There are a number of factors at play here, and some are in my mind simply beyond explanation.
I've found that warming up a flute by just blowing into it for a few minutes will help the sound,
but of course the player warms up too after a few minutes. To paraphrase Yeats, it's hard to
separate the dancer from the dance.
One definite influence on the quality of the sound is altitude. I feel the sound is best at sea
level, and above about 8000 feet one's sound gets noticably reedy; I once played at 17,500 on a
mountain pass in Ladakh, and the sound was as thin as the air. But contrary to common sense cold
air is denser and wetter than hot air, so that doesn't seem to fit...just another mystery to
ponder I guess.
Peter
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