There is an added luminosity to the sound, an impeccable mechanism, a far greater ease through the instrument’s range and, most excitingly creatively, an extraordinary flexibility. The wonderful thing I have discovered is that not only does my new Altus AL have that special Louis Lot sound but it also has more besides. The end result for me is that I have unexpectedly and suddenly found the flute of my dreams. Given that one of the elements was arsenic that was probably a good choice! Interestingly two of the elements used were found to be so seriously toxic that, fortunately, for the health of Altus' work-force, they were left out. They found 22 separate elements and worked out from their data how best to combine them. By taking small samples from several Lots and analysing them they found the metal had a very different make up to the silver that is generally used today. More importantly from research it was discovered that Lot’s atelier prepared their own silver which varied slightly in the proportion of its elements. When I got home I played it to my wife and children, all of whom are musicians, and was surprised to find they could hardly tell the difference between the Altus and my Lot.Īpparently, Mr Tanaka, of Altus Flutes, set about developing a modern instrument that used many of the old techniques used by Lot including a seamed tube. All my colleagues were quick and completely unanimous in deciding which one was the one they liked. I trawled through the stock in the London flute shops and took some new flutes out to try out in the Barbican Arts centre where I play a lot of my concerts. Until now that is!Įarlier this year I decided that I needed to buy a flute with a low B, nothing special, just something for occasional use. A flute sound which I think has never been equalled. The thing about Louis Lot is that, right then, at the very beginnings of the Boehm flute, he produced instruments with an extraordinarily special, complex and colourful core sound, at the same time rich, warm and sweet. My oldest was one made as early 1857 but it was my favourite and most recent one which provided me with my first contact with Altus when they helped me to put a new mechanism on a very old and beautiful tube. Not a bad pedigree I thought! Like most of us, in our search for the perfect match between player and instrument, it started a happy progression through the various Louis Lots I have owned over the years. It turned out to be a flute which had previously been owned by both Peter Lloyd (then principal flute of the London Symphony Orchestra) and before him Jean-Pierre Rampal. William Bennett helped me to track down one which was available to buy.
"As a student at the Royal College of Music in London my teacher, Sebastian Bell, put an instrument in my hands and said: "Here, this is the sort of instrument you should be playing!" It was a Louis Lot flute. Players looking for a similar sound quality with greater resistance - allowing you to put more air through the flute - should consider the Heavy-wall model. Combining the exclusive metal and seamed tube with state-of-the-art flutemaking results in a mind-blowing instrument, reliable and with that coveted 'vintage flute' sound. In addition, the headjoint and body tube of the AL are 'seamed': this is the method by which the tubes of historical French flute makers were produced, and results in a very light weight flute with a distinctive sound. The AL ('Altus Limited') is produced from a special alloy which is exclusive to Altus, similar in composition to the materials used by vintage French flute craftsmen (Louis Lot, Bonneville etc). Consisting of numerous materials and designed with Altus special seaming, this flute once again exemplifies Altus' commitment to create flutes that offer beauty of sound far beyond what is possible with conventional materials. This supreme material has the ability to produce expressive effects as excellent as the highly valued older flutes. At last the secret of these fine flutes has been defined with the production of 'Altus Silver™'.
This flute is the lasting result of 30 years of research and fascination with the famed Louis Lot flutes, as well as other vintage French flutes.
0 kommentar(er)
