The thing is (and this is no criticism or complaint or de-validation - on the contrary), in Calum's test we are really only comparing the different bores of the flutes. Calum's cylindrical RC&Co is otherwise pretty much a normal 8-key simple system flute, save for the foot joint which is Bohm style and has Bohm-type tone-holes. The rest of the holes are rather Pratten-ish in their proportions. Thus Calum's flute will not sound like a full Bohm flute. Leaving aside extraneous noises such as key-slap and the whole vexed materials debate, likewise questions of embouchure cut and its influence, any full Bohm flute or similar, such as Radcliff, Carte 1851/67, etc. using Bohm's tone-hole ideas (large, fairly equal in size, placed in correct theoretical acoustic locations, as nearly as possible fully vented below any given 1st or 2nd 8ve fingering, with equal key-rise) will have a different tone-colour from a simple system due to those things. Paddy Carty's Radcliff doesn't sound different just because of bore, key-slap or the influence of platter keys on trad ornamentation/finger articulation!
The task Calum has set is first to distinguish between the two flutes he presents, (and as Nano commented, it should be obvious that there is a difference to all but the cloth-eared...) and then to state which we think is which. Answering Q1 and stating any preference we may have and care to give reasons for is easy enough and stands alone. But Q2 trades on our perception of the received or experienced stereotypes of the sound-character of each kind of bore. However, how many of us have ever (knowingly) previously heard a simple system on a Bohm tube?
A significant part of our stereotyped idea of the characteristic tone qualities of Bohm flutes derives from the full Bohm system with its very even intonation and equal character of all notes, which features are due primarily to the tone-holes and mechanism, not the bore. Take those factors away and how helpful is the stereotype in making a decision on Calum's Q2? It didn't help me much, and I know Calum's playing and I know his RC flute!
How, for the sake of argument, does a conoid body/cylinder head flute with tone-holes according to Bohm's principles (as far as possible) sound in comparison to either "normal" simple system or to full modern Bohm? Clearly it isn't part of this experiment, but it would be interesting to do a similar comparison of 4 wooden flutes, the two present ones plus one full Bohm and one Bohm on conoid body. It would be necessary either to record them in such a way as to exclude key-slap from the recording (from a distance in a good acoustic?) or to resort to electrickery to remove any key sound.
Of course, some of the above is well and long discussed and opined on by flute historians from Rockstro on through Bate down to Rick Wilson (see his website). Rockstro and most other writers came at it with a progressivist attitude, deriding those who clung to older forms with demonstrable (by their actually quite understandable ideals) deficiencies. They saw no point in a flute like Calum's, nor, despite their interest in flute development and history, would many of them have "related to" the Period Instrument revival nor developments such as the modern "Irish" keyless flute or the Beaudin Modern Traverso discussed elsewhere on C&F recently. We in the trad world and those in HIP have a different, post-modernist approach which sees value in utilising the older forms for what they are good at, using both their strengths and weaknesses for what they offer us interpretatively. Yet of course there is still, in parts of the mainstream classical world, an ongoing derision for such views and a continuing search for "improvement" and the "perfect" flute, whatever that may be!
Of course, we all seek the perfect flute for us, at least to some extent, and Calum's exercise here is in part related to his personal quest, I ween.
Anyway, the above is a caveat, a warning to folk not to rely on the stereotypes too much - though who knows (yet), maybe they'll be borne out in the upshot! (And no, I'm at no advantage here - Calum has told me nothing privately.)
The results and revelation are going to be interesting!
