Has anyone done a side-by-side comparison of the sound of one of Casey Burns’ folk flutes and one of his standard (or other for that matter) flutes?
Chris Roberts
The standard come in two grades–the mopane
and then blackwood and boxwood.
I’ve played them and the folk flute,
but not side to side, as it were;
still I’ve played them.
My impression is that as you go up the ladder,
the flutes sound better. The mopane at
450, I think, has a finer, clearer, purer
sound than the folk flute–which sounds
quite good. The 625 flutes sound better
still, blackwood and boxwood seem to
sound a bit better than mopane.
there are in addition lined flutes Casey makes,
but here we are talking apples and orange.
In playing several Burns flutes side by side, I chose a standard flute in mopane over one in blackwood–it was generally more satisfying to play. So to say one wood is better than another seems to be too much of a generalization. The difference lay more in the particular flutes than in the wood. I do think the standard flutes are better than the folk flute, but the folk flute is a nice instrument!
Yes, it’s probably a matter of personal taste and
impressions, possibly the flute one picks up, too.
I know a lady who is semi-professional and who
plays only the standard mopane.
Casey does have some very lovely and clean
boxwood. I have a C in boxwood which
is a lulu.