Does anyone out there have a sense of the differences or similarities in air requirements for a Hamilton flute versus an Olwell Pratten model?
They strike me as pretty similar, but it’s been awhile since I tried the Hammy. Great flute though - I played the one Michael Eskin used to have, but before he owned it.
Loren
Similar. I had no problem moving from one to the other in terms of embouchure or air requirements, in either octave. Not that I’d trade my Hammy, but at least I wouldn’t be disappointed if I had to replace it with an Olwell. Both makers produce fine flutes.
Kevin Krell
They’re very similar, even in look. When I first got my Hamilton, I met another fluter at a session with a brand-new Olwell. In the dark pub, both flutes relatively unfamiliar to both of us, they were virtually identical.
Playing hers, I found differences, but not at all in the how-much-air question. They both played well softly and, though they get a slightly different tone louder, I worked no harder at one than the other. On a purely visual point, Olwells seem to be buffed shinier, like his cane flutes, the Hammy a tad more ‘masculine’ in look, whatever that means.
Since then, I’ve seen Olwells with more visual variety, with a split middle and in other wood types (hers was your basic blackwood Pratten type, and are all of Hammy’s non-custom flutes), but there is nothing easier or harder with one over the other regarding air, fingering or play.
Thank you all for your input.