As funny as this is, it has no basis in fact - most antique flutes used for ITM had/have lined heads (old German flutes, certainly, and the majority of English do, too, to my knowledge.) Right now, modern makers split it pretty evently (non-scientific survey, done in my early morning, tired brain); maybe 50% wood (partially-lined), or completely lined. Great players can be found using either, to no remarkable distinction beyond the playing itself.talasiga wrote:I think you're onto something here. The Titanic was metal and it sank as Irish music was playing. Irish music and metal just don't go together .......Akiba wrote:This could just be me, just a subjective personal thought based on some personal experience, but I think a non-lined head tends to produce a mellower tone while a lined head can be more edgy. Maybe I'm just using faulty "common sense" in thinking wood is more woody and metal more metalic, like thinking ships can only be made of wood because wood floats whereas metal just sinks. FWIW.
My blackwood flute with a partially lined head has a far brighter sound than my flute with a lined head, which has a more focused, darker sound. The former is louder, because it's a Pratten body; yet the latter, a Rudall-style, is quite loud enough. Both have a wide frequency range, if the embouchure is hit correctly, which is my job, not the flutes'.
It's counter-intuitive, but a wood head barrel will not necessarily be more mellow than a lined head, nor more "woody". Boxwood tends to be mellower than blackwood, if left unlined, but - beyond that, IMO, more involves the embouchure cut, whether the flute is a Rudall-style or Pratten, and, yet again, the player's personal embouchure. These seem to be the same factors that decide most of these threads, regarding sound.
...need more coffee, need more coffee...
! For the moment, it's at the top of a very distinguished heap.