Hello all. I’m new to the forum, though I have been reading it for a while. I’m also new to the Irish flute. And after reading through the ebay flute thread and some questions and answers about embouchures, I have a question. A while back I purchased one of those ebay flutes, and have had constant trouble with it. I had to oil it, trim the splinters out of the finger holes, “polish” the inside of the bore, rewrap the joints with waxed thread, et cetera. I have gotten the thing to play but can only get the first octave plus one note from the second out of it. I have been trying for a while to get the second octave, but have been having no luck at all. With what I have been able to get out of it, I have learned a couple of simple songs.
But I’m at the point where I want to learn to play something more and am not sure if the fault is entirely mine for not being able to move on.
Seeing how I can get the first octave with no problem, should I just work harder on my embouchure? Or would you say that it would be more worth my while to get a good flute which I know for a fact will work if I get it right? I have myself been leaning heavily toward just getting a flute from a known maker, but would like someone else’s input.
I have no experience with the ebay flutes, or most other flutes, being a beginner myself, but I’d strongly recommend you get a decent flute from a known maker. I sprung for about 600 dollars to start with and got an excellent one, and I’m sure it’s saved me even more headaches than I currently have…
I’d agree–it’s probably the flute (sounds like a crappy Pakistani table leg), but you’ll never know till you get a decent one. Get a Tipple flute from Doug for $100, or a bamboo flute from Billy Miller for less than that. Then you’ll know. Or maybe you can borrow a flute from someone you know. You could even try a Boehm flute, a different beast than a simple system Irish flute but basically works the same, as an experiment.
Aye the easiest way would be to take a trip to a local music shop and ask to try one of their floor model flutes, hell even a headjoint will do. Just try reaching the second octave and the harmonic above that: if you can reliably, it is probably your table-leg.
Problem with many of these flutes is that the bore is all wrong, which can cause difficulty getting to the 2nd octave. Also, the embouchure can be cut poorly. You might also want to check for leaks, and make sure the cork in the headjoint is set at 21mm or so from its face to the center of the embouchure.
Thank you all for your replies. I took the head joint off today, and moved the cork per Mr. Burns’ suggestion, and placed my hand over the end, and blew whatever note that is, plus the octave above it. So I put it back together and tried again, and would you believe that I actually got the second octave, up to B anyway? On some of the notes, I also got the third octave (I think). I’m going to give this one a little longer, while looking for its replacement. Maybe as my playing improves, this one will prove to be not so bad.
But I have been looking at Doug Tipple’s site, as well as Casey Burns’ and Michael Cronnolly’s sites and some others. Depending on how the money works out for me in the near future, I do think one of their instruments might be in the works for me.
