This will probably come back and bite me but....

Flute 1 or flute 2

No heckling!

I took the thumbport off of my flute so that you can't tell which one is mine. My hand position is bad and I hit some wrong keys.

so what do you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pme80Qmu4q4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45Ie9nIF0Ao

a scale
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxxe3Vi31yI

libertangle....or libertango if I could play it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtEbcDD6SfA

So how about some opinions. Try and ignore the wrong notes.

Flute 2 for sure. Darker, richer tone.

I can't say that the tone is any different between the two BUT I can say that you play flute 2 more expressively in the Handel. Maybe you are more warmed up with Fl 2, maybe the embouchure/head is different with Fl. #1 or it's something psychological. Could be that flute 2 is your "old" flute.

Everyone except for the first person likes my Muramatsu. I like it too. I don't know if I will be able to play the Powell.

I guess if or when the silver plating comes off, I will dip it in gold plating. (hehe)

I am going to ask my instructor what she thinks.

I am sure that it sounds different live. The cheap video camera probably didn't do it justice.

Another issue is that the new flute would take time to become as comfortable as your older instrument. This may take as much as a good year of practice. For example, the Powell may want to play louder and you can gain from learning to tame it down.

I'm also not sure but I'd check your tuning habits on the Muramatsu. Check your octaves, I think. I liked it because YOU played it more expressively.

Flute 2... without a doubt. Haven't read anything else... so maybe I'm way off, but you sounded so much better on two.

Thanks,

I am keeping my Muramatsu.

Yes, I have learned to play it in tune better than other flutes. They say the scale is a little different on Muramatsu flutes. I guess it is true. I finally got the Powell in tune in the third octive, but it took me two hours and a lot of lip dancing.

I am keeping the Muramatsu for now unless I find something else that is great!

They say when you find the flute, you will know it. I felt that way about this flute when I got it. Maybe I just need to stick to Muramatsu flutes.

"Maybe I just need to stick to Muramatsu flutes."

This maybe the right choice for you. I tend to try to work with the one that I have. Many players change flutes hoping that they'll sound better and the flute isn't always their issue. Most great players sound great on most flutes regardless.

I assume that you listened to Sir James' 16 flutes presentation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0n3n3N3SOY

Flute 2. You can always clean up your sound with practice and hard work, but if the head joint doesn't produce a full and solid sound, it never really will. The first flute has this sort of thinner, loud, and projecting sound that you'd probably like for orchestral work. But it's not the sort of organic sound that you'd optimally want for solo work. I've noticed that flute makers in the last decade or so have moved towards this sort of sound more and more, which is a shame, really. Flutes sound more and more like miniature trumpets and less like well, a WOODwind.

Of course, I now have a wood headjoint on my flute because I want even more of that in my sound. It's a very high resistance flute to play and isn't very forgiving, but the sound is fantastic when it comes together.

Hi guys,

I have watched the Galway demo. I think that it is funny that he has 6 Muramatsu flutes.

I guess he must like them a lot.

It's funny that one of you said that flutes are sounding like trumpets. I tried a flute a couple of weeks ago and I felt like I was playing a Tuba.

I am keeping the Muramatsu. If I kill the silver plating then so be it. I am going to look for another headjoint and possibly also a wood headjoint since I like the sound of wood.

Thanks everyone.

Good choice Lana. I love my EX. (Minus the scale of course.) But I can work with that. Like I said before, I didn't think that you would be taken with the Powell. The two brands are so different. I love having both for when my multiple personalities come out. lol!!! I love then all. If I could just own one of each handmade flute I would be in heaven!
Seriously, you can always just get your EX replated down the line if need be. It isn't that costly either. Now onto headjoints! Let the fun begin!

Heh. They are getting to be very forward and bright sounding to me. The fact that they are made out of metal is quite apparent in some models. I guess I like a more mellow and organic sound.

Okay, I don't really know what you mean by that micron.

I am playing with a handicap. There are some wrong notes. I don't have my thumbport and my right hand is dragging across the keys.

I am not blowing hard enough. I know that.

I am just going to stick with the Muramatsu. I will eventually buy myself a DN or DS when the economy gets better.

If you ment something else, please explain.

I think Micron was saying that his comment might not be PC, or Politically Correct.

Vamp, by handicap I am thinking that you are referring to a hand problem, in which some of your fingers do not flex/bend the way they ought to?

The handicap. Both of my hands were broken during a bad fall in Gymnastics. My right hand will tend to lean across the rods without the thumbport. That little gadget has helped my flute playing a lot.

As far as Micron, I don't know if it was a crack at me and my flute playing or the problem was that I was playing a metal flute. I just don't know.

I am way over it and there is not reason to bring it up. I am a dabbler. I am lucky to play in a wind ensamble.