Advice on buying first keyless Flute (Hammy Hamilton)

Irish Flute
1

Looking at meeting up with someone to look at
https://www.adverts.ie/19729613

My first keyed flute.
I have a Seery and an Olwell keyless but am interested in trying the loudness of a Hamilton.

Any idea looking at the pics if it’s left or right handed?
Other than the usual (cracks, joints) and of course playability/fit with me - anything specific (pads/key
Action) to Hammy that I should look out for?

Thanks

Neil

2

am interested in trying the loudness of a Hamilton

It’s all in the player isn’t it? I had a Hamilton that I could sort of mange, I thought. Then I let a young local man who I was teaching the pipes have a go. He rattled the roof and shook the windows playing it. An astonishing volume that I couldn’t imagine I’d ever achieve.

3

Absolutely. It’s that mythical canon-quality I want to have a crack at. Or sell on :frowning:

4

The flute appears to be right handed.
Nice looking flute. I’d miss the Bb/Eb keys though at that price.
One of the loudest flute experiences I ever heard was Hammy playing an Eb of his own make. He played an air and the tone cut through the room like a buzz saw.
Magic

5

Thanks. That ‘the Bb/Eb keys’ comment - sorry I’ve never had a keyless - I know what the keys do but what would the practical impact e.g. examples of tunes/key hard to play?

Thanks Neil

6

I’d suggest you look for either a 6-key, or a 4-key that includes short F, G#, Bb, Eb. The one you’ve linked to has BOTH long & short F, G# and a C, which seems less versatile to me. While a C key can be nice to have, you can half-hole a decent C on most flutes, certainly a Hammy.

Alternatively, you might just pick up a keyless Hamilton if you want a flute that cuts through. I think it’s more a case of a Hammy’s tone that does that, than the volume. Seery & most Olwells should be plenty loud enough.

7

Puzzled by your use of ‘keyless’ in both topic subject and here… it appears you’re actually looking for a flute with keys?

8

Well spotted. You win the prize.
That’s a typo. I have a keyless and looking at a keyed flute.
Didn’t even notice that subject line.

9

You won’t miss the Bb and Eb keys much - they’re not really used much in Irish trad. They keys on this flute are the ones you would use more often, contrary to what an earlier poster suggested. If you’re already playing the flute, try to think of any times you were playing a tune and were stuck for a Bb or Eb - very rarely, unless you’re playing lots of barndances. Many flute players (myself included) rotate the foot section of the flute to get the Eb key out of the way.

A long F and short F do have their advantages - there are some note progressions that are better suited to using a long/short F. A C natural key is usually more accurate (although slower) than cross fingering the C natural, and the G# gets plenty of use.

However, a four keyed flute might be less easy to sell on than a six keyed flute if you decide not to hang on to this flute. The price of this one doesn’t seem outrageous for a Hammy 4 key, though I’m no expert (I play Olwells) - have a look through the UIE Old and Sold to get a feel for the right prices.

10

There’s a keyed one for sale in France, if you fancy it. Cheaper too. (nothing to do with me, just passing a bit of time while storm Ciara is passing through)

also spotted a nice Solen Lesouef 3 key eflat as well as D and F Tom Aebis and a lefthanded Hammy B and plenty of other things on the go.

11

Now, that’s a deal. I think we know the seller, too.

Oops, the flute listed above is an Eb 6-key:
https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/fs-hammy-hamilton-eb-6-key-sold/101829/1

12

Is that a Rudall style Hammy, it’s got got the two piece mid section? If so not the norm. Different shape blower (embouchure) too ?

13

That’s true, it does look a bit different from what I’m used to. No apparent metal reinforcement of the tenons. The modern cut embouchure & the split may have been a customer request. Perhaps with the shorter length of an Eb flute it’s possible to do a split body Pratten without the (we’ll call it) G# key placement being a problem. End cap & rings seem correct, and it looks like Hammy’s use of coil springs on the keys.

14

few pictures below:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/egxfd8fqsirdrq4/IMG_20200208_080633-1.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/d5ibr1ilopmbzyz/IMG_20200208_080701-1.jpg?dl=0

15

I can’t tell from the photos if the flute is stamped with Hammy’s mark, which implies an older flute. The other comments we’ve already made still stand. A flute in the key of D is most useful for Irish Traditional Music, so I would think that one pitched in Eb would not be the way to jump into the keyed flute world. A keyed flute in Eb could, however, be useful to a gigging professional, but generally as an additional, optional instrument.

16

Here’s a Hammy block-mounted 8-key flute recently advertised in Ireland at
https://www.donedeal.ie/brassandwind-for-sale/hammy-hamilton-8-keyed-african-blackwood-flute/24149933

Using my detective skills, I’d say with a fair degree of certainty that the seller is Gary Duffy. He has a track of slip jigs of his own composition and arrangement on Wooden Flute Obsession volume 3, although on that track (recorded in 2005) he used a Sam Murray flute. You can rely on him.

I wouldn’t mind having a fully keyed foot joint for my 6-key, but it is pricey to get them other bits.

17

The original flute I mentioned below is now sold
https://www.adverts.ie/19729613

I had a look at it and the short F had been glued down by the seller as it didn’t work.
For that and other reasons I wasn’t interested.

Neil