I have now created an Eb Frankenflute, made of a Seth Gallagher
headjoint and a Copley D body. It plays, defying all reason
and the laws of physics, in Eb. It has a lovely sound,
Hammy Hamilton says on his site that the semi-tone up from D
lends a ‘lovely brightness’ to the flute’s sound. Bryan Byrne
mentioned once that Eb is the key that most complements
Irish flutes–I don’t know if his enthusiasm has
lasted, but he was much into playing them then.
I just was busking with the Eb Copllagher and it’s terrific
out there–much more audible than a D flute.
So what do people think of Eb flutes?
Do you share the enthusiasm?
When ever I play for people solo I use my Eb Copley. I can’t agree with you more on what you have said above. It is a dream Flute, it just really sucks to not be able to play it at sessions.
I ended up getting an Eb body for my flute from Hammy, as a certain Limerick concertina-player whose sessions I was regularly attending kept playing in Eb.
After getting the Eb option together it took me several weeks to drag my arse to an Eb session.
Anyhow, as said, it’s a marvellous key to be playing solo. And a marvellous key to tune a session up to, as well - as long as there are not too many whistle players around with Eb whistles in their pocket.
I’m amazed at how often solo players use Ebs. And then of course there’s Dervish.
And the beauty of an Eb is, though it’s addicting, it’s not as hard to switch back to a D as it would be from, say, an F.
But boy, I really get a kick out of those Fs, too.
That’s cool that you’re getting all these “combo plates” – none of my flutes seem to mix and match like that; even my two Murrays are different enough from one another that I can’t swap heads and bodies.
Ah well. Congratulations! And ‘duh’ on us for not suggesting an Eb as a solution to your busking problem.
Thanks, John. Your excellent Eb suggestion went by along with F, G, and A. I’ve played a Sweetheart
G flute out there a good deal and sometimes an A. I thought
I had the base covered and I didn’t realize I have an Eb flute,
so the Eb part didn’t register.
A terrific instrument
for the street is a Susato C whistle, by the way. I’m
now shifting back and forth tween that and the
Eb frankenflute.
Anyhow my serendipitous Eb flute not only sounds fine
but it carries very well.
As to what the ear can stand, I’m now using ear plugs routinely
while busking–whatever I’m playing I tend to be up at the top
of the second octave a good deal.
Stories: there’s a flower seller close by where I’m playing, with buckets of flowers
on a stone ledge. A very old man with a walker more or less
collapsed on the ledge. Stayed there
a long time, entirely oblivious to everything, eyes closed.
I was a bit worried. After about ten minutes
his family came up and collected him. As they walked by me
he veered in my direction. I thought he was about to collapse
on me. Very slowly he reached out and put a dollar
in my jar.
There are lots of Asians and Africans at the farmer’s market
where I play, the latter in wonderful colorful robes.
The Asians, usually women, often give me money. I mean more or less
recent immigrants.
Generally when people give me money I try to say thank you,
if there’s a place to make a hole in the musical line. When I do
that with the Asians, they don’t like it–just stony silence
and off they go.
I think I may have figured it out. In many of these countries,
Buddhist monks go about each
morning collecting alms in their begging bowls. In Thailand
there was a scandal awhile ago. An American monk,
when somebody put something in his bowl, had
said ‘Thank you.’ Buddhist monks are never supposed to
thank people who put food in their bowl. There is supposed
to be complete equanimity–what comes, comes. Also people
give because supporting the monastics is what they do.
Done it for millenia.
It isn’t something special. They don’t want thanks.
I suspect these women are using me as an ersatz Buddhist
monk, and are quietly offended by my thanks.
