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- -NewsBFS Council news. Summary o f AGM an ddetails of changer to BFS constitution.TheBFS Online. BFSevents revlews. Flute ChoirNews. BFS Convention 2012 Preview. MakeMusic NewYork.PowerofMokingExhibitionatV&A, London. -

25 TheKingma I lnenAlto Flute:acollaborativemodel

Carla Reesexplores the collaborationbetween Eva Kingma and Blckfordan dLaura Brannen.

35 The FeldenkraisMethod@Patricia Morrisexplainswhy the FeldenkraisMethod@ s important for flute players.

41 An Interviewwith DavidChuGyula Czeloth-Csetbnyitalks with woodenand bamboo headjoint maker DavidChu.

33 Flutes inSpaceA light-hearted ookat an alternativeconcertvenue.

51 ReviewsCDs, literaturean d music.

62 The small printBFS Council and Officers.Localareareoresentatives. Associationo f Flute~rbders. embership Information. Smalladvertisements. Index of advertisers.

-- -64 The LastWord ...

Tony Ovenell recalls a recent examiningtour.

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nterview with David

avid Chu is a maker of wooden and bambooflute headjoints. When I first tried his head-joints, I found each of them had a specsc

nd unique colour, character and personality.Chu hasexperience in the fields of flute and headjoint-

and also in flute restoration. His headjointse played by a number of well-known performersKeith Uilderwood, Gary Schocker, Andy

Alan Weiss and Bart Feller.Czeloth-Csethyi: Your businw, Side Blown Technologies,

a unique logo. Could you explain the syrnbalism of it ?Chu: The logo is composed of two Chinese

one meaning "sideways" and the other"blowing air". Together, they mean side-

which is an old Chinese way of saying "flute".I

You were born in Hong-Kong. When did you start yourducation?

I started playing the flute when I was about 14.that, I studied the piano but did not applyand always waited until the day before my

to practise frantically.When I discovered the flute, I fell in love with it

away and my passion for it has never faded.day and night and progressed rapidly. My

teacherat thattime was anAmerican, Timothy Wilson, and he wasthe principal flute with the Hong KongPhilharmonic. I learned from him all theimportant aspects of flute playing suchas tone production, musicality, phrasingand repertoire.GCC: Do you perform on th e flute too?DC: I have not performed publicly since

DavidChu

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moving to Boston, Massachusetts fromPhoenix, Arizona in 1998. In Arizona, Iplayed frequently in orchestras, chambermusic groups, and recitals, both jazz andclassical. Living just a few hours by carfrom Los Angeles, I did a lot of work in thestudio, composing and arranging commer-cial music for advertisements, films, songs,recording projects and for radio and televi-sion.GCC: Before you started to build headjoinu, you hadexperience with a variety of flute-makm. Please talkabout how you became involved with companiessuch asArista, Burkart and Haynes. What was your first job?Later, what was your role in these comoanies?DC: I was making bamboo headjoints whenI met JamesPhelan at the Phoenix Flute Fair,where we were both exhibiting. I alreadyhad a fantastic Lillian Burkart headjoint onmy Altus flute and was very curious aboutthe physics of flute headjoints and flute-making in general. Information on flute-making was not widely available, so whenJim askedme if I wanted to work for BurkartFlutes, I jumped at the chance. I relocatedfrom Phoenix to Boston in 1998and becamea member of the company.

Boston is the centre of flute-making inthe United States; Powell, Haynes and manyother important flute-makers are located

GyulaCzeloth-Csetenyi there. he first job was sanding and I did alot of it! I remember the first time I used wet sandpaper on a silver lip-platewithout using water as a lubricant; it was the strangest tactile sensation. Lilliantaught me all aspects of flute-making by hand and Jim introduced me to the facetsrelating to engineering and machining. However, my main job became the pro-duction of flute and piccolo headjoints. I learned to make silver, gold and plati-num headjoints and in the next few years produced more than three hundred forvarious flute companies. It was just three years ago that I decided to make myselfa wooden headjoint, so I could experiment with a different sound palette.

While still in Phoenix, my good friend Joel Tse (Toledo Symphony) had rec-ommended that I should listen to William Bennett (WIBB). I was amazed at thebig and beautiful sound that Joel produced on his retuned French flute with anArista lip-plate. It was a logical continuation of my flute education to learn fromanother flute-makingmaster who had collaborated with WIBB and treasured andunderstood the French flute tradition so, after about three years in Boston. I wentto work for Arista Flutes. My official tenure at Arista Flutes was short-lived, but

September 2011

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A pieceofgnnadilla, mountedon a south bend lathe, beingturneddown to slze.

After the borlng process, thewood cylinder i s f a c 4 and cutto length. It Is supported on asteady rest,

A gauge p h is inserted in thebore to check the Wing of thes l b enon.

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1t cemented my long friendship with Miguel and JuanArista. I continue to subcontractwith Arista Flutes today,working mostly on padding.I worked on my own for severalyears, repairin2 and-overhauling a variety of vintage flutes. I also paddednew flutes for Arista and made bamboo headjoints forC and alto flutes.

Around 2003, Haynes subcontracted some overhaulsto me. They liked my work and hired me as a consultantwith the padding department. Eventually, I was broughtinto the shop as a tester to ensure that every flute playedits best. When Chris McKenna, then general manager,left in 2006. I became his successor and implementednumerous changes. I experimented with the WilliamBennett scale on existing tooling, made available thetraditional forged keys for special gold and silver flutes,

and introduced a 19.5-carat gold flute and other new silver alloys. I also usedSuaubiuger pads and tried new headjoint styles.GCC: What were th e expectatiomof these companies regarding t h e sound of th e flute?DC: The sound of the fluteis a very subjective and subtle matter. The initial vibra-tion is generated in the headjoint, and resonates through the body of the flute aswell as the cavity of the mouth of the player. Using different headjoints on thesame flute body will produce different sounds and responses. Playing the sameheadjoint on different flute bodies will also give distinct musical expressions.

At Burkart Flutes, I was expected to make headjoints which sounded as closeThe outsideof the as possible to the ones that Lillian made. The requirement was very strict: theyheadjoint is turned to final had to play and respond in a certain way in all three octaves, be very open andsize. Extra wood is left free-blowing, especially in the high register, and without any blemishes in thew h e r e t h e ' i p - p l a t e is be finishing. I made three different styles of headjoint cuts ranging from a verycarved out by hand later. bright sound with fast articulations to a more traditional softer, rounder tone. It

took me a long time to accomplish these tasks. Slowly,I began to understand the nature of the embouchurehole and its relationship to sound, colour, dynamicrange, response, and other subtleties.

I was not involved in headjoint making at AristaFlutes. Their flutes emulated the quality of excellentold French flutes. The scale, of course, was modern atA=442, the sound was much larger, and it was easier toplay. I learned that the quality of the sound was directly

P linked to the scale, headjoint taper and embouchurehole. When this combination was in balance, it wouldproduce the correct harmonics for each and every noteon the flute. The flute became verv resonant and easvto play in tune. I test my own wooden headjoints on anArista flute and they possess similar qualities to thosefound on a silverArista headjoint.

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1T . --'i7-E- E l . , : , & ' . b >.. ,~ h -1The shoulder is cut to fitHaynes flutes of the 1950s and 60s have a unique sound, one that can be t h e silver r ing , ~~~h ringon Rampal's many record in^, such as the JS Bach and CPE Bach sonatas. is individuallyfitted.

main dir;ctive of the compGy when I arrived was building instrumentstoday's need instead of replicating historic Haynes flutes. There was a lot

freedom to experiment and bring in new technology whilst not completelyold knowledge. My role was to direct rather than to produce and my

influenced the headjoint makers to experiment and see what workedin the market place. We made many different styles of headjoints.

whik working for thm companies, was then any opportunity for you to rmlisc your own deathe flute sound?There were limited opportunities to implement my own sound and I didbeing involved in the production process. The tester does not have direct

over the sound of the headjoint unless they are actually making it. Whenstarted making my own wooden headjoints I became both the tester and maker.realise that music is an art of self-expression, and so is the art of flute-making.

making my wooden headjoints, I stay true to what I like and make head-that suit my own playing. 1 look for a sound that has a wide core and rich

that will follow every minute movement of my embouchure with goodrange, and a quick response.

While working for Lillian Burkart, I was given an opportunity to make copies

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A silverring is being bevelledby hand using acarbidescraperbefore installation.Left to right:Grenadillasquareblank; a pieceof Mountain-mahoganythatis turned and bored; taperedheadjoint blank wkh ring;crownassembly,silver tenon and ring.

of one of my own silver Louis Lot head-joints. Theresult was reasonably good I wasable to capture some of the qualities of theoriginal headjoint, but because I was onlycopying thc embouchure hole and lip-plateangles, and not the taper, composition andhardness of the metal, I did not achieve aperfect match. It was a similar experience atHaynes when I tried to make headjoints thatwould reflect the quality of Haynes in the1950sand 60s. They came closebut were notthe real thing.GCC: Why ond how did you b q i i making woodenhmdjoints?DC: It's funny how things gomund in circles.The first headjoint I produced in 1994 wasmade of bamboo. I studied the book TheFlute and Flute Playing by Theobald Boehm. Hisheadjoint design was dearly illustrated inthe book. After making six bamboo head-

joints, the seventh finally played to my satisfaction. I went on to make manymore for friendsand eventually sold some. I could not find any measurementsin Boehm's book, so I copied a Flutemaker's Guild alto flute. Later. I realisedthat those measurements were very similar to Albert Cooper's figures.

When I started to make wooden headjoints. I wanted something that wasdarker and deeper, relatively easy to play, and with a decent volume anddynamic range. Many wooden headjoints on the market were both too dulland difficult to play or too bright like a silver headjoint. I was looking for

something in between. Again, it was curi-osity that lead me to this work. I madetwo wooden headjoints, one in grenadilla.another in cocobolo. William Bennett triedthem on his visit to Boston and gave meencouragement. At that time, I knew I hadfound my purpose in flute-making - it wasto make wooden headjoints.GCC: The headjoins on your web site look wonderful,in a wide range of coloun. What kind of wood do youUK?DC: I pr~marilyuse grenadilla (or Africanblackwood) and boxwood - one heavyand one light. I also like cocuswood, butit is almost impossible to obtain nowadays.There are many other kinds of wood that Iuse for their beauty and unique properties,

46 flute September2011M

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wood from South America. I have occasionally used snakewood, bocoteOsage orange. My newest discovery is a wood from Australia called Western

with brilliance when required.More than 150 ymn ago Theobald Boehm cmted the fint metal flute. Since then, metal hasthe staple material for flutes, but there seems to be a trend for using a wooden headjoint with aflute. What son of sound does this prcduce?

C: The wooden headjoint is definitely darker in comparison to modem silvers, most metal headjoints are very bright and even thin in the

y wooden headjoints have a rounder sound and blend very wellthe other woodwinds and strings. The tone is focused without being harsh.

und is complex and allows for many colour changes by the player. At thethe volume and dynamics are large enough for modern use.

CC: In your "[perience,why do flute players use wooden headjoints?: The main idea is to have a different sound and feel. Some players use woodI love the music of Bach. particularly the sonatas and

e solos from the cantatas. Using my wooden headjoint, I can doce and the harpsichord. I don't limit myself to baroque music; I

es as it gives another performance option. Some of my orches-mphonies and Debussy's Prelude to th e Afternoon of a Faun. The wooden headjoint isire section of the New York City Ballet uses my wooden headjoints for certain

You mentioned that you have also encountered old flutes during your work. Tell me about yourwith flute-restoring. How old and what kind of flutes hove you worked on?

: A museum is a great place to see old flutes; some even allow visitors to playts in their collection. However, these instruments may not be

ood playing condition and this might lead to a false perception in the player'sthat old flutes don't play well. One must understand that the flute collection

a museum serves a totally different function from that of a music store. That is

, or even modify them to suit their own purposes, as has beenthat exists as an object of beauty as well as performing a hnction. It is the

p accurate time that makes a clock a chronometer.A flute becomes acal instrument when music is made on it.

The majority of flutes today are made of metal and making wooden headjointsbe a craft of the past. I do have a fondness for vintage flutes like Louis

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Marking thed i n e areg o d L was also intrigued by the American interpretationofFrench flutes byfor the ilpplateon a Powell andHaynes in their early years,headjointblank. Living in Phoenix, Arizona in the 1980s, I did not knaw anyone who wasBackground: variousreferencemeasurements. willing or able to repair, not to mention retore. m old Louis Lot flute for me.I tried learning repair skills myself and did not get very h r until I met the lateRobert Gil- ipCalifornia. He taught me the skills I needed to rebuild a fluteandshowedmehow toprepare and serupa flute toplay to itshighestpotential.

Over the years, I have restared and overhauled many Louis Lot flutes, bothsilver and wood Some wem very ear ly examples, of Taffanel's era, and somewere much later. There was definitely a clear distinction between each of themany periods of production under di&rent .hop owners. 1 am quite fond ofthe Villette period production. H e was the only proprietor who worked directlyunder Lwis Lot for a long time.As fbr American flutes, I have worked on instruments made by Powell andHayaes that be l ag4 to William Kincaid, principal flutistwith the Philadelphia

Orchestra. and studentofGeorge l3arrire. VerneQ.Powellwasworking atHaynesin the early 1920swhen Khcaid ordered flum fromHaynes. I grew up isten-ing toWlinc Shaffch wonderful recording of he Bach Sonatas and overhauleda Powell flute h a t had belonged to her. I also overhauledRampal's gold H a p s ;it was a w o n d d flutewith a very warm sound:a truly unique insuumeut. Intbework process, I had the opportunity to play the flutes and learned all about

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.em and how different headjoints worked with different flute bodies MoreI learned how to play these different flutes as they might originally

lave been played.CC: What patterns do you see in the sound of a flute in the post and present?

Today's flutes are louder. Thereis also a trend towards rising pitch. These twot the quality of the sound and the way people play. When Boehm

sohe made it cylindrical withtapered headjoint and a drastic change in flute timbre occurred.My general impression is that vintage French flutes have a distinctive tone. In

ly 1920s. Haynes started making their interpretation of French flutes forrrL.re and Laurent. These flutes were the predecessors of Rampal's famous goldte. Handmade Haynes flutes of the 1950s and 60s possessed a unique sound

have described as "sweet" and I find brilliance in this sweetness- a silvery, shimmering and open tone floating over the

. The main purveyor of these instruments was Verne Q. Powell. The nextAmerica was the introduction of the Cooper scale and Cooper style head-

nts in the 1970s. Albert Cooper made less than one hundred flutes himself. butt an awareness of flute design that encouraged a sudden surge of

dent flute makers.You've mentioned t h a t pitch is becoming higher. How does thir affect the sound of the flute?Concert pitch was standardised in America at A=440 in 1926. Now, most

produced in Boston are ordered at A=442. In general. 440 andtes don't sound very different, other than a certain dullness and flatness inwhen played one after the another. But when comparing aa 444 flute. the differences become slightly more obvious. The higher fluten the low range. The timbre change is subtle until one plays an old Louis

ot flute pitched at A=448 foll~wed y another one that is pitched at A=435.In recent decades, there ha s been an incrmw in the use of precision tools and machines to measure

acoustic properties of flutes and to help with their manufacture.Do you think the future of i t e andmaking will become more scientific or will intuitive practices remain?

C: It is difficult to predict the future but despite all the machines we havew. high-end flutes are still made by hand, one key at a time. Sophisticated

s do help to produce a precise mechanism, but the final steps are alwaysy hand. Measuring acoustic properties and the interpretation of data col-

the initial calculations did not produce a satisfac-y machines. I think many good headjoints were made without the makers

ed, medieval blacksmiths recognised that iron ore from certainweapons and tools.

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When I make a headjoint. 1 have the finished dimensions in mind for theembouchure hole. It is the balance of these dimensions that determines the char-acteristics of the sound and response of a headjoint. When I get close to thesemeasurements. I start testing the headjoint as I continue to make small cuts, until1 am satisfied with every acoustic aspect of the headjoint. I cannot tell you thedefinitive science but through experience I know what works and what doesnot.GCC: Thank you for taking the time to talk to us; I wish you me'y successwith your work!