October 18, 2013
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Switching Heads
DH got a "wood carpet" that he thinks may improve the acoustics in his stereo cocoon. He put it down last night but the hour was such that he was afraid of complaints from the neighborhood about the racket that he would have to make to give Woody a proper test drive, so he is about to do it now. I think I will go to the other end of the house.
Since Artley is back I have been practicing on three flutes. I found Artley's vibration again, which makes me happy. It vibrates under my left hand when those keys are down. For some reason it is fun to keep switching instruments as I practice so I can enjoy the different aspects of each one. Yesterday I tried switching the heads around just for fun. Artley's head has the biggest circumference (where is the spell checker when I need it??) and cannot be fitted onto Yamaha or Muramatsu, but it can accept any other head. I tried the Yamaha head on the Artley body and noticed a dramatic improvement. I even got out my beginner's Gemeinhardt and noticed an improvement with the Yamaha head. Dern, how would a Yamaha EC head improve things? The Yamaha head is a bit loose on both the Artley and the Gemeinhardt, but not enough to fall off if the flutes are held upside down. Don't worry, the experiment was done at low altitude over a sufficiently soft rug. I also tried the Muramatsu head on Artley and Gemeinhardt, but it seemed a bit too loose. Did I try Muramatsu on Yamaha? I don't remember and will put that on my to do list for today. The sound improved with the Muramatsu head - Artley body combination, but there was a kind of instability that I would not be able to put a free finger on even if I had one. Meanwhile for the present the eBay in line open hole Miyazawa is MINE, but that will probably change in 23 hours when the bidding is over. I am just barely highest bidder. Hmmm, to snipe or not to snipe? That is the only way I am going to get the thing at such a nice price.
