I was just curious, if any of you have experience with these brands of flutes if you could give me an idea as to their tones in comparison with each other? (As in, this maker tends to have a more dark and full tone as compared to this one which is more tin-cannish :P)

Trying to get opinions on:
Selmer
Artley
Emerson

I'm also kind of curious on how you guys feel about silver lipplates as opposed to gold- does it really have an effect on the sound?

Thanks! :D

To my knowledge, Emerson flutes are made by the Conn-Selmer company. That might have changed, recently, I don't know. I'm not sure whether the Emerson DeFord design was bought by Conn/Selmer.

Gold plating on the lip should not change the sound. It will make a difference for anyone who is allergic to silver, or whose lip turns dark from a silver flute. It also might feel different.

A gold RISER would be more likely to make a difference to the sound of the flute. There is a lot of debate on this, because a machine 'blowing' a flute to make a sound will not show a difference between types of metal, for identical shape engineering. However, many people state that the response and feel is different between metals.

Some people do not care for the gold plating on the lip for the reason that it will look bad once the plating wears through. If the plating is well done (thick!) and/or if there is a warranty on the plating, you may not have a problem for years, or if there is a problem it would be fixed for you. But I have heard about people unhappy with the gold plating, since it can wear off and look bad.

If you want a really, really nice flute, skip the whole Selmer, Artley, Emerson business and get a nice Yamaha 200 flute, overhauled by a great flute tech. (Or a Yamaha 300 if you must have a b foot and open holes.) Then, spend the remainder finding a handmade, pro headjoint (Sankyo, Miyazawa, Powell, Altus, Burkart, Nagahara, even Yamaha) that really floats your OWN boat.

You can't really compare brands without specific model numbers. That said, both Selmer and Artley are generally student models or at best lower intermediate models with silver bodies and headjoints. Neither would be considered a step-up instrument. Emerson makes a bit wider range of models with a few in the upper intermediate range, but nothing that would be considered a true professional model. If you are looking at student level instruments, there's probably little to no discernable difference between comparable models of these brands.

Regarding the embouchure plates, I going to assume that you are referring to silver versus gold plated. If so, gold plating will add nothing to the sound because it is too thin. Gold plating is added by some manufacturers simply to give the appearance of something more than it is. It's only a vanity booster. Don't waste your money on it if you are hoping for an improved sound quality.

Solid gold in a headjoint embouchure plate, riser, or tubing will make a difference in sound, but at a premium price. And that price difference is only worth it for extremely experienced players. A beginning or intermediate player is not likely to sound any different on a solid gold flute than they do on a silver plated flute.

These flutes are going to sound different in every flutists hands so you can't compare. They will all sound like a student flute with a student flutist playing on them.