Hallo, Im from Berlin/Germany and searching for a 5-key wooden flute for cuban charanga music.
Does anyone have any experience about Lark in the Mornings Ebony cuban Flute ? Thanks very much!
Michael
I’ve played them before. Not too bad, but not really good for Irish music. Its based on a french model flute and doesn’t have a tuning slide. If you want to try using keys then it might be worth it.
but if you’re in Berlin, getting a flute from an American dealer may not be the most economical option. You’ll end up paying German VAT on top of the sales price and probably some income tax.
I know nothing about playing charanga music - let alone playing it on the flute. What qualities/characteristics are you looking for in the flute? Why 5-key (as opposed to 6 or 
?
There are used flutes offered on ebay (.co.uk or .de) -
but there are plenty of excellent european makers offering keyed flutes.
How much are you willing to spend?
Best regards,
Jeroen
I thought Charanga typically used French 4-keys. Am I wrong?
I think 5 is more charanga trad…but they are based upon French 19th century and early 20th century flutes. You ought to be able to pick one up on eBay.
Eric
5 key is the original charanga flute, though a lot of players just use Boehm flutes now.
http://www.charangadelnorte.com/article03.html
http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/5keyfingers.htm
http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/charanga/
Some noted 5-key players:
Fajardo (EPD)
Johnny Pacheco and Eddy Zervigon.
Stupid question:
I picked up an ODG (old dead German flute) that had its embouchure filled and recut about 1/2 inch up the head and greatly enlarged. Any chance this is a Charanga-modified flute?
Hi, thanks for the answers!
Could actually be your ODG is a Charanga flute. I read some Cubans enlarged their embouchure hole. Is it a five key flute?
Wow! Look how different those tuning slide positions are! Johnny must play way sharp! And indeed, the different head positions and flute angles imply a big pitch difference.
Last time i saw Johnny play flute was few years ago on TV when he was at the big tribute to Celia Cruz, several months before she died IIRC. He really had a lot of trouble, i didn’t know if he’d lost his lip or just hadn’t practiced in a while.
Four-key, no hallmarks. It was likely a mass-market cheapie in its day judging by the bog-standard key style and flawed wood. Then again, most ODG’s that I’ve seen on EBay have 6, 8, or 10 keys. I’m currently using the 4-key body with a head off a 6-key: the 4-key’s head, in addition to being modified, is in really rough shape.
Yes, but note also that Johny is playing in the middle of the head, while Eddy is playing closer to the top end. Eddy’s flute may well have had the embouchure moved. Quite often Charanga players have the old embouchure filled and a new more suitable embouchure cut around the other side of the head, moved further up the head because it’s larger.
Some players, particulaly those with thicker lips, have the hole made very large - about the size of a dime, I’m told, not that that helps me very much! All charanga players have the stopper moved to about 13mm from the centre of the embouchure to make the 4th octave accessible. Makes the low octave very weak, but that’s a price they have to pay.
There’s a charanga fingering chart on my webpage if you want to try your lips on the fourth octave! Don’t forget to move the stopper. (And don’t forget to put it back!)
Terry
Possibly # 7416044005
Hallo jack thanks for the ebay-tip. This flute is unfortunately a 6-key.
I think that I need a 5-keyed flute for cuban charanga.
thanks anyway - schöne Grüße