DESCRIPTION:
Here are the top five flutes from the voting results of my vlog "10 Flute Demonstration."
The possible metals are (not in order):
.016 silver with platinum riser
.016 silver with platinum head
.016 silver with 14K head
5-95 flute with drawn tone holes and a 998 silver head with platinum riser
10K flute with silver keys and silver embouchure

The results of the voting for round one as of 9-11-07:
#1: 16
#2: 5
#3: 7
#4: 1
#5: 1
#6: 2
#7: 7
#8: 3
#9: 6
#10: 20

To answer some questions I have received about this test:
I can feel and hear differences in these flutes, some more pronounced and some very subtle, almost negligible. Mostly I can hear the differences between gold and silver. To my ear gold has a subtle shimmer in the sound especially between notes and on sustained notes. Platinum, especially in a riser, to my ear gives the flute a zing or pop, again very subtle. I can't guarantee that I could distinguish any of these differences while listening to another player, however! My own sound is something I am so intimately familiar with that I can probably detect tiny variations that others may not consciously be able to identify. I also expect that other players with different bodies and approaches to playing may get completely different sounds out of these flutes and metals!

In listening back to the video I do hear the differences but less than when I am actually playing the flute. I wonder then if the differences are at all related to the sound we hear at the ear rather than at the audience's distance? Is it possible that the sound resonates differently in our own bodies when they are made of different metals?

I can also say that when I am trying a flute the real thing I listen for is a WOW factor. Yes, I listen for homogeneity of registers, response, intonation, projection, etc. but the real thing that I respond to is that goose-pimply feeling of excitement when I play the flute and frankly I can tell if a flute has it for me or not after about 5 seconds.

I do have favorites among the top ten and top five.

One of these flutes is the flute I have owned since 2001 and I will tell you that it is the .16 silver wall body. I find it interesting that of the top five flutes three are on my own flute but with different headjoints!

Enjoy Round 2!

-Nina