I am in the market for my first “proper” flute (meaning keyless conical bore). I was thinking about either an M&E, a Walt Sweet “Shannon” (my favourite so far) or maybe another delrin/plastic model. Then I stumbled across the folk flute from David Angus (who is better known for his fifes). They sell at prices almost too good to be true. Particularly the one in purpleheart wood with steel ferrules for 175 pounds has caught my attention. Does anybody have one of his folk flutes and what do you think? The search didn’t reveal much, apart from praise for his fifes.
Probably not much use to you, but I have one of his aluminium low D flutes, which is quite good for its price.
Thanks anyway. Good to know.
That’s a very low price. I’m skeptical. I doubt he’s making them in house for that price. But on the other hand once you have the tooling it seems like basic flute production could be easily automated.
I have a Shannon, and an M&E. They’re good but not great. I got a lot of pleasure out of the M&E especially. The shannon is small and light, and easy to blow. It lives in my car for moments when I’m waiting for my daughter to come out of ballet class.Both of them have kind of a “veiled” quality. It might be that they are smaller holed flutes. They just aren’t as much fun or rewarding to play as the more expensive Ellis pratten.
My takeaway from my limited experience is that the flute is a simple object, but the more expensive flutes have been worth it
Thanks! The Shannon is still my favourite so far from all the opinions I read online. Slightly “veiled” sound seems good for me. I made a couple flutes myself and some sound pretty good but one in particular I made is almost too loud for practice at home. It has large holes and a large embouchure. A true monster.
Considering where the Angus flutes are made. He claims “hand made in his workshop”. I think such a claim would come with certain legal consequences if it weren’t true. Other makers who don’t want to admit that their stuff is not hand-made often write stuff like “hand finished” (aka mass-produced and mouthpiece and tube put together by hand). Hmmm. Still undecided…
Heavier is not necessarily better. His flutes weigh 175 pounds. My Folk Flutes are more expensive but I have been making them longer and they weigh in at 12 ounces.
Casey
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Wow!!! Must need a crane to lift & play it… 
(Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
So it means I can combine my work-out with my flute playing? Amazing! I just placed my order . Will report once it gets here, although I am not even remotely a good enough player to properly judge the instrument especially without any comparison.
I bought his off ebay when I was first starting. I was told to get a different instrument and I got an M&E. I’d definitely recommend M&E.
I’ve read mixed reviews about M&E. And I already placed my order. Let’s wait and see. I have read good things about his fifes. So let’s hope for the best. If it doesn’t play better than any of the flutes I made myself, I will send it back.
So the flute arrived today. It is a really beautiful instrument. I already can’t put it down, even though I should be working. It is way too early to “review” it but the craftsmanship is excellent. The combination of steel rings with the purpleheart wood is a sight to behold. I already got that “honking” low D a couple of times but I am still getting used to it. It might take a few weeks of playing it before I can give a proper judgment and I am just a beginner on the flute. But a few things I already noticed: the stretch is minimal, the holes are rather small but it is still loud. It is very comfortable to play. So far zero strain on the fingers (and mine are constantly strained from the work I do which involves typing for hours each day). Very responsive because of those small holes. The 2nd octave really sings. Tuning slight is nice and tight. I had to pull it out quite a bit however. Maybe Mr Angus is accouting for players who slightly cover the embouchure hole while playing, which flattens the pitch. Something I don’t do, because of the classical training I had on the boehm flute as a kid. That’s just the first impressions from playing it for maybe an hour. So far, I don’t think it was a waste of money.
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Great! glad it worked out as you hoped
Thanks 
. Indeed it did.
Making the flute longer by pulling out the slide FLATTENS the pitch.
Maybe Mr Angus is accouting [sic] for players who slightly cover the embouchure hole while playing, which flattens the pitch. Something I don’t do, because of the classical training I had on the boehm flute as a kid.
You can change that.
If you slightly cover the embouchure hole, you need to tune the flute sharper, ergo push the tuning slide (better now? Did you fear that people might think YOU put the mistake in my quote? Because that is the only reason for a [sic] in a quote and it is only necessary in a scientific work to mark that it was not the author who made the mistake but the mistake was already in the original that was quoted) slightly in. I had to PULL IT OUT because of my embouchure which SHARPENS the note, therefore I had to FLATTEN it. Since the slide is further out than I have seen on other flutes, I assumed that it might be to make it possible to push it in, in case you played with an embouchure which slightly covers the hole. But in my case, the flute would be way too sharp with the tuning slide set at around 3 cm or something, like I have seen on most wooden flutes.
The [sic] insertions were for so I wouldn’t freak out about spelling. Please don’t be offended. My problem, not yours.
I thought one turns the embouchure out away from you to flatten the note, & it would be sharper if you cover more and blow down into the flute. Without a change in technique, then yes, you’d adjust the position of the slide.
Ah, okay, no all is fine. I am unfortunately prone to overractions, my apologies.
If you cover more of the embouchure the note gets flatter. If you turn it way from you, it gets sharper. I guess that was all just a misunderstanding. D’oh, I am bad at online communications. 
Oh, almost forgot to post a little update on the flute. I still like it a lot. It takes very, very little air. That is probably due to the old-fashioned oval embouchure. It also takes only a tiny amount of air to get a powerful tone but also a very focussed embouchure. So maybe not the best flute for an absolute beginner but still a gorgeous instrument and a steal for the price. I noticed that I was blowing almost too hard. It needs a soft touch and then can produce a sound that will knock the socks of your feet and the roof oy your house. As soon as I get better at playing it, I will upload something to YT.
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I just stumbled across Davy Angus’s site, and I’m considering getting one of his flutes. Your assessment definitely makes them seem like a great instrument for the price.
Any chance of a quick audio/video clip? It’s difficult to hear the actual flutes in his YouTube samples.
Thanks!
Alan
I never got around to uploading a video. And I play my own flutes now. But I still think it is a good instrument, the holes are close together and the 2nd octave is fairly easy. The lowest notes lack a little oomph however. I think the reason is the stopper position which sits at 17 mm like on a boehm flute. One or two millimeter more would probably increase the punch of the low D but will also mess with the tuning.
I’ll try to find the time to upload something. I wanted to make a new whistle video, too.