After just finishing at the Bideford Folk Festival I have decided that singing is not enough! I loved the sessions, but felt dismayed that I was unable to join in.
I’m a great lover of folk music, Irish and English, and greatly wish to have a transportable instrument which would enable me to join in with sessions, after much careful thought I have decided that I would like to learn flute.
I fell in love after I heard a simple flute rising above the blasting sound of a piano accordian, contrasting and yet blending beautifully.
My question is, what would you reccoment to me? I have no experience with woodwind instruments (piano, guitar and singing is my natural domain) so don’t want anything too complicated.
Really i want to be able to teach myself for the most part, I am fairly good at playing by ear.
I know most flutes come in the key of D (or that is what I gather from my research thus far) as that is the most common key for irish trad music, but will that count me out of english sessions? Cos most of the sessons I end up at are with accordians playing morris tunes!
I quite like the sound of this flute http://flutesite.com/m&e_6-key.htm but I’m thinking keys might be a bit too advanced if I plan on teaching myself, will it have the same kind of basic sound without keys?
Reading it back, this post is fairly flowery in format, I don’t always talk like this, but it’s 1.30am and I’m in the middle of an obsession…I’m one of those people that has to research until they drop off of the computer stool.
If you can get yourself past the concept of having a white flute made from PVC plastic, the best game in town is a Doug Tipple flute. They’re remarkably inexpensive, even more remarkably good, and everyone round these parts loves everything about 'em. Doug, take a bow!
What’s the general opinion of Tony Dixon flutes?
I live in his area and have heard him play before, my dad chatted to the guy cos he was impressed with the pipes he was playing (dad’s is a fan of pipes and anything loud and breton-ish, he just got a hurdy-gurdy!)
I know a frind of mine is longing for a Tony Dixon whistle, but how bout the flutes? Good for a complete beginner?
(I like the look of the 3 piece flute, and it’s not that expensive in the grand scheme of things)
Learning flute is a great thing to do, but it takes a considerable
commitment, especially of time. It takes months before you
can consistently sound the thing, longer still to sound good;
you’re looking at an investment of years. Sessions may be
beyond you for quite some time. Whistle is a whole lot easier,
if you’re wanting to play in sessions, and doesn’t preclude
flute.
It’s reasonable to start with a beginner’s instrument (e.g. Preacher’s
flute above; also the Casey Burns folk flute). These can be
sold if/when you move up to something better. Probably
it’s best not to invest big bucks or pounds until you know
what you’ve gotten into and if it’s for you.
Good luck. If you go ahead please stick with us. Lots
of help here. Jim
I am actually learning the whistle as we speak, just this morning I had “Cuckoo’s Nest” down
Whilst I appreciate that the whistle is more within my reach, and will certianly work hard at it, it will always be with the aim of a flute in mind, the flute just has a much more appealing sound to me, the whistle tends to be just that little bit too shrill for me to ever really fall in love with.
The Casey Burns flute cetainly looks really nice, and it has a good sound to it (from the sample on the site) but I suppose I just like the idea of getting a flute from someone who is close to home, if I need need help or anything then I could get in touch with the guy fairly easily. When we were chatting to him at the gig he did he certainly seemed like a really nice chap.
But the Casey Burns flute sounds so nice…I really want to have a listen to the Dixon flute now, but that bit of the site just isn’t working for me!
The dixon is good enough; it’s not wood and that affects
the sound. The CB is mopane and it sounds, IMO,
a bit more like the sort of flute you will end up with
if you keep at it. But this is definitely my opinion only.
You wouldn’t go wrong with the Dixon. Maybe
Dixon has a wooden flute to sell you.
I’m glad you are committed. It’s worth the struggle.
Hobgoblin has a 2 piece Dixon Blackwood flute on closeout at 179 Pounds Sterling, that is at about the same price as the 3 piece polymer Dixon. It probably compares with the Burns Folk Flute as a decent starter flute, and in Blackwood, it gives you a nice wooden tone. Here’s the link to the flute page where it’s listed:
As Jim suggested, maybe Tony has one for sale too-you can contact him to find out, and what his price would be. I haven’t shopped around for these, so I don’t know how good the price is, but it seems reasonable.
I appreciate beginning session flute players on a quiet but sweet sounding instrument. Vintage French, perhaps? If that is not possible, a wood Casey Burns Folk Flute, or a plastic M&E would do nicely.
PVC plastic it may be but its very high quality material and looks like porcelain.
I have been to a few plumbing supply shops in Australia and they don’t have PVC piping of this quality, not even for hot water piping. (And just in case North Atlantic types don’t know this - no we are not a 3rd world country).
Just be cautioned that the Tipple flutes are cylindrical bore (like indic bansuri’s and renaisance flutes) and the finger spread will be a little bit more than on a tapered bore instrument. This isn’t a problem for even someone like me (with petit hands) probably cos I tend to pipers’ grip with the lower hand anyway.
Kelcat,
Give Tony a ring, in my dealings with him, he has always been helpful and humorous. Why not try one of his non tuneables as they are cheap. The Low Duo is also a good option as there is a low D whistle just in case the flute factor fails.
Bill.
I personally would stay away from a 2-piece Dixon - they are harder to play than other entry level flutes, harder to play in tune, and the tone isn’t as good. This is my personal experience from noodling aound with my roomates’ two-piecer at a week-long summer workshop a few years ago. This same roommate had a tipple, which was a much better flute for Irish stuff. Anyways, I’ve heard that Tony’s 3-piece flutes are good.
I will get in touch with Tony Dixon…but I am now absolutely falling in love with the bamboo flutes from “Erik the flute maker” they seem reasonably priced and have a wonderful sound.
I emailed him asking his advice and he seems very friendly.
Does anyone have experience of dealing with him?
Oh, and how big exactly is 22 inches in flute hand span world? Ona piano my hand span stretches an octave and one, at a stretch, will this make me totally unsuitable for a D flute?
You should be fine. Bamboo flutes can be lovely,
cylindrical flutes tend to have finger spacing further
apart that it is on conical, so the rt hand stretch
will be greater. Also bamboo flutes are seldom
used as session flutes–perhaps the look is too
non-trad but also the tone tends to be
different from an Irish flute. Erik’s flutes may
be well worth buying for their own sake, and
probably you will before long buy another
flute.
Most flutes mentioned in this thread will be fine for learning with. Don’t expect to ever play a cylindrical flute at a session though. And also, you will want a tuning slide.
Tipples, Dixons, Bamboo flutes, Folk flutes, etc, are all good, but will probably never be more than learning instruments.
If you are serious, I would recomend you get a keyless M&E polymer flute. That will get you a conical flute with a tuning slide, with zero maintenance, and top notch tone. M&E flutes play like the best of them, and lots of pro/semi-pro players who own flutes for thousands of pounds still use M&E flutes for sessions and stuff because they are indestuctible, great sounding and playing.
Also, listening to sound clips of flutes isn’t really all that helpful. A good player can make any quality flute sound really nice, especially at a recording.
Yes, but it is a little bit pointless going through the trouble of ordering a flute just to find that my hands don’t stretch far enough to play the thing!
