now.
Statistically speaking, what comes to my mind from recent memory is that there was 3 to 4 requirements for a low B, but an alto flute in G was demanded only one time.

Zevang

using the gizmo key effectively is almost impossible for me though. my hands are small so it is such a stretch to reach it and is not very practical for fast runs.

Personally...MY main attraction to the B-foot was just simply that it was a feature that is included on MANY upgraded models of flutes...
Kara points out to me that it DOES add considerable weight to your flute.
To me, its just like having the latest cell phone with all the newest technology...why not have a flute with all the features and gadgets?
Obviously, at one time, SOMEONE (who was probably smarter than MOST of us) created the B-foot for SOME reason!!

I have doubts whether this hidden reason could not be just to charge more money for the same instrument...

It is suspicious that there is practically no choice. Flutes of certain level are available only with B foot, unless you are willing to wait 12 months for a "special" instrument, that is, the one with C foot!

That is what happened to me when I was in the process of buying my new Yamaha 600

Jose, you might be interested in this:
http://www.robinsonflutes.com/6.html

Angie gave me a C foot and I have been using it for the past four days and loving it! I also pluged up the holes with those Powell plugos and my hands are thanking me now. Comfort is the fasion for me.

Thanks Kara. I visited the place and the price is affordable, even for the solid silver C foot.

Right now I can use the Gemeinhardt C foot which fits perfectly (kind of miracle, as the headjoint does not fit). If I ever decide t buy a Cfoot on silver, this is the right place!

I also plugged the holes, playing with open holes was an increased difficulty and also stressing for the hands. I keep the G hole open, it is OK for may hands and expertise, but mainly .... because I lost one plug!