There is an E-Bay Offering right now for a Rudall Carte Wooden Flute that was converted to Open G# mechanism. What is interesting is that it sports what’s called the Rockstro F# Key, which does NOT exist on modern instrument. I hadn’t really understood what that was all about until I saw this instrument and realized how this avoids pressing down on the third finger key of the right hand to obtain F#. Rather the independent appendage (what looks like an oversized trill key) allows closure of the F# key without closing any unnecessary keys. The D-trill and D#-trill keys … Continue reading 2022-08-29: Rockstro F# Key

July 31, 2020 This is a little off the topic, but stays in the realm of Flutes and can be educational. Today I saw an offering on eBay for a 1998 Haynes Flute that appeared to have a professional, handcrafted design. Something was odd about it. Upon closer inspection I noticed that it does not have French pointed key arms. Instead it has Y arms like a commercial model. But it looks strangely French. I realized it employed a design that Louis Léon Joseph Lebret (b. 1862) used – “raised nipple” style key cups. I’ve only seen a few other … Continue reading L. L. Lebret “Raised Nipple” style key cups with “Y” key arms on a 1998 Haynes Flute

Today is my birthday. Well, there’s less than two hours left of it, but it still is. I haven’t posted since last November, so I can say that a lot happened. A LOT. Right now, we are in Shelter-in-Place ordinance led first by the Mayor of the City of New York, all the way up the chain to the President of the United States because of the COVID-19 Corona Virus Pandemic. This is a momentous event in history of mankind that has not happened in a century, where everything in the world seemed to have eerily stopped. We are all … Continue reading My Birthday Wish (2020-04-16)

Thanks for joining me! My excitement on the re-discovery of this almost forgotten mechanism has prompted me to research more and share with the world what I have learned. In the planning of my system of fingering, I made the G# key to stand open, like all the rest, only after mature consideration of all the advantages and disadvantages in acoustical, mechanical, and technical respects. from “THE FLUTE AND FLUTE PLAYING in Acoustical, Technical, and Artistic Aspects” by Theobald Böhm. Continue reading 2019-08-31-a : The beginning..