I am looking for a Boehm system wood flute, new or used, must be fundamentally in very good shape with little or no work needed, and I am a heavily experienced player and fussy. Also looking at a new one and interested in hearing about any makers you may know of other than Bigio, Abell, and the “biggies” all of which I already know well. Contact me directly if you prefer at tom@tomofarrell.ca.
don’t ignore Mr Migoya’s Louis Lot !.
I already have a piccolo and the flute goes down to D only, I need a full foot-joint flute, low C or B.
Hammig makes wood flutes. They have two levels; the more expensive line is supposed to be excellent, although I’ve only tried the cheaper flute which was decent. There is also Yamaha. Both brands would cost substantially less than flutes by the “bug guns.” (I imagine you already know about Haynes, Powell, and Arista wood flutes).
Dana
Edit: I thought I’d add that Yamaha oboes have reputations for being crack-prone. I don’t know about their wood flutes, but if they’re using the same wood stock there could be problems.
Thanx for the Hammig tip I will inquire. Price is a major concern here, Bigio, Abell, and one or two others including the “biggies” all are quoting about $10-13,000 dollars U.S. for a new grenadilla wood Boehm system. Yikes!
Would you consider a Ritterhausen?
There’s a friend who has two and would likely sell one to the right person. Both are in very fine shape. Foot down to C on each as I recall.
If so, email me off list.
dave migoya
The other thing you may want to think of is to have a good wooden headjoint fitted to your metal flute. It works very well for a fraction of the price of a whole instrument, and if you have a flute that you’re already used to, you don’t have to learn a new instrument.
If buying an antique wooden Hayes, etc, make sure it can play up to modern pitch (if that’s important to you).
One last thing: ask yourself why you’re looking for a wooden flute. If you’re looking for a sound that’s significantly different from a modern metal flute, then the modern wooden flutes from the big makers like Powell and Yamaha may not be what you want, since they’re also geared towards the standardized sound that orchestral players want – they won’t sound much different from a good silver flute. An antique may be more what you’re looking for (if you can find something made before the world wars) or, definitely, a custom-made head (in which case you can have pretty much whatever kind of sound you want).
g
Agreed, my goal, and this is really an experiment, is finding out what I can achieve, over time, to get a more pleasing sound for Traditional and Irish music, which I am now more interested in playing than before. I too suspect that a new wood flute from one of the major makers may not be all that different from my metal flutes to start with, as you suggest, and a wood head joint may be a solution. I’ll find out.
Tom,
I find that, when I put my mind and time to it, I get a surprisingly “Irish” sound on my silver flute, so much so that I occasionally think about staying on it exclusively. And then I go back to a conical made of wood, and change my mind.
But my point is that your lips have far more to do with the sound than we’d like to admit. Most classical players don’t sound Irish on a Pratten, either. The flute’s physical embouchure does make some difference in tone, once understood (as Glauber mentions, a wooden headjoint is one way to fix this), but I also believe the cylindrical body makes enough of a different sound from a conical that cannot be changed by your embouchure. It’s just the nature of the instruments’ different systems. So, ultimately, you either accept the (minor) differences in sound on a Boehm, vs. a conical, or you don’t. Many don’t.
But, if you don’t mind the tonal difference(s) the systems produce, regardless of your own embouchure, – and there’s really no reason why you should mind – then owning a wooden Boehm isn’t the issue; what type of flute you play ITM, or any music on, is the issue.
Owning a wooden Boehm is something I’d like to have one day, too – I like wood. But it really isn’t a compromise sound; it’s more like a third choice.
Best,
Gordon
a very flash point.
:adminok:
Hello everyone,
I just want to say that I went down this route. I decided to try the wooden head (by Mark Hoza), before spending money on a wooden boehm, and it works very well, so the wooden boehm concept is on hold until I can try a number of them to really see if they are worth the money for my musical needs. I should say (again) that it is really the player that mainly contributes to the sound, not so much the flute. I recently did a duo recording project with an accoustic guitarist, and I used my Hoza/emerson, my sankyo and my mc gee six key, and very few people can tell the difference. (The flutes do actually sound different, but not to the degree I expected).
michael
One of the advantages of getting a custom head (i have a Hoza too, by the way) is that you can work with the maker to get the sound you want. My metal flute is a Miyazawa that has a sweet, almost ethereal sound, so i went for a wooden head that sounds very dark (“like an oboe”, says my wife).
I was pleasantly surprised too that the wooden head is a lot louder than the original metal head (even though this was already a pretty loud flute in its own right).
Another thing to be aware of with wooden heads is that they may be slower in articulating than a metal head. They don’t have to be, but sometimes they are, and in that case you have to learn to antecipate your attacks.
You’ll want to think of those things and see if you can define what’s important to you and what kind of sound you’re looking for, when you approach a maker.
I’m biased towards Mark Hoza – http://www.woodenflutemaker.com – you can see my sound samples there if you dig around. But there are others: Drellinger, Ardal Powell, Abell, even McGee makes wooden heads for metal flutes. I’ve even seen bamboo heads, and Monty Levinson even makes shakuhachi heads for metal flutes – http://www.shakuhachi.com/Q-Models-Headjoint.html
g
I think the Abell wood headjoints are marvelous! He uses a lot of wood, so they do look a bit odd on a silver flute, but what a sound!
Glauber, I agree with you on the delayed articulation thing. I switch back and forth between a wood flute and a silver flute, and my wood one certainly demands much more athletic playing. I’m playing Beethoven’s 9th Symphony on it (74 minutes of nonstop playing mainly in the third octave) and it’s nearly killing me.
Dana
I’m normally just a lurker, but…
WOW! I’d love to hear that! 
It’s over and done with, and the wood flute was definitely the way to go, but it did burn a lot of calories. It’s interesting the attitudes I get toward playing my wood Boehm with my orchestra. The oboe section glares at me when I play the silver flute now. (I still use the silver flute for pops stuff and contemporary music, or if I’m just in the mood). We had a fabulous piano soloist from Poland play with us this year that kept gushing about “that wooden flute.”
There’s definitely nothing like wood.
Dana
Dhigbee; Which maker of wood boehm are you playing?
I have a 1900 Hofinger offered to me at US$1500.00 supposed to be very decent condition. Can’t find much info. on Hofinger however.
A 1904 or thereabouts boehm system Rudall just went on e-bay for $1650.
These prices make a wood flute practicable to me.
Tom, I wish my flute had cost somewhere in that range. I’m playing a recently-made wood Powell, and they are very expensive.
Migoya is selling a Lot flute-piccolo set. That would be worth investigating.
Dana