As always, my head is still spinning from the whirlwind of a long weekend that I spent at the National Flute Association convention in Orlando! I was able to meet with many of my brand representatives–which is especially nice when you do most of your communicating by email!–try some exciting new instruments, and witness some absolutely wonderful performances. I love how refreshed and recharged I am about what I do when I return from convention, and this year was certainly no exception. This week, I wanted to highlight a new instrument that I tried, the Trevor James copper alloy alto flute!
The award winning Trevor James alto flutes are extremely popular with flute players or doubling musicians for their free-blowing headjoints and rich tone colors and flexibility. Trevor James is known for having an interesting and unique mix of both a rich, dark sound while still being extremely free-blowing and responsive. In my time here at the flute shop, I have tended to find that these are usually mutually exclusive: an instrument will either be bright and free-blowing or dark and resistant, and nary the two shall meet! My experience with Trevor James, however, definitely blows that theory out of the water–more on that in a couple of weeks.
The new TJ Copper Alto body tubing is comprised of 85% copper with the remaining 15% consisting of other metals to enable the tubing to be made strong enough to be used for alto flute production and drawing of tone holes. This alto flute has a sterling silver lip plate and riser with copper alloy headjoint and body. It has silver-plate keys with mother-of-pearl touch pieces and a D# roller. It is a very good set of specs for the price. I plan to get one in for trial in the next few months, so watch the blog and Facebook page for more information–these flutes are super hot right now! In the meantime, please enjoy Trevor James artist Stephen Clark: