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| My old Altus headjoint. |
I told a friend of mine about my new headjoint yesterday, and she thought it was part of an animal or something, which I suppose is a logical conclusion to come to... so, just to clarify, I've put a picture of a flute headjoint on the left (which looks gold in the picture but is in fact silver).
I've been battling with my flute-playing for over a year now. I've worked slavishly on long notes every day, experimenting with my embouchure (mouth & lip positions), singing and playing, practising harmonics, and any other trick I came across. These techniques all helped to improve my tone, but only to a certain extent. I kept on coming across a barrier in my sound - I felt like I was warbling, never finding a true, constant sound that I loved (and loving your sound is just so important in music-making!).
After hours and hours of practise and many tears of frustration, a friend lent me a headjoint and suggested that I give it try. I was sceptical, as I thought, if anything, I really needed a new solid silver flute to replace my silver-plated Altus 907. But, I gave it try.
What a HUGE difference it made! After a few days of playing on it, I couldn't go back... Suddenly, I had bottom Cs, Ds and Es that spoke more than 30% of the time, a high register that rang clear, and hardly any fluffiness on the Eb/E area. My articulation became light and easy, and the best thing of all was that I could enjoy my playing without constantly worrying that the sound would break. It was truly liberating.
So started my quest to buy a headjoint. Two weeks ago, I visited All Flutes Plus (www.allflutesplus.co.uk), and came away with two Arista headjoints and a Nagahara on approval. Within days, I'd made a decision - to buy the cheapest Arista - not because of the price (although that was a bonus) - but because it not only improved my weak points, but made my strengths even better too. The high notes slip out, the low register is rich and powerful, and the overall tone is beautiful - I like it, and I hope to love it very soon!
I have to get to know my Arista now. I foresee many hours of long tones, slow Reichert exercises, whistle tones, harmonics, and studies. Getting know a new instrument (which is essentially the difference that a headjoint makes) is difficult but - I expect - absolutely worth it.
