Ferris F Flute

Irish Flute
1

Has anyone ever played a Ferris F Flute?

http://cgi.ebay.com/F-FLUTE-6-KEY-SCRATCH-FINISH-EBONITE-WITH-CANVAS-CASE_W0QQitemZ250237381139QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Woodwind_Instruments?hash=item3a434f6a13

Here’s a YouTube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L8Fr0E8DNg

They’re fairly cheap…I just ordered one…

-Brett

2

Looks and sounds quite nice indeed. I might get one aswell. It would be nice if you could tell us your impressions of the flute once you get it. Thanks:)

3

I will! -brett

4

I’d be very intersted in hearing feedback regarding this flute, my only concern is the pitch, as it’s being supplied as a marching band flute it’s likely to be high pitch, fine as a solo instrument but not really useable in group play, I will wait to hear.

Paul

5

Hi,

I have ordered a Ferris F Flute which I received three weeks ago and here comes a little review.
I took notice of this flute through the same video that Bretton linked above. I thought that an F Flute with 6 keys for 125 Pounds (the current price at ferrismusic) would be a real bargain. But the high pitch of A=452Hz concerned me. So I wrote an e-mail to Stuart who plays the flute in the video. He told me that it is a good flute for the money and that you can get close to modern pitch of A=440Hz. But he recommended an F Flute from millyard-molem. These flutes are all handmade from African Blackwood and can be ordered high or low pitched. But 700 Pounds was beyond my budget limit. So here are my impressions of the Ferris F Flute after intense playing for the last three weeks.

  • The flute is well made from ebonite as mentioned on the ferris home page. I am not
    able to tell if it is really ebonite or another synthetic material. It has a brushed
    texture and might be a bit brittle.

  • The holes are properly drilled.

  • The brass tuning slide works well. (Not as smooth as on my Hamilton Flute in D)

  • I had to smooth down the cork of the tenon a bit because the barrel was to tight.

  • The head is completely lined with the brass tube that is part of the tuning slide.

  • The keys work very well but for my hands the lever of the Eb-key (would be the C-
    key on a D Flute) is a bit to long and I have to concentrate to not hitting it with the
    right index finger accidentally.

  • Standard fingering oxxooo for Eb (C) works well.

  • It can be tuned to play at 440Hz. But if your fellow musicians are able and willing to
    tune a bit higher around 442Hz to 445Hz it is a very sociable flute.

  • The sound is quite powerful and well balanced through the first and second octave.
    Higher notes in the third octave don’t work as well as on my other flutes and have a
    slightly different fingering.

  • The bottom note F is a bit higher than the rest of the scale but that can easily be
    altered with the embouchure.

  • The flute has a good and quick response

  • It comes in a heavy duty carrying case which had a really chemical smell at the
    beginning :boggle:

  • Ferrismusic offeres a full range of spare parts (springs, pads etc.)

Hope this helps!

6

It seems that they also make a Bb and an Eb band flute/piccolo and the Eb comes in both high and low pitch. I wonder if the others can be found in low pitch. The Miller Browne flutes seem to be getting harder to find and their options have been reduced, so I wonder if these will eventually replace them. In Low pitch Bb and F I would be tempted to save my change to try out one of these keyed flutes.

7

FWIW, Dave Copley’s blackwood F flute is terrific, IMO. Have one.
I believe John Skelton helped design it. No keys
but personally I don’t care. Keys are nice but by now
I can play without using keys all the notes keys play,
at least on a six-key flute.

The Sugar Ray Robinson of flutes…

8

Hi. Sorry I hadn’t replied with some feedback until now…

I’ve had my Ferris F flute for about 4 months now. I’m very happy with it for the money. It plays fairly easily and has a pretty loud and nice tone. I don’t really use keys much, but this is a cheap way to give them a try and see if you’d be likely to use them on a more expensive flute. The keys to all work and sound in tune to my ear (haven’t checked with a tuner). I only play the flute by myself, so I’m not sure about it’s tuning (as far as high/low pitch, band instrument, etc.).

I really like the size (finger spacing, length) and sound of this F flute, and may get one of Dave Copely’s blackwood F’s at some point. I’ve had fun playing with the keys, but about the only one I use is the G# (not really a G# on an F flute…), and for one tune the F-natural.

As the other poster mentioned, it comes with a nice case, but I’ve left mine assembled since I got it and haven’t used the case much.

Overall I’d say it’s a great deal for the money. If they had a full-sized D flute I’d buy one.

-Brett

9

P.S. While I do like my Ferris Flute, I’m not really playing it that much since it’s in F, so I’ve got it up for sale on the Used Instrument Exchange if anyone’s interested:

(TRADE PENDING)

https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/fs-ferris-f-flute-trade-pending/71879/1

-Brett