Woodenheadjoints by David Chu

Gyula, CZELOTH-CSETENYI: What does it mean this sign?

David CHU: It is composed of two Chinese characters. The first one on the left means sideway, the one on the right
means blow, as in blowing air. Like a rubber stamp, the seal is usually used as a signature at the end of a letter or
as part of a chinese ink painting. It is made of stone and comes in many colors, sizes, shapes, forms and levels of
carving details. The ink used is usually red. The flutes I make are mostly of the side blown variety since my main
instrument is the Boehm flute.

What was your very beginning with flute? Have you ever learned flute or music?
I started playing the flute when I was about age 14. Before that, I studied piano for as long as I could remember. I
did not apply myself on the piano and always waited the day before my lesson to practice frantically. When I
discovered the flute, I was in love with it right away and my passion for it has not faded to this day. I practice day
and night and progressed rapidly. My teacher at that time was the principal flute with the Hong Kong Philharmonic.
His name was Timothy Wilson, an American. I learned from him all the important matters of flute playing, such as
tone production, musicality, phrasing and repertoire. He taught me all the right things.

Do you give performances as flutists?

Since I moved to Boston, Massachusetts from Phoenix, Arizona in 1997, I have not performed publicly. In Arizona, I
played much with orchestras, chamber music groups, recitals, both jazz and classical. Being just several hours by
car to Los Angeles, I did a lot of work in the studio as I was composing and arranging commercial music for
advertisements, films, songs, recording projects for radio and TV and whoever wanted to hire me to write music.

What would be your favorite performance program on flute?

For flute recital program, I would open with a Bach Sonata, or a CPE Bach Sonata, or both. The CPE Sonatas are
wonderful and rarely played. Then, comes classical music - the Mozart Flute Quartet in D. If there are no string
players, a transcription of Beethoven's Spring violin sonata would be lovely, or Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata for
alto flute. After that, some light french pieces such as Faure's Morceau de Concours, Ravel's Habanera, and Syrinx.
The last piece must be big and important, such as the Prokofiev Sonata or the Reinecke, or something America
such as Copland or Liebermann. The flute repertoire is very rich and fantastic. This list is just some of my very
favorite. I also love the Poulenc Sonata, it would have to be another program for another day, perhaps an all french
program starting with a Leclair Sonata.

When and why did you decide to make wooden headjoints?

It's funny how things go in circles. The first headjoint I made was a bamboo headjoint; it was in 1994 when I was
making a lot of bamboo flutes and living in Phoenix, Arizona. I studied the book "The Flute and Flute Playing" by
Theobald Boehm. His headjoint design was clearly illustrated in the book. After making six bamboo headjoints, I
finally made a seventh one that played to my satisfaction. I went on and made many more for friends and sold some
eventually. I also made them for alto flutes. My curiosity in flute construction brought me to Boston, the center of
flutemaking in the United States where Powell, Haynes and many other important flutemakers were located. There,
I learned to make silver, gold and platinum headjoints and produced more than 300 for various flute companies. It
was just two years ago that I wanted to make myself a wood headjoint. So I could have a different palette of sounds
in addition to my silver headjoints. I wanted something that was darker and deeper, relatively easy to play and with
a decent volume and dynamic range. Most wood headjoints on the market were both too dull and difficult to play or
too bright like a silver headjoint. I am looking for a cross in between. Again, it was curiosities that lead me to such
work. I made two wood headjoints, one in grenadilla, another in cocobolo. William Bennett tried them on his visit to
Boston and gave me encouragement. At that time, I know I have found my purpose in flutemaking - it was the wood
headjoint.

What kind of wood do you use?

I primarily use grenadilla (or African blackwood) and boxwood - one heavy and one light. I also like cocuswood, but
it is almost impossible to obtain nowadays. There are many other kinds of wood that I used for their beauty and
unique properties, such as mopane and pink ivory from Africa; cocobolo, Brazilian rosewood and kingwood from
South America. I have occasionally used snakewood, bocote and osage orange.

On your website I have seen not only Boehm flutes but other traditional bamboo flutes. For what pupose
did you make these, and for whom?
The bamboo flutes are mostly for meditation because of their warm low tone. People also use them for recording
and musicals such as "Miss Saigon" and "Lion King". Making bamboo flute is a fresh experience every time
because there are no two pieces of bamboo poles that are the same. New measurements and calculations have to
be made for each flute.

What are the characteristics of sound for a silver flute with a wooden headjoint?
The wood headjoint is definitely darker in comparison to modern silver headjoints. Nowadays, most metal
headjoints are very bright and even thin in the high register. My wood headjoints have a rounder sound and blend
very well with the other woodwinds and strings. The tone is focused without being harsh. The sound is complex and
allows for many color changes by the player. At the same time, the volume and dynamics are large enough for
modern use.

In your experience, why do flutists use wooden headjoints?

The main idea is to have a different sound and feel. Some flutists use it for playing Bach and jazz. I love the music
of Bach, not just the Sonatas; there are the flute and oboe solos from the Cantatas. Using my wood headjoint, I can
do so much more in phrasing and color changes. The tone is warm and compliments the voice and the harpsichord.
I don't limit myself to baroque music; I play wood on such work as the Prokofiev and Poulenc Sonatas and the
Andersen Etudes. It gives another performance option and makes one think about what the composer may want to
hear. Some of my orchestral colleagues used my headjoints on Beethoven and Haydn Symphonies, Debussy's
Afternoon of a Faun, etc. The wood headjoint is also great for chamber music, from Mozart Flute Quartet to modern
music.

Tell me about your experiment: bamboo-liplate with silver headjoint-tube.

The experiment started when I wanted to find out if the lipplate alone would change the sound of the headjoint. I
was making all silver headjoints at that time and was fascinated by the possibility of a wood or bamboo lipplate on a
silver tube, much like the reformed headjoints from Germany. The design of the bamboo lipplate would be identical
to that of a silver headjoint. The difficulty was to find a thick piece of bamboo that has the correct outer curve and
diameter. After a long search, I found a few pieces that were suitable. It would have been much easier to make
them in wood because wood can be carved into any shape and curve while the outer skin of the bamboo cannot be
modified without loosing its natural finish. The result was satisfying. The headjoint took away the brittleness of the
silver headjoint. It was the prelude to the eventual design and production of my wood headjoints.

How can you affix a wooden lipplate to the metal tube?

It is glued on with epoxy, nothing special. I feel very lucky living in the present time because so many inventions and
products are readily available to the general public. When Louis Lot was making flutes in the mid-19th century,
availability of materials must have been very limited and expensive. However, they did posses knowledge of flute
making that is lost to us.

Tell me about your experiences of your other work, the flute-restoring. How old and what kind of flutes
overhaul you? Some of these instruments are famous?
A museum is a great place to see old flutes; some even allow visitors to play certain instruments in their collection.
However, these instruments may not be in good playing condition and a false idea may form in the player’s mind
that old flutes don’t play well. One must understand that the flute collection in a museum serves a totally different
function than that of a music store. That’s why it’s such a privilege to play music on a well-regulated Louis Lot or a
Boehm and Mendler flute. Most private collectors and performers seek out these flutes and restore them, or even
highly modify them like many Stradivarius violins, to suit their own purposes. A flute is much like a clock, a
mechanical device that exists as an object of beauty as well as performs a function. It is the ability to keep accurate
time that makes a clock a chronometer. A flute becomes a musical instrument when music is made on it.
Making wood headjoints seems to be a craft of the past when the majority of flutes are made of metal today. I do
have a fondness for vintage flutes like Louis Lot, Bonneville, Rive, Godfroy, etc. - not so because they are old, but
because they are good. I was also intrigued by the American interpretation of French flutes by Powell and Haynes
in their early years.
Living in Phoenix, AZ in the 1980's, I did not know any repairman who was willing or able to repair, not to mention
restore, an old Louis Lot flute for me. I tried learning repair by myself and did not get very far until I met the late
Robert Gilchrist in California. He taught me the skills I needed to rebuild a flute and how to prepare and set up a
flute to play at it’s highest potential.
Over the years, I have restored and overhauled many Louis Lot flutes, both silver and wood, some were very early
examples, back to Taffanel's time period, and some were much later. There was definitely much distinction between
each of the many periods of production under different shop owners. I am quite fond of the Villette period
production. He was the only proprietor who worked directly under Louis Lot for a long time. As for American flutes, I
have worked on instrments made by Powell and Haynes that belonged to William Kincaid, 1st flutist with the
Philadelphia Orchestra, and student of George Barreres. Verne Q. Powell was working at Haynes in the early
1920's when Kincaid was ordering flutes from Haynes. I overhauled a Powell flute that belonged to Elaine Shaffer. I
grew up listening to her wonderful recording of the Bach Sonatas. I have overhauled Rampal's gold Haynes. It was
a wonderful flute, very warm sound, and a truly unique instrument. In the work process, I get to play the flutes and
gain knowledge on what these flutes were all about and how different headjoints worked with different flute bodies.
More importantly, I learned how to play these different flutes and approached them in ways that might not be so
different than how their owners once played them.

Thank you for the interview and I wish you good work.