Hello all!
I have been reading this forum for a while but this is the first time I post asking a question.
I am a flute beginner and I still don’t have a proper instrument,
Untill now I played a PVC flute made by myself.
I never played a wooden instrument because here (I live in Italy) this kind of instrument is not so popular.
francesco!
lejeune flutes are very good, and i think that price is correct.( find his web site to check it!)
luca ( seller) is good and honest man ,so there will be also no problems for you.
about, your statement that wooden flute isn’t so popular in italy take look at www.folkfest.it and if you come in san benedetto, you will be able to see and hear lot of good flutes and players, not only from italy, and we will meet here because i will be here also.
marin
Hi Batt/Francesco, & welcome!
You have good advice from the others already, and I believe there are indeed quite a few good simple system flute players (of ITM and otherwise) in Italy.
Regarding flutes and whether or not you buy the Lejeune flute, it is worth looking out for antique flutes by the Milan maker Rampone from the late C19th and early C20th - they made very good flutes comparable to the best from the famous London, Paris and Vienna workshops. I have one (there are some pictures and sound samples on it somewhere on this forum… and you can see me playing it here) and it is excellent for ITM - and there are examples in the DC Miller collection (viewable online) and also you can see pages from a historic Rampone catalogue on Rick Wilson’s site. Given that demand for these things is not huge in Italy, I’d suspect there is a very good chance of finding them in antique/junk shops, auctions etc. at reasonable prices with a bit of patience and energy.
I would go for that flute if you can afford it. Geert’s flutes are wonderfull, I am awaiting two keyed flutes that should be done in the next month or two. Odds are that if you do not win the auction Geert may have a new flute available, you may want to contact him.
The price is interesting, but I don’t know if I can handle a flute of that period. I think that maybe will require some refurbishment that will void the cheaper price.
francesco,believe me s.b. is one of friendiest festival with great music and participants. luca (the seller of flute will also be there).
in any case contact organizators of festival for more informations.
( you will find phone numbers in sb web page!) and put your reservation soon as possible! i come first time in 2001. and since than i attend festival every year,although i must travel from croatia each time.
marin
FWIW, the listing says it’s in playing condition, and even if it needed an overhaul (pads and lappings and buffers etc. plus a clean, but no major surgery) it would still be cheap for a fully keyed flute compared to such an item from a modern maker
I do agree the Lejeune looks a very good opportunity if you want to stay keyless - though if you think you may want to graduate to keyed flutes, the earlier you do so in your learning process the better!
Whatever your choice and eventual purchase, I wish you enjoyment and success with the music! And though I don’t know anything about particular festivals in Italy, Marin’s advice is good - don’t be timid, get in there - even if you can’t play much, you’ll learn lots from hearing and talking to more experienced players and enjoy yourself as an audience member - if it is local and affordable, do it!
I’m not familiar with Rampone, but it looks like an antique french or german flute with very small holes and all. I’m not sure that would be such a good purchase if you’re into mostly folk stuff and playing in groups. Wouldn’t it seem wiser to invest in a good keyless instrument instead? You can learn to play keyless and then just add the keys…
Ciao compatriota! Ti scrivo in inglese così anche gli altri mi capiscono
About the festival in san benedetto, on the site you can see that for the flute there are two categories, one for beginners and the other for advanced players. And from what i saw during the festival in rome the past march, players of all levels will be there…
So, if you can afford around 150 euros, just go! i’m sure you won’t regret it.
I’ll be there (Luca, the seller, is giving me a lift ).
About the flute, i think it will be more safe for now if you get the keyless one. Most of the irish tunes won’t need any key, and you can always easily sell the Lejeune someday in the future and get a keyed flute, if you feel you want to try how it is…
Henke, I understand from the appearance of the Rampone why you wrote that, BUT, have you checked out my video linked above or my other C&F posts regarding my Rampone? Also a sound-only clip here. Alright, I’m not a good enough player to get the most out of it, but what I do get out of it is a fair indicator of what it would do for a really good fluter, or indeed of how conducive it would be as a good quality instrument for a newbie! I would not recommend them if I didn’t know for sure what I was saying!
Although at cursory glance they do look rather “nach Meyer”-ish, don’t be misled - Rampone’s simple system flutes were modelled on the Viennese style of flute, not French or German, and they even labelled them as “Ziegler System” for the more-than-8-keyers. See the catalogue on Rick Wilson’s site also linked above. My example has holes similar in size to my medium holed original R&R, and whilst it has a different tone-colour than that, it is very nice for ITM. It also has better intonation - very forgiving for a period simple system flute! When Chris Wilkes had a play on it about 18 months ago he commented that it was a better player (for ITM) than my R&R in his opinion, and he likes that! Large tone-holes are not always necessary for strong tone and volume.
I do disagree with this avoiding-keyed-flutes-as-a-beginner advice. If you can get a good quality, playable keyed flute (most likely an old one) for the same as or less than a similar quality keyless one (almost certainly modern made), do! You don’t have to use the keys because they are there, but they don’t (normally) get in the way and you don’t then have to add in learning to use them at a later stage as a re-learning process. Better if you develop your use of them as the need crops up because they are already available to you. Sure, much of the music doesn’t call for them, but when it does… Sure, a decent keyless flute by a reputable modern maker is a grand thing and will do most of what you want, but if you can get an equally good but more developed instrument for the same money or less??? The logic seems self-evident to me!
Edited to add link to pics of my Rampone that I just re-inserted to the original post due to picture server collapse!
Also a link to another audio clip of my Rampone being “played for real” at a session.
And here is a link to some snippet video clips showing use of the foot keys on my Rampone… I think the 3rd one shows the tone to best advantage (I’d warmed up more!), allowing for mobile phone recording limitations!
Your point is well taken. I hadn’t checked out your videos before, but it certainly seems like a nice flute. And you don’t have to convince me that large holes aren’t necessary, as you probably know already
I didn’t mean that newbies should avoid keyed instruments altogether, I meant that given the choice of a good keyless or a less good keyed instrument (this one probably isn’t less good as was made evident), the newbie should not choose the keyed just because you get the keys for the same price.
I don’t know what would be the best choice here now though. The Rampone suddenly seems like a very good deal.
Now go tell me what you think about my flute, and have some calvados, since you are missing out on all the good
whisky
I’ve now added some more links in my previous post. Can’t go drinking, alas - off to work (driving!) in about an hour. Got to go get some dinner now before that, so that’s it from me for today!
).