I just had the opportunity to try a blackwood keyless flute; I can have it for $150. The current owner, my session leader, just got his Hammy keyless, which he got because he was impatient waiting for his Olwell Keyed.
Back to the no-name flute I could own. It is blackwood, keyless, in good condition, silver rings, reasonably in-tune (I plan on checking it tonight against a tuner, but it passed my ear test last night a the noisy session). It has a good bark, good volume, responsive to finger ornaments and being “leaned into.”
Can anybody else think of things I need to look for? Should I record it to hear what I really sound like? I’ve been burned by a Pakistani kindling special before (for $250 because of repair costs) and I don’t want to do it again. $150 sounds too good to be true. Is this just dumb luck or am I dumb to think I’m luckey?
I’d be happy to help, but I’m really not qualified to offer an opinion, perhaps some others feel the same and that’s why you’ve haven’t gotten a response yet.
Sounds like what you need is a good local flute player you can trust - someone to play it and tell you what they think.
I’m curious though, if the “Session Leader” has been playing this flute for a while at the sessions, and it sounds good (in tune, etc.) why not just go for it? I mean if the other guy can play it in tune and make it sound good, no reason you couldn’t with some practice, and at that price I’d be pretty motivated to learn lip it up in the second octave…
On 2002-08-09 11:21, Loren wrote:
Sounds like what you need is a good local flute player you can trust - someone to play it and tell you what they think.
no such animal (except the guy I will ask tomorrow)
I’m curious though, if the “Session Leader” has been playing this flute for a while at the sessions, and it sounds good (in tune, etc.) why not just go for it? I mean if the other guy can play it in tune and make it sound good…
He did play it in the past, but I can’t remember hearing it. He usually plays some old German 6 key that is nearly inaudible over the crowd noise.
Thanks for helping me flush this one out. I also just realized that if my O’Riordan sells as well as yours, I could buy a new Hammy and have it in less than 6 months. Hmmm. I should feel happy to have these problems.