Is my dizi faulty?

[bakufu]

Hi. new to dizi here.

I just purchased 3 dizis:
1 D key from San Francisco Chinatown
1 E key from amazon 
1 G key from amazon

The D key being the best quality followed by the E and G. 

I've discovered that the D and E dizis play the same for the most part except for the lowest and highest note of the low octave (all 6 holes covered, and the all but the 1st hole covered)
It's hard to play anything on the G key which I expected since it was very cheaply made.
On the D dizi, I can barely play the lowest note, but the high note come out very easily if I just lift my left index finger.
On the E dizi, I can play the lowest note much easier, but when I life my index finger, I just get a hissing sound.


Are either one or both of these dizis faulty? Another thing I notice is that the blow hole on the D dizi is larger than the E dizi. Is this normal? 
dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24548670/2014-05-17%2014.25.41.jpg
The top one is D, bottom is E

Lastly when playing I can feel the air steam on my left forearm from the air leaking no matter how hard I try to focus and direct the stream into the blow hole only. Is this also something to be expected or should I not feel any air at all on my left forearm? 

[edcat7]

Hi bakufu and welcome,

I was going to ask you if you can play other transverse flutes then your last sentence reveals all. I doubt if there is anything wrong with your dizis; for a long time my favourite dizi costed GBP£2.99 including delivery from China.

Basically your embouchure or the way you shape your lips is too large and a lot of air misses the blowing hole. This is even more so on a high G dizi. I'd stick with the D dizi and not play either the E and G until your embouchure improves.

Ed

[bakufu]

Thanks! Is there an advantage over sticking with the D dizi? I find it's really hard to cover up the last hole. My right ring finger stretches too far unnaturally. Its more natural on the E

[edcat7]

I say stick with the D and completely leave the E and G for a while:

the embouchure is slightly different for different keys of dizis and even with the same key. The 'sweet spot' for the G is particularly difficult and the air flow has to be even more precise than for the D.

I bought an E dizi when I first started dizi tuition over three years ago because of one tune. But that tune is very advanced and I'm only beginning to start on that tune at a bar or so every week. At a lesson every other week I can easily see myself on the same tune this time next year.

Practise your dizi in front of a mirror. Flo and TBG who are fine dizi players should be able to comment more.

Ed

[bakufu]

Thanks.

I practiced more these last few days and finally got the low note on the D to be clearer. My problem was switching from low to high without changing the way I blow. I was trying to play the low note the same as the high note