It’s been a few years since I bought a flute. Now with the low dollar value I was thinking of finding an Irish flute from a U.S. maker. What would be good in this range? I noticed Ralph Sweet has really expanded, and I was also thinking about a Casey Burns model. Any ideas? Definitely don’t want keys, but need a tuning slide. Polymer ok too.
I tend to be somewhat of an evangelist but Jon C. is practically giving away VERY well made flutes within that price range. Both wood and Delrin.
I do own one and I’ve played many of his.
The tuning is bang on with mine, its well balanced and it honks.
Doc Jones may have a “pre-owned”.
Do you have his contact info.?
Email or Private Message on this forum here in his profile. You can also view his posts.
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=522
You could get Delrin from Jon with a slide in that range, but not blackwood. I don’t know if he’s working in another wood that would come in low enough.
I can recommend his Rudall model (though mine is in blackwood), Aanvil can vouch for the Pratten.
Kevin Krell
How about Seery polymers as an option? I think they are in this range too, but again, I couldn’t find his website.
Not seen one but much raving on this board about Forbes delrin flutes.
Seery’s are wonderful flutes IMHO. I’ve played three, and they’ve all been consistently good. Tom Doorley of Danu played one of the first 2 or 3 Danu albums (although he is playing an Olwell now if I recall correctly), but the point is it’s a good flute for the price and is a wonderful sounding flute depending upon how well you play (all flutes are this way though).
Eric
I’d like to check out more on Seery’s, but I can’t find a working website. Does he have a retailer like “Lark in the Morning” etc.?
His website went down several months ago…I seem to recall something about a huge military or school order of his flutes.
Doc Jones should know what’s going on…he’s a retailer of Des’ flutes.
Eric
Ahh, someone has finally come up with a good plan: Drop flutes in conflict areas, rather than bombs.
Brilliant, it could work.
Certainly worth a try, and way less costly than depleted uranium bunker busters.
Hmm, “Flutes For Peace”, it’s got me thinking…
Loren
I am all for this idea!
A month ago I had the great honor of sending a flute to Sarah Chayes - a former NPR reporter now doing some fantastic peace work in Afghanistan - she is also a flute player.
See www.arghand.org and www.sarahchayes.net
Casey
From her website:
Sarah Chayes has been living and working in Kandahar, Afghanistan since 2001, when she covered the fall of the Taliban for National Public Radio. In 2002 she decided to leave journalism to help rebuild the shattered country, whose fate will help determine the shape of the 21st century.
Currently she runs a cooperative in the former Taliban stronghold, producing fine skin-care products from local fruits, nuts, and botanicals. (www.arghand.org) The aim is to discourage opium production by helping farmers earn a living from licit crops, as well as to encourage collective decision-making. From this position, deeply embedded in Kandahar’s everyday life, Ms. Chayes has gained unparalleled insights into a troubled region. Her book about Afghanistan since the Taliban is The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban (New York: Penguin, 2006)
Chayes’s articles have appeared in a variety of international publications, and are collected here in an archive that chronicles the recent history of Afghanistan. In “Media Links” you will find links to articles about Chayes and her work. “Pictures” is a gallery of Chayes’s photos as well as links to relevant maps. Chayes posts occasional letters to “Notes From the Field,” where you can join the conversation."
Good stuff Casey!
I wonder, does anyone here know anything about the indigenous music of that region?
Loren
There is a big Afghani generally Middle Eastern music scene at Lark Camp that is pretty fantastic. There is also much out there in terms of resources. Amazing stuff.
Casey
There was beautiful music on the streets in Kabul
in 72 and in good restaurants. Drums, fiddle-type
instruments. The music of that part of the world
is heartbreakingly lovely. The Taliban are said to have
banned public music–if so it must have been
felt keenly. I don’t remember seeing any flutes
but I reckon they were there.
I was in Kandahar too–there was a fort that Alexander
the Great built that was being used by the Aghanis
to store munitions.
Aghanistan is very beautiful. I walked away from the
main street in Herat, which was paved, and in thirty
seconds went back two thousand years. It was Ramadan,
people threw rocks at me, people signaled that my
throat would be cut, but I kept walking among
the multi-leveled streets, kites flying from the rooftops.
I reached the city walls and camel trains were coming
in from the desert, people pitching leather tents
against the wall. A man in a turban approached me:
‘This no good!’ he said. ‘Aghanistan sleeps here.’
Kudos to this lady, Casey. But I don’t think anybody
is going to change Afghanistan.
Let’s hope she finds a way to have a working flute smuggled into Pakistan. Perhaps they can learn to copy it, the way their gunsmiths created perfect copies of lee-enfield rifles, etc.