Cylindrical Vs Conical: Lisa Beznosiuk on Flutes, Mahler, Wagner and Liszt 

I think that’s why she described the “shimmering sound” Mahler achieves and, as a flutist, I can confidently say that the color of the lower notes in the range of the flute are full of color, more than the upper register. Of course, that lower register is difficult to achieve, but since Mahler was writing for professionals, that didn’t pose a problem!

@@voraciousreader3341 Thank you

Reply from Lisa Beznosiuk: Yes, some German & Viennese flutes went down to Bb and A ....and even low G! My OAE colleague Neil McLaren plays this repertoire on a Zeigler flute from Vienna and it goes down to Bb. No we didn't have a piccolo with low C - I think these instruments are extremely rare. I don't know of any. Piccolo experts out there might have some answers... It's worth noting that Mahler was conducting various orchestras throughout Europe at the end of the 19th century and then, famously, in New York at the start of the 20th century. He would have heard and conducted flautists playing every sort of instrument - multi-keyed conical flutes ("simple system" ha-ha!), early conical wooden Boehm flutes, cylindrical wooden Boehm system, cylindrical silver Boehm flutes.

C flutes that play as low as altos...how odd!

I️ own a low C piccolo. Wider vote in order to support such a taper, but indeed a low c. I️ believe it’s a German instrument and indeed resembles instruments like that of Meyer

Lol

if you think of it as being just part of the sound then you get used to it. it's like the street-traffic whizzing past a busker.

You wouldn’t hear 2-3 conical flutes playing in the large sizes of current orchestras. And, as a flutist myself, I think solid silver flutes produce incredibly sweet music, and if you listen to Jean-Pierre Rampal, James Galway, and others, I don’t believe the physics isn’t working for the modern flute. You certainly have the ability produce many more colors of sound on the metal flutes than on wooden ones.

​@@voraciousreader3341 considering how loud some Irish players play on modern day conical flutes (the best probably made by Patrick Olwell) - I'm not sure the advantage of the boehm flute is all that great in volume.

therugburnz Musicians in the United States (can’t speak for anywhere else) can apply for certificate from the department of Fish and Wildlife allowing for the ‘reimport’ of instruments made from e.g., antique ivory. It’s kind of like a ‘passport’ for the instrument ...

Thanx man I didn't know the had a solution to the Tone problem.