On my flute with its scale and key-height, the diffence in pitch is less than 1% on the most difficult-to-bend note, E2, played pianissimo. I am fully convinced that there is no harm in plugging an open-holed flute for ergonommic reasons, as long as the plugs are air-tight. Please comment using the comment button below. My A and G keys are permanently plugged as I have wooden extensions on those keys. The plugs I used are about 1/4 inch tall and wide, are cylindrical, and do not hang below the pad on the underside of the keys. The flute is A-442, and the headjoint is set to play at A-440 (pulled out 5 mm). I'm using an Altus flute with Bennett scale. Sorry for those who hate vibrato, I was trying to guage the pitch amplitude as well on the 'resonant' E2s. The whole thing was done in one take, with no pauses. A sound file is available (email meВ to receive 9mb mp3) that has full, uncompressed sound quality, if you'd like to hear it.Д«ut for now, just click on the gray recorder's PLAY button above.ДЄnd may I state in complete honesty, that there was no sound editing done on this full, live living-room recording other than the last back-to-back comparisions at the very end. ButВ you get the idea of how I ran the test from the video.

The flute tone in the above has a compressed and distorted sound. I recorded my tests and put some graphics with it on youtubeВ (video). There was a debate this week on one of the flute groups about whether plugging an open-hole flute, (especially with cylindrical silicone plugs) adversely affects tone and tuning.

Altus flute 807re