Sorry guys. If I would have known it would have caused such trouble, I wouldn't have posted this topic. I was just in awe over the email and wanted to give some a comic relief, not this

Kara,it is not your fault!

These issues have been put forward many times in this Forum and for sure, a reasonable discussion is always useful and welcome.

Just that when things go stray, it is better (IMHO) to put them to rest.

This person is obviously not real. Could even be one of us. I have moderated forums for many years and I recognise the pattern. It is too easy to invent a new personnality on Internet, but it is a dangerous game. Please don't reply or argue with 'it', you will only be exposing your own weakness that will cause further chaos.

I tend to agree, we are all nice people, I consider all of you my friends, rotten apples like to cause fights, so lets agree to ignore them from now on...spirited debates should continue however..

You know.. I do believe Jim to be a genuine person and not a troll on the forum. He came off harsh, yes. But, I am sure it was partly because of my behavior too. I was not very welcoming or nice to him on the forum or when he wrote to me. I was wrong to post the email and also to make fun of it. For that I am sorry on my behalf. I did think that it might be Phil up to his games again. There has been some non sense on this forum in the past, so I was inclined to believe this.

aw, man... i just wanted to complain a little bit.

i think jim should broaden his horizons a bit. even though he may have had the best of luck with said instruments and said flutist, its not the best for everyone.

be a bit open minded is all.

My main gripe with all of this - and I had a GREAT reply to the post as well about college entrance auditions before the computer ate it - is that these people have been sucked into this like people who shop in Beverly Hills are sucked in my Gucci and the rest.

That basic principle of a flute is really simple - it's a long tube that serves as a resonance and amplification chamber for the mouthpiece(headjoint in a multiple piece flute). Holes of course allow you to produce different notes.

In fact, it's the earliest known instrument other than maybe a drum.(we're talking tens of thousands of years). But we all know this. Or should.

What most people don't know because they get into the hype over keys and metals and the rest is that all metals (can) sound the same. What a denser metal gives you is the ability to use thinner walls and lighten the thing up a bit and make it a bit easier to fabricate. (gold being special as well because it's high density and low melting point)

But I could make a flute out of Aluminum that would sound identical. It would take a lot of air to get it vibrating, though, because the walls would have to be many times thicker - and it would be easy to dent.

What metal makes no real difference in the sound if the flute is made properly. Same for headjoints, but handmade ones are made in Sliver and Gold by choice/for marketing purposes, so there's little choice here. Though, Landell makes ones out of Titanium, which reinforces my point. Titanium is very hard and very light, yet it sounds fine as well compared to the other metals.

And of course, there's wood. Yamaha makes a modern wood flute in their 800 series that sounds every bit as good as any of their others. And they also make Piccolos out of wood and metal as well, despite there being very little difference in the actual sound. Wood does sound a little different, though, but that's due to a fairly obvious and large difference int he materials. Metals are more alike than most musicians like to admit most of the time.

As for the type of keys, it's moot - if you want a few holes, so what. Same exact thing - you have a mouthpiece and the rest of the body is merely a fancy way of covering the holes. How it's done is meaningless. If you cover the right holes, you get a specific note. It's really a pretty simple design. Just look at a wooden Fife or similar keyless flute. Or a Recorder.

The best player I ever met in my life used a C foot closed hole, inline flute(yes, not ALL inline flutes are open hole). Sounded astounding.

Jim,
Can you ask one of your friends in Chi-town to set you straight on pronouns before your next rant? One should know his objective case from his nominative case before attempting to pass for a know-it-all. Tossing the word “whom” at someone to make oneself sound more sophisticated only works on the weak minded some of the time and never works when one uses that spurious “whom” incorrectly.

Consider theses examples:

Who should Jim ask?

The person, with whom, Jim speaks, should know more about pronouns than Jim.

In whom, should Jim trust for grammar and syntax advice?

Almost anyone, at the local grade school, to whom, Jim speaks, will do nicely.

I seriously doubt that anyone, who has been doing anything for forty years, uses the word “wannabe” to describe anyone.

jim you may have 40 years of flute playing under your belt but i don't think we care yes quite a few people on here arepeople (like me) who are beggining to play and seek help but the mojority of people on here are talented flute/piccolo players and you have no right to make fun of us. and even i know with my 3 months of flute playing that the flute doen't make the player and that your flute is down to personal preferance. powells happen to be nice flute but so are student yamahas and maramatsus, i happen to like my flute and that is my preferance.

but back on topic- that guy who sent the email is probally and idiot adhn there are people wo successfully play on cloed holes c foot, and open c foots, and openb foots, and closed c foots and its down to what that person is comfitable playing