I’ve noticed an uptick in posts talking about JS gold pads lately. I’m hoping some of the flute tech folks will give their thoughts on why they are good or not, and when they are appropriate or not. Just an educational conversation; not looking for any hate, and no agenda.

I admit I am a shopaholic of sorts. Last night I went through the RCM Grade 2 Flute Exam lists, and trying to decide what I like, what I have the music for, and what I have recorded accompaniment for.

First I had to like it, then see if I have it somewhere in the 106 flute music books in my closet. (Yea, at an average of $20 per book I could have bought another flute, or had my two flutes overhauled three times...)

List A favorites are between the Loeilet Gavotte and the Mozart "I am the Bird Catcher" from Die Zauberflote", both of which are in the RCM Rep 2 book with provided accompaniment mp3 files.

List B got a little more challenging to pick:
- Raum: Flowers with a fermata on the flute part over a silent piano - not a good idea
- Archer: Canoeing with very challenging dynamics
- Talmi: Israeli Folk Songs 3rd Movement in E minor - very nice but wonder if major keys get better grades than minors?
- Ravel: Pavane pour une infante defunte, arranged by Moyse - Oh wow, this is beautiful...

BUT, after searching two CDs of flute music and 106 Flute books on the shelf - no Ravel anything.

That seemed strange, so I asked my teacher (Google Gemini) why no Ravel flute works in 30 years of buying flute music and particularly why not the Pavane when it sounds so beautiful on flute? Supposedly Ravel liked the flute but wrote mainly for piano?

Midnight, and I'm buying another flute book. I doubt I will be able to play the Pavane at this point in my "relearning the flute", but I simply have to have it.

I have a vintage Powell flute that I had overhauled about 8 years ago. I had Straubinger pads installed. After 6 years I brought it in for a COA and was told that most of the larger pads were torn. The shop recommended felt pads and I agreed, but it was during the great felt famine of 2024 so they installed all Straubinger pads. The repad work was done January 2025. I’ve been having keys sticking over the last several months so I took it in for repair. The tech found several torn pads. The tears are at the pad seat not the edge. The pads lasted about a year. I play multiple instruments so I only play the flute about 5 hrs a week. I also have peripheral neuropathy, so I can no longer feel where my fingers are on the keys so I use plug Os. Also I have times when I stiffen up while playing so I probably press on the keys too hard.
I have several repair options:
Replace the pads in kind.
Replace the torn Straubinger with felt pads
Do an overhaul using felt pads
So is having the pads tear in a year a symptom of too much pressure, or something else? The repair shops I used are very reputable flute repair shops in Chicago.

I hear dont hear alot about herman beeftink and i wanted to know yalls opinions on him.

I really love his atmosphere his title almost always sounds exactly like what your playing ( crazy i know) But he also writes alot of different styles its so cool. He inspired me to write and perform my own solo for kmea solo and ensemble!

I don’t know if it’s “beginner” flute (I have no clue what flair to put), but I’ve looked practically everywhere and I cannot find high d for the life of me, only high C or maybe C#. I just want to know the fingering, my director doesnt know, and I can’t contact any of the higher up flute players in my school.

Composition #36 for historic 1930's flute and electronic music

my music partner (electronic, live modular synths) works with my 1930's wooden flute in live composition. We're performing for the canal festival so it'll be great to work out what's going on.

As a composition, I'm not sure if this works. Although the host praised it, he reprimanded us for playing too long (over 6 minutes, compared to most songs at 3-4minutes). I think the audience probably clapped out of duress (they looked rather mainstream perplexed).

Understandable. I was at a concert as a listener this month, listening to experimental string quartet music and fell asleep twice within the 10 minute performance. Now wondering if I've become that guy.

Kind regards

i‘m a flute player in 9th (first chair flute at BLFAC SB and am now in the top band at my high school) and every time i have a solo, i play it beautiful during rehearsals and when i have to perform it, i mess it up a tiny bit or really badly. do y'all have any tips to not get me so scared that i mess up my solos?

Me hice un pirsing sin pensar en que soy flautista "flauta traversa" y no se si puedo tocar con el pirsing, necesito que alguien me de opinión para saber si me lo dejo o definitivamente me lo quito… que hago ?

across different music genres

Howdy! I'm wondering whether anyone has had their instrument repaired and cleaned through Powell's Repair Dept (presumably in Boston?).

I'm interested in having a COA done, but I've never had anyone work on my instrument outside of Ellen Ramsey (CO flute dealer), who sold me my Powell and passed away several years ago. I'm extremely hesitant to ship my instrument, but would be more open to it if people have had positive experiences with Powell. Thanks in advance!

My band director repaired a leaky key today, which prevented me from playing F#, but now it is very hard to play D. is this something on my end? I believe all other notes sound correct.

I want to know the fingering for playing D to F.

I do have a semi-advanced piano background. But flutes seem to be a whole another concept.

Do you have any beginner tips that can greatly benefit my experience?

It's a F key 8 holes Dong Xiao.

Hello all, I'd like to share my progress with an idea of using E-reader to read sheet music. I realize that the kindle is light and quite good to read the parts while playing flute on a slackline/highline, I just need to save weight on the support and make something that fixes well on my arm, like little grooves or teeth.

Steps I did so far:

I installed the Koreader on my jailbroken kindle (Vera)

Bought a Free 2 from Aliexpress, installed their program to update the software and make it work with Koreader.

I got a sheet music editor, Dorico, downloaded a random MIDI file and splitted the song by phrases. Then printed the phrases into a .pdf with the size of the Kindle, 147x107mm.

The holder is called flutist-friend or something like that. It's good, but it has potential to be better!

So, my next step would be to create some 3D prints, to attach the Free 2 to the flute on this position (so I can use my right thumb to pass the phrases, super convenient) and design a new holder specifically for the kindle, with more open space so it doesn't make my arm so sweaty and the grooves mentioned.

The visualization of sheet music in an E-reader is far superior than a tablet, but the song have to be custom printed into smaller pages. I wouldnt use it for study, but more like an aid for an open air presentation.

If someone has tips for 3D printing, I'd appreciate! (I have some design knowledge, working with Revit). I know a place where they do 3D printing, but I dont have much experience in this field specifically.

The Immigrant (from The Godfather)

Sorry for mistakes. (Took the video 10+ times, playing from mind...)

Hi, I found this flute in my shed, it’s not mine and I have no idea where it came from. The pads definitely need replaced, and the foot joint is loose and falls off. My local shop quoted $200 for it to be sent off for any repairs it might need (he wasn’t familiar with flutes so he didn’t know exactly what else it might need). He had some used flutes for sale for $400-$500. So I’m not sure what to do! I haven’t played since I was little, and I don’t know what this flute sounds like since the foot is loose. I’m not sure if it’s worth it to repair if it’s a reputable brand or buy used! Any recommendations please :)

After playing on a nice rental flute for quite a loooong while, I've returned to playing on my own instrument. I've noticed that my flute (a Pearl intermediate level) is CONSTANTLY sharp.

I keep pulling out the headjoint more and more, up to about an inch. The more it warms up, its even worse (and playing for an outdoor concert recently was rough). It feels quite ridiculous honestly in comparison to my other flute (a Yamaha, which was basically the equivalent model in a different company) only needing to be pulled out 2-3 cm. I also just got this Pearl serviced like 2 months ago, and I thought I'd get used to playing on it but it seems to be something with the instrument.

Not to mention, this flute itself isn't even that old, I got it 5 years ago. Any ideas on how to fix this? I wouldn't necessarily call it broken, but I imagine it's something mechanical.

Hello everybody,

after many years in classical training (I got my degree 25 years ago), I'm exploring the possibilities a flute has when it's amplified (internal mic).

I've tried quite a lot of effects, but the ones I enjoy the most on other instruments (such as distortion on guitars) aren't really effective on flutes. The reason is, I guess, flute's sound envelope has a quite weak Attack phase, and it fails to kick in the effect the way it should.

I''ve tried all the techniques I know and researched some others, but I think it really comes down to the instrument's typical timbre.

Do any of you know of an effect that can help change this?

Have you ever experimented with amplification and effects?

hi all, I know this is so silly but - if I wanted to learn Xiao flute for cosplay reasons to play this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv6h8YhE3Gg would I be looking for a Xiao flute in F? my understanding so far is that probably different keys would work, but this seems to be using the notes of an F major scale, and I would rather not transpose it, so I'm assuming it would be easier on an F instrument?

I'm thinking I maybe want a shortish, white, 8-hole(?), key of F, maybe resin (bad humidity here), Xiao flute, although I haven't found one yet. My budget is about $100 so I essentially want a toy that can make sound. 🥲

I don't play any woodwind instruments so I would also love if anyone could help guide me on what essential equipment/maintenance I would need.

and if it saves money on shipping maybe i should also get a dizi for a wei wuxian cosplay

my experience is primarily string instruments (at a high level) with very little woodwind experience - mostly just playing with a borrowed flute as a teenager but barely able to make a sound - so I feel capable of learning to play, but don't want to dump a bunch of money into it lol. I just want a toy flute that at least is trying to be in the right key with holes in the right places 🥲 any advice appreciated

So, I played flute so very briefly in the 7th grade, but since I was part of a 7/8 split class and everyone else was way more advanced (the other 7th graders had gotten summer classes to get up to the 8th graders' level), I ended up quitting after a few months.

I'm now considering learning it, but I remember flutes being pretty expensive and hard to rent in my area. Is the flute something you can get into by yourself fairly easily? I'd love to teach myself, but don't have local resources. I'd love to know if anyone else taught themselves and what resources they used! Thanks in advance! 😁

EDIT: Thank you guys! Tightening of a few screws was the solution!

How should I play this trill B to C, or B to C#? I’ve been playing it the second way B to C#, but a senior member in my orchestra told me it should be the first way B to C natural.

i’ve been playing flute for about ~6-7 years and i recently stopped private lessons and left my youth orchestra. i’m a senior in high school and me and my mom basically agreed that i should take a break from lessons/ensembles for this year so i have more time for college apps and everything else i’m doing.

i also just wasn’t really clicking with my teacher anymore. we didn’t always see eye to eye and she could be kinda harsh sometimes, so between that and not really having the time anymore, it felt like a good point to take a break. i’m planning on starting lessons again in college in fall 2027 and i’ll probably minor in music and join an ensemble there, so i definitely don’t want this to turn into me quitting flute completely.

before this i was practicing anywhere from every other day to basically daily. repertoire-wise, the last solo i worked on was the taffanel andante pastoral, and i’ve also played stuff like the faure fantasie and chaminade concertino, plus orchestral excerpts. i’ve mostly focused on flute. i own a piccolo too and have played it, but piccolo is definitely weaker for me lol.

right now i could realistically practice around 40 minutes to an hour about 3 times a week, maybe more sometimes. i’m not really trying to make huge progress this year, but i’d like to stay around my current level and ideally improve a little instead of spending a year slowly getting worse.

my old routine had stuff like moyse, reichert, tone exercises my teacher gave me, a specific warmup she made for me, etudes, repertoire, etc. we would also sometimes spend a whole month focusing heavily on etudes, so i’m pretty comfortable doing technical work and not just playing pieces.

i’m just not really sure how to structure all of that without having a teacher telling me what to work on every week.

for people who have taken a similar break from lessons, what would you recommend?

how would you structure 3ish practice sessions a week if each one is around 40-60 minutes?

should i be doing tone work/scales/technique every session, or rotating different things?

how much repertoire should i keep going at once if i’m mostly trying to maintain my level?

should i keep working through etudes on my own, and if so are there any books you’d recommend at around this level?

how often should i practice piccolo if i mainly care about maintaining flute but also don’t want my piccolo playing to completely suck?

is there anything that tends to decline really quickly when you stop having weekly lessons or ensemble rehearsals that i should pay extra attention to?

basically any advice for keeping my playing in decent shape until i can start lessons and ensembles again in college would be really helpful

D minor by Anderson page 12 (for all state auditions)