I am a tenor saxophone player who wants to branch out into playing a transverse flute to expand on their fingering techniques and embouchure.
For the past 2 weeks, I have been practising with a Pneumo Pro (a device for learners that emulates a headjoint and has 4 fans for different airflow angles). I can rotate the fans reasonably easily with it, but I have trouble with an actual headjoint. My teacher says I keep the mouth opening way too wide, and he suggested I practise with a pen as well, claiming the mouth should not be open any wider than the width of a pen (and, apparently, trumpet players use that exercise too). I've tried that, and I've done the silly exercise with beer bottles too, but I just cannot find the right spot to produce the sound and am getting to the point where I just want to give up on the idea altogether.
I am wondering if there is any way of training one's muscles or any tricks that would allow for some consistency while playing. I am obviously having trouble with the transfer from saxophone, where the mouth opening is a lot wider and most of the pressure is put on the reed and the mouthpiece as opposed to the lips and diaphragm.
I am maintaining a perfect posture when practising and frequently look in the mirror to check my head and lip positioning, but still no luck.
I think I might also be affected by the fact that the instrument barely has any weight to it (compared to my 3.5kg tenor, at least). It's very difficult to maintain proper positioning when it weighs like a feather. When my tenor is out of alignment, I can instantly feel it through the change in weight distribution. With the flute, I often change the angle without noticing it (hence the necessity to use a mirror).