I’m looking for a six keyed Bb flute (new) and my first choice at the moment is Lehart whose flutes are good and not too expensive. I know that there are not so many flute makers who are making Bb flutes : Morvan (since a few months), Hamilton, Grinter, Aebi, McGee, but they are all far more expensive than Lehart, I’m not sure yet to pay so much for a second flute but maybe I could wait a few more months to get the money… Do you know other flute makers that I should consider ?
Are some of these flutes harder to play ? Any advices about Bb flutes are welcome. 
(My D flute is a six keyed Hammy.)
The three Lehart Bb flutes I tried were good ones. Not too easy to play, but Bb flutes aren’t easy. They’re the cheapest by far and the waiting time isn’t too long, I waited 3 months for mine which I sold because I didn’t use it much. A few months later a band was founded and from then on I constantly needed a Bb flute. Luckily I found a second hand Aebi which also is a great flute. Easier to hold for me than the Leharts, but doesn’t take much air, you have to be careful not to “overblow” it when playing, which also applys to two of the three other Aebi Bb’s I tried before I purchased the second hand one. The third one was a protoype Tom had in his shop and I liked it very much. He told me that he’d sell it to me, but never did…he might still have it. Ask him, it is a good one. I recently sold my own Aebi to fund a second hand eight-keyed Ormiston which is due to arrive next week. I tried a six-keyed Ormiston once and liked it best of all Bb flutes I tried. Heavier stretch than the Aebis but lighter to reach than the Leharts, good keywork, easy to fill (for me).
I bought the Bb Lehart (keyless) flute from Steffen (Gabriel). I still have it, and I love it. Its a really big, heavy flute with quite a long stretch, and requiring quite a bit of air, but the tone is superb and it seems to have a very forgiving embouchure. I love playing it. I seem to be able to manage the stretch ok, but I can see how it might be a problem if you have small hands. I don’t have any experience with Bb flutes from other makers, but so long as you can manage the stretch, I don’t think you could go wrong with a Lehart Bb.
There is a Grinter 8 key for sale on Done Deal
http://www.donedeal.co.uk/for-sale/brassandwind/3010699
I play a Bflat keyless that is part of a set with a all boxwood C, B, and A bodies by Casey Burns.
It plays very well but is a bit rough around the edges workmanship wise but not as expensive as some of the others.
Also some of the bodies require a bit of lipping and finesse to play in tune but where else could you find essentially four flutes for that price.
I think there are comprimises to be made trying to get four keys with one headjoint but over all it works well enough and all bodies play strongly and can take some puff as well.
Casey Burns (USA) also makes low Bb flutes with and without keys.
http://caseyburnsflutes.com/cat_low.php
Thanks a lot for you answers, 
I didn’t know that Burns and Ormiston also make Bb flutes.
Very nice flute and sound, I would have to win at the lotterie to buy that one ! The problem is that I never buy tickets so I will never win and that’s not so different to people who try.
I have tried a few Bflat flutes and found the stretch or amount of air required too difficult. However, I did play a Bflat boxwood Olwell once, and that flute played itself. I just had to hold it and blow air…Seriously though, it was an amazing flute that was easy to play, took little air, and soared between octaves. For me, it was byy far the best flute I have played, and easier to play than the D Olwells that I have played. Good luck.
Thank you, the main problem with Olwell is the waiting time and probably the price also… I’ve already try two D Olwell flutes, maybe the easiest flutes I’ve ever play.
Doug Tipple makes one and here is how it sounds;
http://irishfluteobsession.blogspot.com/2012/01/everyone-knows-this-tune-i-know.html
Doug Tipples Irish Flutes;
http://tippleflutes.com/
Nice playing, nice flute.
Keys are nice to have but not essential, we say. I see the point of keys still less on a Bb flute.
Look, I need them all the time people are different.
Will you tell me what music you are playing?
I think I should have limited my remark to ITM.
The remark was meant for the OP, FWIW.
Of course maybe that individual is playing jazz or…
but for ITM lots of keys on a Bb flute arguably
add more weight than worth. They might be nice,
maybe not, given the weight of the flute,
but what would one use them all the time to play?
Sincere question.
Irish traditional music, of course.
I don’t use them all the time, by any means, but I use them, and when I’m playing my flat flute, it’s usually to join in on non-pipe friendly tunes when my fiddling partner is tuned down. So the keys are extremely useful and I wouldn’t want a low-pitched flute without them.
I would love all my flutes to be eight keyed, only economics prevent it.
more weight than worth
Jim, where do you get this stuff?
If you were offered the pick of a keyed or unkeyed flute (be it Bb, C, Eb, F, or D) by the same maker would you choose the unkeyed?
Bran Ruz is specifically asking about a six keyed Bb here, his D is six keyed so he likely has a use for keys.
I play ITM but also breton music, scottish music (sometimes balkan music) and keys are useful. So keyed or keyless ? Since I have keys on my D flute, I feel frustrated when I play keyless flutes, cross fingerings notes or half-holes don’t sound as good as with keys.
I don’t think that weight is the main problem on a B flat flute if you hold it correctly, it’s the space between the holes and the size of your hands.
To answer your question, my choice of keys vs. non-keys would depend on the key of the flute. I would certainly
like the D to be keyed and probably the Eb. Less attractive are the C and the Bb, where weight of the flute
becomes, for me, an issue. I once actually had to give up an 8 keyed D-flute because of weight issues (the keys
weren’t the only weight source, but they made a difference). I was getting injured. I know people who have given
up particular keyed flutes for this reason.
I mostly play an unkeyed D flute with a thumb-hole.
I don’t much miss keys. I do have an 8 keyed rudally flute that I like. I just don’t miss keys in the C flute
or the Bb flute or the F flute.
Keys are nice, of course, but generally they aren’t essential for ITM.
I’ve got nothing against people wanting keys on all their flutes. Perhaps some people positively
need them. There are other features of flutes
that keys can compromise, at least for some people, especially as flutes get more heavy.
As to Brian, there is a possibility that my observation is helpful to him, as I don’t know him.
That was the point of what I wrote.
Thanks for the info. I’ve found that a thumb-hole works very well for me, and that generally I don’t miss other keys.
But they are nice, certainly, and sometimes I wish I had them. I’m kind of amazed by 8-keyed Bb flutes.
I have a keyless Olwell Bb that’s lovely and quite enough for me.
You keep saying that. They are essential for me to play traditional irish music. They are essential for other people to play traditional irish music.
Of course you can learn to live without the many tunes (even if it is a small percentage, say 5-10% of the total repertoire, it’s still a lot of tunes) that need keys, or you could learn to half hole all (or at least most) of the notes and shrink the number of tunes that you can’t play without transposing, or I suppose you could just learn a different instrument, but that’s not for me.
The force of ‘generally’ is not ‘universally.’ ‘Generally’ means ‘usually.’ Consistent with exceptions. That keys generally aren’t essential for ITM is consistent their being essential for you to play ITM.
I can play just about any tune without keys; maybe I’m transposing. No question that keys can be nice to have.
I play ITM on the wooden flute, and sometimes other european folk music like breton or galician/asturian stuff, english and scottish tunes, and quebecois music, sometimes even german tunes.
Reasons why I need keys:
- I want to be able to play in every key because that is our flutes and their bores were made for.
- I use all keys for ornaments, accidentals and variations. Depending on the tune, I play “keyed slides”, for example a short F before F# or A# before a B, G# before an A and so on. Chromatic runs, depending on the tune. Whatever. There are so many possibilities.
- there is a pretty constant “tradition” of playing in C on piper’s meetings in Germany. I don’t have a C flute and didn’t want to buy one because I already have one in D that goes down to C, so I learned to transpose all the tunes down a whole step. Not possible without keys. And a great exercise for learning to use the keys. And saves a lot of money, too.
- many fiddle tunes I like are in flute-unfriendly keys like G minor or F major or D minor. Not fun to play without keys, and pulling out multiple flutes on a session seems awkward to me. The fiddler doesn’t need more than one fiddle neither.
- I have to be able to play in every key for band work. Our singer prefers to sing in keys like B major or C# major and we have to transpose tunes to those keys or write new ones that go with the song. We play a B major slide after an A major one just for the fun of it. You can’t do that without keys. It enhances the musical possibilities, especially in band work.
- keyed Bb: my playing doesn’t work and sound for me like I want it to work/sound without having the keys. And I can play in all necessary keys with those two fully keyed flutes. E flat minor? No problem, play “G minor” on the Bb. C# major? Play in “F” on the Bb. Oh, and the price was just about right.
What I don’t understand is why people want to have a dozen of keyless flutes from different makers. I know people who have a Grinter, an Olwell, Murray, Aebi, Watson, McGee and whatever else…all in D. Keyless. Why? “Because every flute has its own characteristics and I especially like the mysterious sound of my on rainy thursdays…”? But ranting against keys? Weird world!
PS: transposing usually doesn’t work when playing sessions…because everyone else has to transpose then, too. That isn’t very social.