I’ve got a Tipple 6 hole, and I posted some weeks ago about having trouble with the low notes. I’m still kind of struggling with it, although 80% of the time I pick up the flute it sounds ok. However, I played someone else’s (expensive) flute at a session last night and I couldn’t believe how easy it was to play! I had no trouble getting any notes out. Is it because the embouchure is an oval shaped rather than a circle?
Hi,
I also play a Tipple waiting for a wooden flute.
So far I have played several of Tom Aebi’s flutes, a Cotter one and a McGee. The McGee had a rounded square type of embouchure that is almost the double in size compared to the Tipple’s.
I think the Tipple’s embouchure is quite small and requires a more fcosed stream of air to sound well. This is somewhat difficult for a newbie. And I still feel myself as one after playing the Tipple for a year. I hope that it helps on the long run.
The McGee in contrast was the most easy one to get a rich full sound, much more forgiving.
Also I feel the lower notes need more “support” and that is something that you need lots of patience and dedication to learn.
Any comment appreciated,
brotherwind
I don’t know if this will be useful, but I’ve had something of the opposite experience. I find my Tipple D to be an easier player in the low octave than the Seery or Jon C that I have played. But I have had to use a different lip placement on the Tipple. Perhaps because of the round hole, I keep my lip higher than on the others – so that I’m directing the stream more at the upper edge than into the hole itself. It’s hard to put into words, but with this different lip placement, I find the Tipple to be very, very easy to blow across both octaves. I continue to be amazed at it!
Edited to add: Doug Tipple says that the wedge, while it improves intonation in the higher octave, can make the low notes harder to get. If you have the wedge installed, you may want to experiment with where it’s placed, or remove it altogether. You really shouldn’t be having trouble getting those low notes.
Noted - I’ll keep hacking away at it!
In the beginning, I also found the Tipple to be easier to play. Low notes are harder to blow strong on flutes in general it seems. Flutes take a lot of work. Just keep on plugging away.
-Casey
I think that “easy” and “hard” are fairly individual. I have extensive experience with three flutes (please note I don’t say that I’m good with three flutes, or even 1!):
Dixon 2-piece cylindrical (large oval embouchure)
Burns Folk Flute (small circular embouchure with some undercutting/shaping on the far wall)
Jon C medium holed R & R (medium to large oval)
The Dixon is fairly easy to play on the lower octave, quite a bit harder on the 2nd octave. Fairly loud.
The Burns is really easy on the lower octave, much more demanding on the 2nd (but still a lot easier than the Dixon 2-piece). Easy to play with a lot of volume, if desired - louder (and better tone!) than the Dixon, a bit more than the Jon C (if I push the Jon C for volume).
The Jon C R & R model is almost as easy as the Burns on the lower octave, but quieter (the volume’s available, but takes more work than the Burns - and the R & R is great for more nuanced playing). The upper octave is almost effortless compared to the other two flutes.
I don’t know what conclusions can be drawn - the hardest and easiest upper octaves were both oval embouchures, and volume seemed to be more a function of bore and hole size.
Several much better flute players than I have had a chance to play both the Burns F-F and my Jon C R & R model. One strongly preferred the Jon C (and found the Burns F-F difficult to play), while another had an equally strong preference for the Burns. The others found good things to say about both flutes.
One thing that might help your peace of mind would be to ask a good player for their opinion of your flute - you’ll probably be surprised at how much better it sounds in the hands of an experienced player! Once you know that it can sound good, it’s much easier to concentrate on your own development instead of blaming the flute. 
(Believe me, I know about this . . . blaming the flute for my own lacks was seductive. Really hard to keep that up after hearing someone else play the same piece I’ve been struggling with (in-tune, and effortlessly) then make a favorable comment on the flute’s quality. 
)
The circular embouchure hole is indeed a bit demanding;
also it is surprisingly good and expressive. I came to it (a tipple)
when I had already had a pretty good embouchure
and was surprised by the volume and the feeling
that I was really ‘getting a piece’ of the flute.
Anyhow everybody who says this takes time
is right. Patience, practice, patience,practice…
By the way, one way to develop ones’ embouchure
is to play a higher pitched flute, e.g. a Sweetheart rosewood
G. These aren’t so expensive and they sound very good.
That’s more demanding than a D flute and it
does transfer. Doug makes some very good
inexpensive higher pitched flutes too.
Jim makes a great point. F and G flutes are great for developing embouchure, and also very easy on the hands. Sweets and Tipples are great for this, and very fun flutes to play.
Thanks. An A flute enables you to play in D using ‘G fingering’
I take one along to a lot of sessions. The G flute gives you
G but also C, which can be very useful with singers.