bamboo

Irish Flute
1

Hello forum folk,

I have a question,and would appreciate some feed back.

I play whistle and for about a year have also been playing two

Olwell bamboo flutes. (a G and an E flat) Love them both.

I play a lot of American folk music,most of it deriving from the

so-called UK,and alone at home some jazz.

What will the difference be for me in aquiring a high end, six hole,

non keyed, wooden flute ?

Thanks for any comments.

Goldthorpe

2

It depends upon the key–you would probably go for the
D, which is standard for ITM and also for a good deal of
folk. It will be heavier, more focused and probably
more reedy. The tone will be more interesting, you
will probably find. It will be conical, which affects
tone, may well extend the range, and also allows
finger holes to be closer together, though Pat O
is rather masterful at making playable and
good sounding bamboo D flutes. Generally
bamboo D flutes are more of a stretch
than conicals.

It may also need more care.

3

You will be making a step up in quality of musical instrument, most noticed in range of expressiveness, responsiveness and capability to vary the tone. It will be easier to play in the second octave also because of the conical bore. Your embouchure will need to be a little different, and that varies from flute to flute.

Go for it, you’ll have a blast! But, be forewarned, there’s no turning back once you’ve experienced the conical bore flute. Your entanglement with the flute only gets deeper and more involved!

Get yourself a WFO (wooden flute obsession) cd or two (1 and 2 are available, each a 2cd set), and start listening to the tracks (which are mostly solo) to see what these flutes have to offer, if you haven’t already. The simple system flutes are basically all the same in construction, but the difference in tone between players is amazing. Here’s the link for the WFOs: http://www.worldtrad.org/ By the way, there are samples on the webpage, artist links, flute played info, etc., all put together by Chiff member Kevin Krell. Can’t recommend better cds to hear the tone of the flutes, and some great tunes too.


You will no doubt appreciate the differences in the conical bore flute, but there isn’t really a need to go high end to start with. A flute like Casey Burns Folk Flute at $275 will get you where you want to be, and will keep you happy for some time to come. Even accomplished fluters can appreciate the Folk Flute, and do. Here’s his website: http://caseyburnsflutes.com/

Added: Or, if you want something less expensive, although not a true conical bore, it’s darn close to the response, tone and just as fun, one of Doug Tipple’s pvc flutes. The finger spread would be more on these, like your Olwell bamboo flutes. I can overwelmingly recommend the speckled bore flute with the wedge, and others have been touting his other flutes on Chiff for some time. You can save some big bucks too!
Here’s a couple links-my review of the speckled bore, and then Doug’s website:

http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=31068

http://home.earthlink.net/~life2all/dougswebspace


Good luck on your journey, it’s a worthwhile tiptoe through the tulips!

4

Goldthorpe, I played chinese and east indian bamboo flutes (as well as Aussie made bamboo flutes) for about 25 years before I got a blackwood Irish D flute (conical) bore about 12 year ago. (I continue to play various bamboo, PVC and wooden flutes.)

I have to say that I agree with most of what Jim says but I need to qualify something.

It is not just the bamboo VERSUS wood that make the difference. Other than the conical/cylinder issue there are differences in responsiveness to tonal modulation evinced due to

  1. thickness of the bamboo (the wall)
  2. the embouchure hole shape and size
  3. the tone hole shape and size
    to name a few.
5

Thanks to all for the ‘on target’ answers.

Goldthorpe