… i’ve been lurking about and reading alot. learning quite a bit about these two flutes i have… i love listening to traditional Irish, but… my true love of flute music lies in other genres… i’ve looked at some of the other forums. seems that many of those who hang out on the boehm flute forums tend to be more than a tad snobbish… if is not new, shiny, silver and playing in the fourth octave, it is not a flute… i love playing airs. i love playing songs like ungar’s Ashokan Farewell… those songs seem made for wooden flutes. there is so much more emotion in the wood (or so my ears tell me.)
are there others here who are also blessed with slow hands? who play things not Irish on a regular basis? who play old and new airs? or…
should i skulk off to the gate and see meself out?
I play everything but ITM on my flutes and whistles. Mostly church, folk, classical, torch songs, and anything else that comes to mind. Lots of these folks are in the closet too. Every now and then someone mentions playing Grateful Dead or Jethro Tull at a session. Bluegrass too.
What are you planning on doing with your flute?
(I gotta agree about the snooty flute sites. If you haven’t been working SERIOUSLY on your embouchure since you were 3 on those websites, you are going to be a victim of pirahna. Some of us don’t even learn how to play whistles and flutes until we’re old people. You’re welcome here.)
There are a lot of folks here who play non-ITM, although it is the main focus. Irish flute and whistle work well in many genres, as you have found out. It could be argued that they have been employed most effectively in ITM, but that’s subjective.
I’m playing mostly Irish music now, but came from a background of folk, blues and oldtime country. I often pull out those old tunes, and 90% of 'em work well on flute and whistle. I don’t bring my flute to oldtime jams, just as I don’t bring my 5-string banjo to Irish sessions. Some do, and feelings about that are mixed as well. Rule of thumb: take your cue from the other people in the room. You’ll soon figure out what is “proper ettiquete” for that particular session.
thanks for the quick response… interestingly, i am a professional Irish musician by trade… but my flute finds itself used more in Americana folk music and songs of strong aural emotion (did i say that right)… stuff like the aforementioned Ashokan or Danny Boy or Bouree (as i remember it from J. Tull)… some Mozart… stuff that leaves one with a haunted feeling… but I like uplifting stuff too… you never know…
I find that when I play I strive to minimize the sound of the air… that I like the vibrato…
I just finished refubishing a 1925 or so Bruno 8 key for the owner of a music store here… When I took it back to him, he told me I could hold on to it and play it for as long as I liked… I didn’t argue with him. I have a new Desi Seery keyless that i play for hours on end. It fascinates me continually. I have a 1987 Gemeinhardt 2NP that is a tad beat up, but plays beautifully.
What do i plan on doing with the flutes?.. i plan on playing them… lots… to the consternation of my children… i would like to go to a few folk festivals and fairs… i would like to find some jam sessions just to sit and listen… who know for sure? i suspect i will go where the notes lead me.
Nice web site…
ya know if ya can find the links page and then the motel link one can figure out what part of the world you’re in. (naw, just kinda snarky by nature)
I came to the flute through ITM, but have branched out since. I play some English dance music (Playford tunes, etc.) and O’Carolan and Baroque music. I love it all, and I like a varied diet, just as with listening to music and reading books.
Welcome. Hang out, and work your way back through the archives – there’s some interesting stuff there and it will give you a sense where we’re all coming from.
not much of a secret, denny… i’m in ocean shores washington usa… thriving megopolis that it is.
thanx for the nod to the website… i did it myself (such that it is)…
i look forward to reading more of the responses.
thanx again…
I am reminded of an occurance twenty years ago in my high school math classroom. It was a consumer math class, which was designed mostly for students who were not planning to go to college. The focus of the course was survival skills that also involved mathematics in some way. The unit where I got into trouble was about how to calculate income taxes. I am sure that it may have been possible, but some student in the class came away with the feeling that I had made disparaging comments about the IRS. Now if the IRS is monitoring this board, let me go on record to say that, surely, the student was mistaken. I would never say anything disparaging about the IRS. Anyway, I had no sooner gotten home after school when the telephone rang. It was the local IRS official wanting to set me straight about the IRS, that they never bust into houses and sieze property. I was really glad to be set straight. All that I had read about this in the past must have been incorrect.
With regard to the simple-system flute, I use them mostly for music other than Irish Traditional Music. I get to about band three on one of the Wooden Flute Obsession CD’s, and I am ready for something else. I, too, like slower tunes with more developed melodies. I get bored with 8-bar ditties that repeat over and over. The simple-system flute is flexible enough to be at home playing everything from Jazz to ITM, although it sure would be nice to have a keyed flute for the accidentals in the scale. I have to drag out my silver flutes when I play “Stardust” or other chromatic melodies.
well… hearing/reading all of the above, i don’t feel quite an outcast.
Doug… i am certain you are mistaken about the IRS. They (especially the auditors) are truly kind and considerate souls seeking only to help us poor tax calculating challenged maximize our governmental investment opportunities. BTW… I LOVE YOUR FLUTES. I make PVC’s in F, G and D that are not tunable and I make Brass fifes in C and D that are tunable. I am still pretty new to the flute, but I seem to be taking well to it.
Had a guest at work this morning. She was from Ireland. I told here that we had a bit of Irish music hereabouts. She laughed and told me that there is more ITM to be heard in the US than there is in Ireland.
I just posted the Bach Bouree to the clips stickie. It’s played on a Baroque one-key flute. I figured I’d cross-post it here, since this thread is what motivated me.
I have listened “obsessively” to every disk Kevin has produced. I continue to do so. Even so far as to have learned and transcribed some of the recorded performances.
Some players I enjoy more than others but I just can’t get enough of it.
Kidding…