I am trying to find a maker of Ferrary Fifes.
Any Suggestions?
I.D.10-t do you own one of his fifes? Please tell me about it.
There’s ones for sale at Fife and Drum
Peeler Fifes is the maker.
Cooperman makes ones similar.
I own a Peeler Firth, Pond & Co. reproduction in Grenadilla with w/modern finger holes. Although it has modern finger holes, the sound is, um, different than a Healy (or most other modern instruments) because it is cylindrical bore rather than having a Boehm taper in the head. The bore is slightly more narrow than Healy and the Sweet folk fife that I have. This makes the low “D” difficult to hit at first (not that you would play it that low), butmay be the reason that it is the only fife that I have been able to hit high “B” on. The round embouchure of the Peeler fife takes a concentrated air stream to get a nice tone out of but allows you to bend the notes to “proper” tune. My playing has improved on the other fifes because of its embouchure.
Closing my eyes and rubbing my finger along the fife, it is difficult to tell where the nickel silver ferrules end and the wood begins (the wood to metal seem is very well done). The bore is smooth and the finger holes slightly rounded instead of left sharp. Workmanship is beautiful.
It is not the loudest fife I own, but that may be the way I play it.
My Peeler Fife gets the most use out of the three I own.
Ralph sweet use to make a Boehm tapered one piece fife called the Suffeild (sp?). and you may want to read up on his fifes. I have had no personal experiences with his one piece fifes.
http://www.sweetheartflute.com/milfifes.html
The Model F fife (I think) has a lot of similarities to the Ferrary fife.
http://www.beafifer.com/modelf.htm
(Edit read the link below highlight=ferrary)
As for the Cooperman fifes, I have heard good things about their concert fifes with a modern profile bore, but mixed reviews on their other fifes. Again, no personal experiences, except for playing their plastic fife (great for travel), their cheap maple fife (expensive fire wood), and some of their older fifes before they started making their fifes with thinner walls.
The real question is why you want a Ferrary? Is there a corps that plays them in your area? Most fifes only play well with each other. So if you are thinking of playing with others, it is best to find out where they get theirs. If you plan playing with other non fife players, remember that the one piece fifes are not very tunable, and play in Bb.
You should really read a qualified person’s opinion of Peeler (and other) fifes though. Try a PM to jim_mc.
Here are some other threads.
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=6685&highlight=fife+ferrary
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=17310&highlight=ferrary
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=14635&highlight=peeler+fife
I own five Ferry fifes. The first, Bb, one he made for me back in '70 or '71 when he was still in the fife making business. While I was there I noticed a fife hanging on his wall, it was an A fife. He saw me looking at it, took it down for me to play then gave it to me as he was not making any A fifes. It may have been a prototype for him.
I bought two more Bb from two different dealers over the years and a C Ferrary on eBay about nine years ago. i would say he made about the best fife in the business then and perhaps even now. He died somewhere in the early '80’s, I think.
Ron Peeler makes great replicas of the Ferrary in different woods. Check his web site given above.
You might want to check out http://www.fifedrum.org/ for more fife information as well as the .com listing above.
BillG
Thank you for all of the great infomation. I am looking for a Ferrary because when I was at the Underhill fife and drum cor I tried an old Ferrary fife, and fell in love with it.
Thank you Bill for the great responce. FIVE Ferrary fifes? Let me know when you don’t want any of them! I think Ron Peeler has moved to the top of my list.
If you are talking about Hanaford’s Volunteers Fife and Drum Corps in Underhill, Vermont, why don’t you try contacting them at their web site
http://freesites.pshift.net/~tierney/hanafords/
Contacts here
http://freesites.pshift.net/~tierney/hanafords/contacts.htm
Pamela Lake seems to be the primary contact. You may find out what they prefer, and who they buy fifes from now.
So will this be your first fife? Why would you want to play such a thing? What did you like about it? The music played on a fife is usually much less expressive than Irish flute music, so I do not understand why you would want to play music on a “period” instrument unless you want to play that period of music.
Just wonder what you liked about the fife.
PS. Sorry, over analytical mind.
I do not play with any fife and drum corp. I just visited with the Underhill group and got a chance to play an old Ferrary fife. I already have a low D flute, and I am planning on playing at Ren fairs, out side as a roving performer. The low D will not be as easily heard and harder to carry around all day.
I like the Ferrary because I found the second octave clear and sweet, not shrill (like many other fife’s I’v tried). And the first octave was easy to get, sounded nice and “round” if you will. Yes, fifes do not have the “bendable” range that larger flutes do, but I find them very up lifting and festive. My low D, un- microphone, will be lost in the “murmur” of the Ren fair. And I think a Ferrary like fife will work good for my playing style and where I am planning on playing it. It’s really just a personal preference thing.
I don’t know if the Ferrary fife would be the best instrument for you if you are trying to play at the Ren-fair. A Ralph Sweet folk fife (as would a Skip Healy fife) may play the lower octave better than a traditional one piece fife. The Ralph sweet fife may look a little more traditional for this setting than a Healy fife. The advantage of the two piece fifes is that they can be tuned to other players. The Cooperman two piece fife also has a decent reputation.
I am not saying that the Ferrary fifes are not a wonderful fife (never played one) they may not be appropriate for your needs. Finding a place to try other fifes may be difficult, but you may find that the effort is worth while.