I'm an experienced saxophonist and have been doing the flute for the last year or so which is going well but I just cannot seem to shake the whispy sound that I keep getting every now and then. Can anyone give me any idea as to why this occurs and how to combat it?! I do long tones etc but it still persists every now and then!
Sax was my first instrument too. If the "wispy" sound only appears after playing for a while, your lips may simply be getting tired. If it happens anytime, then it may be that your lips have not yet developed the "muscle-memory" for a good sound.
As usual, a few lessons with a real flute teacher would be benficial with helping to diagnose and correct your problem.
"Never give a flute player a screwdriver."
--anonymous--
check this by taking the headjoint, laying your palm over the hole at the end (where the tenon is), sealing it, and put your lips over the embouchure hole, and see if it holds air. Try to suck out some air, you will feel that you can't make the suction strong if it's not sealing properly.
It's very late and the headcork is the first thing that popped into my head. I guess it could be number of different things too.
Could also be that you are rolling the flute too much towards you, which some of us tend to do after some time of playing (I was really guilty of accidentally doing that as a beginner).
