Boaz Berney - Historical Flutes
Table P-14
How does one go about making a copy of an original instrument? Boaz Berney’s approach has always been to copy only flutes that he has measured and documented himself, since some of the finer details of an instrument, such as voicing and undercutting the tone holes, cannot be easily described in a technical drawing.
Making a good replica isn’t just about copying, as historical instruments will often have some degree of bore shrinkage or wood warping, which is almost unavoidable in an instrument aged 300 years or more.
When making a replica, one often has to make an educated guess about how to compensate for such changes. For Boaz, the main point is to try to uncover the concept behind an original model, and the idea behind the voicing and tuning that the original maker would have had.
One of the most important things is to understand the musical context for each model and what it is was expected to do. Boaz always tries to get a chance to play an original instrument before making a copy, and he is lucky to have been able to play an original of each of the models he makes. The models he chooses to copy are always instruments that appeal to him as a player.
In addition to building instruments, Boaz also offers restoration service for all woodwinds: recorders, flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons.
