Boxwood flute made by Dominic Allan

My new flute made by Dominic Allan is ready and should arrive in 1-2 weeks. More comments will follow as soon as possible.

I have a keyed pratten’s by him and I can assure you that you’ll fall in love with it

What are the two holes at the end used for?

What are the two holes at the end used for?

To tie strings through so you can hypnotize the Morris dancers… :stuck_out_tongue:

No, seriously, they’re a left over from the days when you had 8 keys on most flutes and they’re for low C and C#. On a keyless flutes, they’re nothing more than vents and can be used to fine tune the flute (according to some makers) and are totally unecessary according to other makers. There is also a bit of a myth that flutes with the vented foot will be louder than flutes without. I have flutes with nearly identical bore, tone hole and embouchure sizes…one has the long foot with vent holes and the other doesn’t and they’re both just about as loud, just as in tune, and sound nearly exactly the same (which means they sound like me).

Eric

It’s not exactly a myth: the footjoints in question (you mention ones with and without holes) will necessarily be somewhat different.

The conventional wisdom is actually that unvented footjoints (meaning short feet) are louder than (longer) vented ones.

Stuart

If I’m not mistaken, Casey Burns told me that the extended foot also “sweetens” the upper register. Particularly on Rudall-style flutes. Maybe Casey or Terry or Dave or one of the other makers will chime in and tell me if I’m remembering right.


Doc

That’s a seriously beautiful flute!

Mary

I’ve also heard that the long foot makes the D sound more like the other notes.

As far as I’m concerned, if great makers like Olwell and Hammy swear by the long foot, and others such as Noy swear by the short foot, they must both have something going for them.

Gorgeous looking flute, Claudine. I have one of Dominic’s Eb’s, his craftsmanship is superb. You’ll love it I’m sure! Looking forward to the reports when you receive it :slight_smile:

Hi Claudine,
its a very beautiful flute! Is it Dominic’s S1 (smaller holed) model?
I guess it has artificial ivory rings and embouchure? Why did you choose to have the embouchure section plated and not in boxwood? Is the head fully lined or half lined?

I noticed Dominic is offering a new model, a copy of a J. Renton flute, which has a fully lined head:

see more at his website: http://www.woodflutes.co.uk/flutes.html

hello Hans,
it’s the S1 model, boxwood & artifical ivory. I asked for the lip plate to prevent the development of an allergy to boxwood. I am already allergic to several things, including african blackwood, so the lip plate is just a precaution. The head is half lined.