I received a Martin Doyle flute yesterday morning. I thought I might post my first impressions. First outwardly, beautifully finished in 2 sections, keyless and in blackwood with silver rings, unlined and no tuning slide as requested. Blowhole 11.5mm by10mm identical to my keyed flute. Bore clean and poliished, all in all a pleasure to the hand and eye.
I was expecting to have difficulty finding the sweet spot to blow, being very used to just one flute, but not a bit of it, a fine strong d2 from the first blow. Up and down the scale very easy to blow, the top end takes a tad more air than my keyed flute but as I get my focus right this evens out. Deep breath and off on a tune, great, I get all the way through without a hitch! (Not a guaranteed result by any means!) The flute is capable of a great range of tones from sweet to oboelike up to an agressive bark. Low d is as you would expect from a short flute good and hard. So as you might gather I am well pleased. Martin is great to deal with and filled my order within a couple of weeks.
Rob
As I’ve said before, Martin Doyle is the most under-rated flute maker today. His flutes play as well as any other maker’s flutes. Mick Hand, Desi Wilkenson, and Fergus McGorman (son of Catherine McEvoy and all-Ireland champion) all play Doyle flutes.
The sound is great-- crisp, loud, easy to blow – and the finish is impeccable. The price is lower than other makers’ flutes and the wait-time is short.
Yeah, I kick myself for not buying one in 2001 when I was in Ireland and Martin’s prices were dirt cheap. There was a young guy in my class, Edward Looney, who was playing a Doyle and was getting far and away the best sound of anyone in our class of 30 (Willy Clancy School). I asked him if I could give it a try and it just growled like no other flute I’d tried. The richness of the tone was just amazing and full of texture.
At that point I thought that if I hadn’t heard of the guy before I probably shouldn’t buy one of his flutes. Boy was I wrong. Darn good flutes.
Chris
Amen to all of the above.
My Doyle is fantastic and dearly loved.
Doc
I just happened to try out a Doyle flute in yesterday’s afternoon session. It was very light and had big holes and a very large bore, especially at the end. It was almost like a trumpet! The low D was powerful and very easy to sound, just as any other note. The middle d was extremely loud – even a bit harsh to my ears, but that was probably me not being used to that flute. It was very well in tune and there was no need to adjust my embouchure to play in tune with the others in the session. It is certainly a great flute at a very competitive price. Tone wise, I am more into the Rudall thing now, but still I am pretty amazed by that flute.
Claus
I am curious about the advantages/disadvantages of no tuning slide: please may I ask you Doyle players to clue me up? I am sorely tempted by these & can’t decide whether to bung the extra for a slide - I do now play with other musicians regularly(guitars & concertinas & fiddle) so have to consider their tender sensibilities…
Thank you
Julia C
In my experience the tuning slide is a plus
when playing with others, but not essential.
The tenon gives you the same thing, but
somewhat less easily, and if the flute is
well made you’re spot on anyway. Typically the other
musicians have electronic tuners so they
are spot on too. If I’m playing outdoors in
weird weather conditions, especially cold,
the slide makes more of a difference, because
the string isntruments go sharp.
But I’ve recovered from the urge
to play flute outside in the cold.
I’d be interested to hear other opinions.
My all-wood slideless Doyle is spot on tune. I play with my family of 13 kids doing a couple of gigs a month and have never had a problem with a tuning issue. We have most of the common instruments in the band, gui9tars, mandos, fiddles, concertina, etc…no worries. Go ahead and get one. 
Doc
I’m sure the flute experts will put me right if this is wrong but I understood that tuning slides were as long as they are because C19 players had to deal with a wide range of pitches A415 etc. But as we have settled for A440 a good flute shouldn’t need so much adjustment and the tenon should suffice. That was my reasoning (However flawed) for getting slideless instrument.
Having played it a few more days now I find it is capable of an amazing range of tone and volume from sweet as sugar, to harsh and ragged, full of overtones and very characterful. Your right about that d tho it needs a softer blow than my other flute.
Here’s a link that shows how pitch moved around.
http://www.uk-piano.org/history/pitch.html
Treeshark, sounds like you’ve gotten yourself a great instrument. About tuning slides: I dunno about the others, but I’m very meticolous about tuning. Or maybe it’s just paranoia. For me the perfect headjoint position changes from day to day and sometimes within minutes or seconds. Lip tension, air pressure, weather, instrumentation of the session, mental condition – I believe it all affects my embouchure and the pitch of the flute. I sometimes even change the position of the headjoint several times during a set of tunes. With a tuning slide this can be done very quickly, you don’t miss more than a about a bar of notes I’d say. When I realize my flute has gone too sharp I use my right hand to pull the headjoint out a bit while keeping the flute in its position with the left hand. Couldn’t be done with a tight tenon joint, so I wouldn’t like to go without a tuning slide, but this is my own personal thing. However, I find that many flautists (including some of the better ones) are not concerned enough about their pitch in a session, but that’s a different matter and it is probably more about listening to yourself rather than worrying about tuning slides. The (Doyle) flute player in the session I mentioned was well in tune with the rest, she only had to pull the head out about two millimeters though. Anyway, unkeyed flutes that don’t have a tuning slide look quite cool, somewhat archaic. I like that. 
Claus
I agree. The tuning slide does have a harder edge, which may not appeal to players who prefer a woodier sound, but I play in many sessions and the slide makes life much easier. It isn’t any more essential than a seatbelt… you can drive without one but when you need one you’re glad it’s there.
Here’s a comparison between the Doyle unlined and a Wilkes keyed and lined. Please excuse the rushed playing, microphone panic and I’ve only been blowing the damn things for a year and a bit!
I’m sure I’m not getting the best I can out of the Doyle yet either
http://www.treeshark.com/images/Posts/Col1.mp3
http://www.treeshark.com/images/Posts/Col2.mp3[/url]
I commend your bravery. But the “comparison” is neither fair nor helpful. The only meaningful comparision would be between a lined and an unlined head, from the same maker, on the same flute-body.
In any case, comparisons are odious.
Well I didn’t inted to offend but as I seem to have I shall remove the clips! And then I will put them back again…
Aw, treeshark, I’d have liked to have heard your clips! You can call them “examples” or “demo’s” instead of “comparison” if you like! It might be a long time before I can afford to hear myself on either of the flutes you mention.
Julia C
Sorry found the cat had been sick on my bed read David’s critical post and took them off in a fit of childish peek! Ill re link them. I didn’t record them to post but to check the difference myself. It’s often difficult to hear as you are playing.
Hey nice examples ! and nimbly played despite your modest protestations. You have made my mind up. I clearly need one of each. :roll: :roll: They have amazingly different but equally desirable tones. Now I know why some of you guys have a herd/flock/pride/lot of flutes.
Julia C
We have a cat that regularly gets sick all over the house, and has for years. No one knows why. I get tired of scrubbing stains off the rug and elsewhere.
But, she’s a member of the family.
I love the sound of both flutes, and I think your playing sounds nice. Thanks for the clips.
Later,
Mary
(You’ll never hear a clip from me, I can tell ye!)
Speaking of vomiting cats…we were weren’t we? 
Some cats that suffer from asthma have vomiting as their primary symptom. A long-acting shot of cortisone (depo-medrol) every couple of months as needed often does the trick for them.
Of course that’s only my professional opinion, but then, I am a professional.
Incidently, (and to remain on-thread) my cats never vomit when I play my Doyle flute though my dog occassionally howls along a bit. He’s very musical.
Doc
Well, now that you mention it, Desi does have a history of wheezing ~ do you think that could be it? I took her to the vet shortly after we adopted her from the Humane Society (she was about 5 years old then, and I soon figured out that was probably the reason she had been given up) But anyway, we were told there was nothing to explain her barfing. She doesn’t do it every day, but it is annoying. She is pretty old now, though, so I don’t know how she would fare with the shots.
My cats are pretty ambivalent about my flute playing. It’s the whistles that they have strong opinions about!
Mary