Tinwhistle.Ru

...Blockmounted flutes have the keys mounted between blocks which are an integral part of the wooden flute body. Post mounted flutes have small silver posts which are screwed into the wooden flute body, and the key axle runs between these.

Many people are confused about the difference these two styles of mounting might make to the flute and it's playability. There is also some doubt about the authenticity of the post mounts as opposed to the block mounts on a traditional flute. Curiously, keys mounted on metal "posts" attached to the wooden body of an instrument pre-date the block mounted method by several hundred years! However by the time ( late 17th century) that keys to provide the semitones of the scale began to be added to woodwinds such as oboes and flutes, all makers used the block mounted system. This became the standard method of mounting keys until the mid nineteenth century, when post mounting as we know it today, began to be used on some flutes. When normal single action keys, such as the long C or the G#, are in question there is really no difference between block or post mounts...given that both are well made. One factor that puts some players off the post mounted system are the " German Flutes"....mass produced factory instruments which in many cases were poorly made...resulting in an association between post mounts and poor quality. Those who have only seen post mounts on such instruments should remember that some of the finest English and continental simple system flutes of the mid to late ninteenth century were also post mounted.

Which style you choose is largely a matter of personal preference, both styles are equally mechanically efficient. With the lower foot joint keys.....the C# and C, somewhat more skill is required to use the blockmounted keys, and careful maintenance is required to keep them in top order. Post mounted foot joints...in the same style as one would see on the foot of a standard Böehm orchestral flute, are more mechanically efficient due to the much shorter arms that the keys operate on, and make the playing of the low C# and C easier.

For this reason we recommend post mounted keys for eight keyed flutes...