Hi Everyone.

I went to a flute store in Illinois the other day and tried a bunch of flutes. On most of the flutes, I could adjust my embouchure to play the notes in tune except for one flute.
Miyazawa. I tried a Miyazawa heavy wall flute and it was so sharp, it was almost registering the next note above. I had the headjoint pulled out a half to 3/4 inch. We checked the cork position and it was fine.

I know that a lot of people have difficulty with Gemeindhardts in the 3rd octive, but this was nuts.

Has anyone had this experience with other flute brands?

I was pretty sharp when I played Miyazawa's as well. Normally I pull the headjoint out like..2mm and normally I am very well in tune..on those I had to pull it out like at least half an inch as well to be in tune, and still as I went up on the scale it got really sharp. Part of the reason I didn't buy a Miyazawa. I also didn't get as good of tone on these as some, although the Miyazawa did beat the Yamaha Allegro pretty well! Both blew my old flute away, though..

With my flute I am in pretty good tune most of the time, even in a lot of the upper register up to high third octave C. I have a Pearl Dolce CODA with a Yamaha EC. I think with the Forza headjoint I am a little bit sharp too. When I played the Yamaha 574 (with EC) I was also very well in tune. I just wanted the extra little gadgets- C# trill and D# roller..

That is typical of Yamaha. I uses to play clarinet as well years ago, and the Yamaha was very stable and had very good tuning/scale. But it lacked the tone of a higher-end but a little harder to play Selmer/Buffet.

Myself, I like my old trusty Yamaha for this reason, though - for modern and jazz type music where he notes are more important than the overall tone(mostly because you're playing with electric and electronic instruments that make the overtones all but disappear), a very stable, always the same tone . Works great.

For other stuff where I need tone, I have a nice wood headjoint. Yes, it's twice as hard to play, but so be it - I'm not generally playing half as fast for most of that. Usually backing up some choir or something - not soloist type stuff. I frankly can't stand music like that any more, but that's just me. I guess it's part of getting older or something. (Probably because i play a lot more bass lately - heh))

For years, I kept wanting my Yamaha to have a better tone, then just got a new headjoint. I'm a big fan of Yamaha because the mechanism is as good as any other professional flute - for a very reasonable cost. They make excellent platforms to plug whatever headjoint that you want into.

Note - Pearl is also like this, another favorite of mine. Their basic models also make for a good platform/mechanism to add a better headjoint to.

Yep, Japanese flutes run sharp and I have never particularly liked the scale on any of them.

I have to agree with the analysis of Yamaha/Pearl as being good to plug a headjoint into.

I had a lot of trouble with the high end on my Miyazawa MZ-5 headjoint, compared with my wood Powell and Sankyo NRS-1. A lot of time and practice has helped that a whole bunch, I don't have that specific trouble anymore.

I do find this a bit suspicious, since it should be the tone-hole placement that affects the pitch, but that was my experience. Maybe the Miya HJ sounded best, tone-wise, when I kept the airstream in a place that would make the high end sharp.

Yep, Japanese flutes run sharp and I have never particularly liked the scale on any of them.

I thought you sang the praises of Muramatsu?

I love my Muramatsu. But I am not loving it as much since I added the doughnut. I am going to give it a couple of more weeks. It seems as though my high notes above E3 are cracking and I am also having cracking issues trying to play softly.

While I was in the store I also tried the Yamaha 800 series. It was awsome. I also liked the pearl that I tried. The footjoint was more manageable than the older pearl flutes.

I still like my Muramatsu the best.

I do like muramatsu flutes a lot, but I still don't like the scale on them. I can play mine in tune, but it takes more work on my part. My Powell I have no problem with scale wise.

this is a good thread, just goes to show that no scale on any flute is really perfect, you have to adjust to the type of flute you play and learn the tendencies of that particular scale...

"....... just goes to show that no scale on any flute is really perfect, you have to adjust to the type of flute you play and learn the tendencies of that particular scale..."

How true... if you don't adjust to the type of flute that you play, your ear may very well adjust to hearing that scale out of tune.

well said Bilbo, listen to recordings of the great Rampal, Julius Baker or William Kincaid, they all played traditional scale flutes from Boston.

This really is a good thread!

I have to say that I personally dislike Yamaha flutes, but I'm kind of biased. I see how often they get taken in for repair, which is way too often for me (mostly mechanism issues; although it doesn't help that a good portion are used as marching flutes). I also play really sharp on their student and less expensive models, due to their scale I think.

I also dislike Gemeindhardts and Pearls. They have moved their manufacturing to where they can find cheaper labor and it shows in the production of their flutes. I don't care for their mechanisms.

I'm sorry to hear that you had issues with Miyazawa, vampav8trix. I really love mine! I tried out several flutes before finally choosing a Miyazawa. If you are looking for a flute comparable with a Miyazawa, I would recommend a Powell, Muramatsu, or (if you have some extra cash to spend) a Brannon. I have also heard of Nagahara (spelling?), Burkart, Williams and Altus, but I have little to no experience with these flutes, although the Altus alto flute is amazing.

I also absolutely agree with Patrick and Bilbo.

Yamaha and Pearl are fine if you get one that's not a budget model AND it's made in Japan.(note - this usually jumps the price up to $2000-$2500 or so or in the case of the Pearls, requires a few year older model unless you spend a LOT of money new)

I really liked the Yamaha 800 series that I tried. It was very nice. The mechenisim was wonderful. The pearl was nice too. I love my Muramatsu the best. It is the EX model and you can't beat it for the price. I am pleased with the scale and the mech is wonderful. I am going to ditch the doughnut that I had installed. I think that it ruined the flute. The notes above E3 now sound thin and they crack. I didn't have that problem before.

I am thinking in a few years that I am going to upgrade to a solid silver flute because of plating concerns. The next flute I get will probably be the last flute I buy unless something happens in my life and I start playing flute for a living. (I think that pigs will fly before that happens.)

I also dislike Gemeindhardts and Pearls. They have moved their manufacturing to where they can find cheaper labor and it shows in the production of their flutes. I don't care for their mechanisms.

Pearl has not moved its manufacturing. It remains the same. Gemeinhardt did, and I must say the result was a tremendous improvement over the recent previous years...!

Joe B

Joe is right...also, I have spent time at the Jupiter factory in Taiwan and have seen up close how they handle quality control, quite amazing indeed..Pearl is also very good, and they were smart enough to hire Joe B (although I imagine it has increased their catering bill)