Peter,
This is from your last post to me. I'll try and carefully explain things.
> There is a certain arrogance to the attitude that these traditional
> makers were/are just mucking around in the dark and that anyone with
> the $$$ and the equipment can match or outdo them.
I'm not sure you understand how a traditional flute is made. While there are
probably nearly uncountable factors, the one that's vital to the traditional
method is hole location--that kind of runs the whole deal. Old makers didn't
have the concept of acoustically proper hole size and location. That's not
to take anything away from them, I'm just trying to point out that they came
to it from a different angle. The holes were chosen more by feel and
appearance than anything else. Once the holes are placed the game is on.
The flute with it's newly drilled holes is out of balance. And probably out
of balance in most all respects. So the traditional game it to bring the
flute to balance. Tone, pitch, timbre, volume--you name it. Unfortunately or
fortunately, however you want to think about it, things don't go in the same
direction. Improve this here and that there starts going south. Pump this up
and lose that. There's not a lot in a flute that goes in the same direction.
Now, focus your attention. Virtually everything a tradition flute maker does
accomplishes one of two things. It either increases or decreases impedance.
To say it another way, it either increases or decreases air resistance. Take
something out of the bore decreases resistance, put something in and
resistance increases. Widen a hole, widen the top and not the bottom, fill
in a little, smooth and polish--and on and on and on. So the traditional
maker is fiddling with air resistance on a micro level. To suggest that
anyone thinks traditional makers "were just mucking around in the dark" is
an insult and another example of the flights your imagination takes.
Tradition makers were and are masters at the management of air resistance.
To bring a flute into balance is to bring air resistance into balance. What
makes wonderful old flutes wonderful is the decisions the makers had to make
in order to achieve something somewhere near balance. The tradeoffs they had
to make. What they sacrificed for what.
Now, lean back and take a breath, you'll need to really concentrate for this
next part. What Marko has realized is that is possible to take a 'snapshot'
of the impedances. To take a snapshot of the air resistances the maker
finally settled upon. And doing such really honors the maker as it records
what he worked so carefully to achieve. It is to say to the maker across
hundreds of years, "I now realized what you did and what you did is vitally
important to me."
Lean back and take another breath. Focus again. Here is the question we are
trying to answer. Is there a curve which is unique to the snapshot? Out of
all the trillions of possible curves, is there one which is unique to the
snapshot? THAT'S IT, THAT'S THE WHOLE PROJECT. Put everything you may have
imagined and frothed about out of your mind. Put all your fears and angers
away. THAT'S IT, THAT'S THE WHOLE PROJECT. It's one simple question.
Have you got it??
You can certainly speculate on the probable success of the project, but to
do so in any meaningful way would require you to give an objective reason of
why or why not there will be a curve match for every unique snapshot. Maybe
there will be, maybe there won't. That's the reason to do the experiment.
If the proposition is true it would further enhance the esteem and respect
of traditional makers. They took a piece of bamboo and found it's unique
curve.
Now, I want you to recognize how far you mind was from what we've been
trying to tell you. You're not a good listener.
Nelson
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