That will be my second flute in life after dixon 2-piece (which is not too good) and the middle step to a Really Good Expensive Flute).
I have listened to the given sound samples either, but i really don’t know!))) non of them seem to be perfect, but it depends on who is playing i think.
So i really need an advice from people who has experienced those flutes.
Which one to choose?
Or maybe you know a better option to suggest?
Any help highly appreciated.
They’re all good flutes…get one you like (either by looks or sound of other players…although it’s the player that leads to most of the sound not the flute)…and practice, practice, practice.
I haven’t played the Forbes, so can’t comment. The other three are all good flutes; it depends on what you’re looking for. I loved the way the M&E sounded and played, but it is a VERY heavy flute, and I just couldn’t deal with the weight. I’ve had mixed success with Sweet flutes, but I haven’t been excited by any of them. The only reason I would get the Sweet over the Copley is if I really wanted a wooden flute. I’ve been very pleased with my Copley polymer flute; it’s the only poly flute I’ve kept. I’m not crazy about the modern-cut embouchure, but they’re available with oval embouchures now. It’s really easy to play, has excellent sound, and it’s well-balanced.
If you like pratten-style flutes (big holes, big tone) definitely go for the Forbes. Somebody mentioned the Seery, I’ve tried both and the Forbes was far superior (and cheaper).
MarkP’s German flute is a really good example and for the way it plays should be worth rather more, but being German limits its value. If you want to go straight to an affordable and approachably playable 8-key intermediate standard flute, you’d struggle to find better value. (BTW, I have no pecuniary interest in it, but I did overhaul it recently…).
Although some of the modern-made keyless flutes are excellent, including some/most of those mentioned, personally I’d go for the wood and the keys every time - a far more forward-looking investment for someone at your stage of playing, and a flute in this case that would serve you well right up until you could afford/justify moving into upper echelon instruments, whether antique or new-made. It would let you explore/give you experience (at an ideal stage in your learning curve) of having keys available for similar money to the kind of keyless you are contemplating, so when you eventually moved on up you’d know if you’d want keys on your “for life” top range flute. Meantime you’d find it pretty satisfying and development enabling/driving from a tone-production angle.
I am sorry to say, but I think it is not right to place any advertisements of flutes to sell in this thread, neither new, overhauled or second hand flutes. It seems to generally violate the commercial use of this forum. And the OP inquires specifically about other models.
Next year I think I am going to buy a Copley and Boegli flute without rings, elliptical embouchure, and combined end cap and screw adjustable stopper. Totally personal preferences on past experiences that have nothing to do with sound. That’s kind of the thing, preferences develop with experience, how you interact with a flute is personal.
I believe the Copley does not have cork on the joints and seems like a low maintenance flute. Long term, if I wanted another wood flute or something with keys, this would still be a good travel/harsh environment flute. I would not do this with the Sweet flute made of wood (although you should hear what my Sweet piccolo has endured). The Forbes flute (I believe) has cork joints and would need grease, not a big deal, and easily repaired if damaged, but maintenance none the less.
But here is the real question, what do you want out of a flute? Wood/plastic? Loud/quiet? Flexible/forgiving? Light/heavy? Etc… What do you want to play? How do you want to play?
Denny - if leaving together hasn’t caused a problem yet, I wouldn’t worry about it. O-rings are cheap anyway.
As for the Copley with no cork, my older M&E had no cork yet I still greased it…it allows it to pull apart easier. Delrin/polymer flutes can swell in the heat, and without grease there were a few times playing outside in summer it was hard to pull apart. Newer ebonite M&Es are corked (at least the few I know of…including mine). Michael felt there were less problems pulling the flute apart using cork than the tight spec’s needed to machine the tennons corkless - especially for keyed flutes. Seery uses thread.
I’d use a bit of cork grease, vaseline, or even chapstick or a polymer flute that doens’t have cork.
