Headjoint modification

[AbrahamFackle]

I just covered the headjoint of my artley flute with yarn for no real reason. I saw a guy with a hemp-wrapped trumpet a few years ago and thought of it when I was practicing and trying to find an excuse not to.

It's really weird. i thought it would either A. make the instrument unplayable or B. have no effect whatsoever on the sound. It's actually made a huge difference. This is probably the darkest sound I've ever heard out of a flute. It's incredibly focused and very sweet and woody. My roomate, who is constantly being asked if mouthpiece A sounds different then mouthpiece B and can never tell the difference, says it sounds noticably better. Plus it looks really cool, like it's wood.

Just felt like sharing. Any thoughts or comments?

[dzve]

Wow, thats prett cool. I am going to try that out, did the trumpet player have dark tone as well?

[Martin Williams]

I wonder how that would work on a sax neck? Does anyone have hemp on hand and want to try? I might be tempted to go and pick some up and try it in a month or two when I have timeand money to fool around some.

Martin Williams

[AbrahamFackle]

I don't remember how the trumpet player sounded then. I saw him again last summer, but he was playing a new horn (or maybe he unwrapped it). Pretty dark and mellow. He was using a pretty deep mouthpiece, i'm sure.

I'm really tempted to try it on my saxophones, but my tenor is at school and my baritone is in need of repair. I'd like to try wrapping the neck of my bass clarinet as well.

This is pretty neat. I don't think I've ever played so much flute in one day without being forced to.

[Gordon (NZ)]

Be aware that how an instrument sounds to the player is not the same as how it sounds to a listener.

The string on a flute head could affect the vibration of the head metal, which affects the feel on the lip, which the imperfectness of being human may interpret as a different sound. There are other similar possibilities.

There is good double-blind research to suggest that the vibration of the metal itself contributes insignificantly to the sound a listener hears. This concurs with the views of acoustic science.