For a while I’ve been intrigued by Eugene Lambe’s flutes—the versions with the metal heads and ebonite lip plate that he says is based on a “German reform” instrument. Sadly, I’ve never seen/heard/played one in person. Now it seems like his web page has disappeared.
Any comments on their playability, intonation, workmanship?
Anyone have one for sale, rent, loan so I could scratch this from my bucket list?
Or another maker’s version of the “German reform” flute?
Thanks and best wishes.
Steve
They were quite popular with some of the old fellas when he was making them. Brendan McMahon was doing them as well at the time. They seemed to do the job.
My first flute during the early eighties was one of Eugene’s, albeit with aregular wooden head.
Not much help, is it? I did see Eugene a few weeks ago, it may be worth your while to give him a shout.
I had (& eventually sold) one with the metal head, & now currently have one with the wooden head (at Jon C.'s to possibly replace the rings & prepare for sale). They seemed to play the same.
Here’s one, of the type, played by JP Downes at the time. There was a CD of him playing this flute , recorded by Jack Talty, if you can still find it. He was also part of the Quilty Ceiliband, with Junior Crehan and the rest of them, some of their stuff here, he played a different flute at that time though.
The upstairs music shop in Galway’s High st has Lambe flutes for sale, I sent PM about that.
https://thesession.org/recordings/5501
It was on Raelach Records, but no longer shown in their store. Likely quickly out of print soon after release.
https://www.raelachrecords.com/store
Jack Talty would know if that flute was used for the Wooden Flute Obsession volume 3 track recorded in 2005. The only info I received was “Blackwood keyless flute”.
Added: That track was recorded with Martin O’Malley of Malbay Studios.
Here’s another example I didn’t think of immediately. A neighbour, John Griffin, great player too. Again, I am not fully sure if the flute is Brendan McMahon’s or one of Eugene’s.
Interesting. It seems that the German company “Sandner” used that lip-plate design with the raised ‘cusps’ on either side of the embouchure hole. But they only produce fifes with a different fingering than a “normal” flute. They do offer a tenor model which has about the same range as a boehm flute.
http://www.sandner-floeten.de/floeten.html
It has a 19mm cylindrical bore and a tuning rod inside the plug to tune the octave. I used those plugs for some aluminium flutes with a 3mm wall. Always wanted to try one of those tenor fifes but hesitated because of the different fingering.
If memory serves me right, Casey Burns did something like this on some of his low pitched flutes. Casey?
Bob