So when did Eb flutes get popular and why?
Matt Molloy - Black Album
Molloy, Peoples, Grady
these were some of the first recordings that came out mostly in Eb…I suppose people liked the “sweeter” sound of the higher pitch…
it’s also a great way to get rid of accordian players…it’s a joke, just a joke… 
I’ve heard many good views about this pitch and intended to have one. So, which one is suitable for hobby player with sweet, warm sound and reasonable price ?
Any suggestion ?
Thanks.
I read that in the 19th century,great flute players like Charles Nicholson prefferred keys of Eb and F.This was due to the better sounding notes in these scales. However they played in these keys on their concert instruments and this requires great skill.Marching bands used Eb flutes also.
Or anyone who wasn’t in the know, according to my first whistle teacher.
If the fiddlers have tuned up earlier and the fluter has a more or less ordinary looking Eb flute or a sharp-playing vintage flute with the slide in–any session-latecomer without perfect pitch might have trouble figuring out what’s wrong.
from an interview with Matt Molloy, posted on Brad Hurley’s most excellent Irish flute site:
Q: You played an Eb flute in the early days.
A: It became quite the fashion afterward for people to play in Eb, but I think I was one of the first people to do that. I was playing around with Tommy Peoples, the fiddle player. He looked to crank up, he looked to play sharp. But it was quite by accident. A friend of mine introduced me to a friend of his who had had an accident with his hand. He used to play flute in a brass and reed band; they played in Eb. I didn’t know anything about that, but he wanted to sell me the flute, which he did. There was great tone off it, great bang off it. So I was thrilled with this thing. But I had nowhere to go with it. All the sessions were in D. But Tommy heard me play this. He used to love to crank the strings up into Eb and play, so that’s how we got the whole thing started. And I made the first solo album with that flute.
i’ve heard of boxplayers who play a D/D# for this very reason – if the session is in D, they play off the outside row and if it’s in Eb they play off the inside row…
seems cool to me that’s all I can say, I’m thinking about hunting for one too.
I hear Seery makes a good Eb in Polymer, and you can’t damage those! I’m going to get an Olwell and then maybe a keyed Olwell in D for most of my work, but if I’m messing with an Eb I want something that I don’t have to worry about if I’m not on it much!
If you’re still a ways down the list for an Olwell you could change your order to include an Eb corps de réchange.
Paddy Ward has a Hawkes D/Eb combo that is the basis for his flutes. He offers them in delrin.
M&E also has Eb. I’m sure Doc Jones has something in stock.
I just received an Eb/D combination from Dave Copley. Actually, he had the Eb built, and I requested a D body to go with it. Keyless, no slide, and thoroughly delightful to my ear.
There are actually many sessions in Ireland that are in Eb nowadays. One in Miltown Malbay that I sat in on was pitched as such, with no forwarning, so be advised when you appear with flute in hand to be careful.
Eb flutes in days of yore were often called “band flutes” because of their popularity in the marching units. (F flutes by the way were called “third” flutes because they are a minor third above D…and somehow today are sometimes called 3/4 flutes.)
There is nothing brighter or livelier than an Eb flute with a capoed bozouki. Awesome sound.
dm
I have been real happy with my Eb Boosey 8 key, very responsive.
If you ever have a chance to get one of these, go for it!
jon
boosey made a flute with the French-style G#? Odd.
And the footkey set up looks very much like Hawkes. I wonder if they swiped it.
I just purchased on eBay an Eb Boosey flute in ebonite, so that will pair in with my Hawkes D in ebonite, both everyday practice flutes.
Yes… I had my eye on that one, but alas, not enough money in the hold. At least I know it went to a good home.
Hi Dave,
I think it was made about 1920. The key work is French style, but isn’t this the case on the military fifes and some flutes. Hard to believe that the English copied the French!:lol: The flute states that " this flute is British made throughout". So they must have been importing at that point, Germans? The hole layout and bore is like a scaled down Pratten design. Maybe Hawkes copied Boosey?
Here is a photo with my Boosey Bb flute (fife) Same key work on the body.
