The flutes are keyless, delrin models - I’m only working in delrin at the moment - and there’s a tunable high D whistle in delrin and aluminium. Although I’ve only got information on the site about the flute models based on the Pratten, the medium-holed Rudall & Rose and the Boehm, I do also make a model based on a large-holed Rudall & Rose flute, for anyone with a preference in that direction.
I can also make the Pratten model without the traditional metal slide, using the delrin to form the slide instead, which lowers the cost of the flute.
There are some basic sound clips included on the Prices / Contact page which were done just using a microphone straight in to a laptop soundcard but they should be enough to give an idea of each instrument. The three D flutes are, of course, very different on the player side but the average listener could be forgiven some confusion! The prices are currently set at a promotional level
A tour is a possibility if there’s enough interest.
I can be contacted via the email on the site at the bottom of the Prices / Contact page - or via the PM (Private Message) function on this board.
The email is somersflutes…(at)…gmail…[dot]…com
Just to clear up any confusion, I am “Maihcol” on C&F and on the Flutemakers board. My middle name is Michael and somebody once jokingly spelled it Maihcol…
The whistle is of the wide-bore type - gives it a broader, rounder voice…I probably should say something about this in the website as there are so many different whistle types available these days.
It has a Boehm type bore…The usual conical profile in the head bore and the body is the standard cylindrical 19mm bore. They’re not just a simple cylinder all the way through so the upper octaves are well tuned. It’s based on a 19th century instrument I have here…If I can get a moment later, I’ll say some more - or maybe someone else might. An archive search on C & F should turn up some more info on these too - they’ve been discussed before…
Nice to see new choices for delrin flutes. I´m still, after years, really interested in that material.
Could you tell your story as luthier? How did you get interested in that activity and when did you start to make instruments? What specific flutes do you measured and that sort of info? I´m really interested, Maihcol…
Yes, the delrin can make a flute as good as any material (in my opinion!) - it’s just harder to work with than wood, though it does get easier once you develop the techniques and tools to deal with it. I started using it here in Brazil because of the difficulties I was having finding suppliers of wood which I could be confident would make a reliable flute…The suppliers I came across work more with the kinds of wood used for stringed instruments. However, I spoke to a guitarmaker here some time ago who told me he now just imports most of the hardwoods he uses because of the problems even he had. It would actually be easier for me to re-import the Brazilian woods that are used for flutemaking from the US as the system here is more geared up to export raw materials and bring in dollars. So the wood is logged and sent out of the country and relatively tiny amounts are used here. But that’s an old story.
Me, I’m just an English teacher who got lost! Many years ago now, I worked for a while with a friend who was a woodwind repairer and that was when I became interested in making flutes…I finally got round to it some 6 years ago. It’s a steep learning curve - lots of experiments which don’t go right at first.
Flute measurements you can get from any you see around which you think are worth the effort and any you can find in museums. There are also plans which you can buy which are relatively cheap - but you should check the price of the tools and equipment first!
