hello,
i’m considering getting a b-flat flute, mostly for messing around and enjoying the low sound. should i get a key or two on it? if so, what keys have people found useful. don’t play in a band anymore, am in prague now, having moved here 3 years ago. already have a couple of d flutes and a c flute. thanks!
-jeff
p.s. Steffen Gabriel makes a b-flat, and he’s just across the border. anyone have experience with his b-flat or other flutes?
I’m strongly considering placing an order, for a Bb flute and I’m going for at least a few keys. Most likely G#, Long Fnat, and Eb. I might add the short Fnat. I don’t need a Cnat because I’m used to cross-fingering that note and hardly ever use it on my keyed D flute. So, at least 3 keys and maybe 4.
If I didn’t have any favorite tunes that I think would benefit from the low Bb range and are also much easier to play with those keys, I wouldn’t bother. So it’s basically a repertoire-driven decision. For me, the Bb flute will also be in the “messing around” category. I’ll probably never play it outside the house, but I do want to have fun with it, and don’t want to avoid a few favorite tunes where the keys would be useful. And in a few cases mandatory, like the Eb.
Not sure we are talking about the same, octave wise, but if your C & D are high/piccolo, then I’d go for a 5 key Bb (marching) flute - I’m still considering getting one myself.
No first hand experience myself but Steffen’s flutes sound awfully good when he plays them! Rich, mellow tone and very crisp.
I got a B flute from John Gallagher with 8 keys. I use them all (for traditional Irish music only). John makes great flutes.
I got all 8 because I enjoy playing tunes that go down to C /C# as well as needing the rest for tunes outside D and G. The upper C key is useful because flat flutes suffer even more from the flat C# issue. Although I ended up incorporating the key more for yet another alternative c fingering…