What exactly is a riser on a flute? A picture perhaps or something? I believe it's on the head joint.......I asked my band director about it and she said she had no idea.....

And I have also heard that height also plays a factor in playing. So what's the difference between a low or high riser?

Thanks in advance for any help.

On a flute headjoint, the riser is also sometimes called the chimney because of its shape. It's the inner wall of the embouchure hole. It extends from the top of the embouchure plate down to the bore of the headjoint and connects the embouchure plate to the headjoint tube.

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Oops. Forgot to answer your second question...
You can read more about risers and how the height affects the playing characteristics here:
http://www.langemusic.com/Articles/flutehead.htm

O thank you so much lol.

High raiser headjoints are declared (by the manufacturers) as having a deeper sound in the low register.

I have a Sankyo HJ which is featured with this high raiser. It took me months to be acqualinted to this "reacher low register", because the design of the embouchure hole is different from the other types of HJs. Once you get used to it, generally the results are pretty good (At least it was my case though).

Not obvious to me. Great to learn something new.

That's interesting, Zevang, because I have the same Sankyo HJ (NRS-1) if I remember right. The first time I played it, the low register was really responsive for me. It was also easier to get good tone and plenty of volume in the low range, as opposed to my old Gemeinhardt HJ or the Yamaha CY HJ that came with the flute.

I really consider it as an individual experience that really vary from person to person. In my own case it worked that way, maybe because my style of playing before the new headjoint was so different.
Yet, maybe that's why we have so many excelent flutists playing so many different instruments/headjoints.