Could someone please tell me a bit about the different woods that go into irish flutes? I’m a semi-beginner looking to get a more advanced flute, and I’m a bit confused with the options there are. What sort of sounsd come from different woods, and what are the benefits of such-and-so’s over others? Any help would be very much appreciated, thank you 
Terry McGee’s site has a lot of info on the subject. http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/
I have been told by Michael Grinter and Sam Murray that blackwood is recommended for low humidity areas (Scandinavia’s awful during the winter months)
The toughest and most popular flute wood today is African Blackwood, which has a lovely dark sound (IMO).
I think most everyone agrees you can’t go wrong with it–woodwise, anyhow.
Thank you. I think I tend to like the overall look of the more brownish and reddish flutes though, rather than the black ones. What would be the best woods for sound and durability in those colors?
Mopane has the colors you mention, it’s quite beautiful, it’s tough and has a warm sound.
Personally I think it sounds somewhat less bright and articulates less definitely than blackwood, FWIW.
No question that some very good flutes use it.
Cocus has the colors and sounds lovely but is rare and expensive.
I may be in the minority opinion here but … the wood contributes only a little to the overall sound of the flute. It is more influenced by the design of the flute, the skill of the maker in cutting the embouchure (etc.) and the player’s skills. What matters most is that you play a flute from a known maker with a solid reputation.
That said. African Blackwood is the timber of choice because it is hard, dense, resists the effects of moisture and is quite stable in all dimensions when seasoned properly. In other words, a blackwood flute should hold up to what a flute is subjected to. Don’t be fooled by the name. While African Blackwood is dark, it is not all black (especially these days) and can be dark brown with black streaks, etc. Each piece is a bit different. Mopane is a good Blackwood substitue and is generally brown (right, Jim?).
Read the link to Terry McGee’s site. Those are some good timbers and they will provide enough colors to suite most tastes. And there are others as well. I like woods such as Tulipwood (Brazilian), Kingwood, Olivewood and Cocobolo for instance. But none of those are quite as suitable as mopane or blackwood.
Feadoggie
http://www.caseyburnsflutes.com/cat_low.php
Here’s a link to some pictures of mopane flutes on Casey’s site.
Personally I think one should go for the most durable and best sounding flutewood.
Functionality trumps color, iMO. It’s what you end up caring most about.
Also functionality is beautiful, even visually. Blackwood and silver is elegant.
Also mopane and cocus darken with age and blackwood, as mentioend above,
can have reddish/brownish streaks.
Point well taken that flutewood is not the major determinant of a flute’s sound,
and it does play a role. E.G. Boxwood has a distinctive sound.
You might pay particular attention to Terry’s remarks about Red Lancewood. This Australian timber is hard. dense, and takes a remarkable finish.
Bob
Personally I think cocus is unsurpassed in harmonic richness but as mentioned above the wood only plays a small part in the sound, even though cocus is more expensive I think it is well worth it. I have been playing on a dogwood flute by John Gallagher for the past 7 months or so and love it, somehow the wood combines the sweetness and light weight of boxwood with nearly as much richness of sound as cocus, although this could be do more to the very deep chimney (thickness of wood surrounding the embouchure hole) than the material, with the staining on the exterior it also resembles cocus only is more reddish. Apart from one Olwell flute John is the only maker I know of that uses dogwood.
I also have a Martin Doyle flute in what he calls ‘Amazon’ rosewood which when hewer had a striking reddish color but has since darken, this is a fine choice to consider as well. Martin’s website also has a nice page on woods which is worth checking out too.
I’m currently playing a Terry McGee GLP made of Cooktown Ironwood, another Australian hardwood. I really really like it. I’m getting the edgy, lively, “Irish” sound and response. It’s a beautiful brown with interesting patterns in the wood.
That said, can’t go wrong with blackwood. Also, blackwood could have a better resale value. I wonder what the GLP would sound like in blackwood, if there’d be any difference?
Jason
Thank you for all your input
Oh, damn, I was hoping I’d be the first person really working in dogwood. Not ready for commercial flutes for a couple of years, but I have been making whistles from it. Both eastern flowering (from my own yard) and Pacific, purchased commercially. It’s great stuff, turns a lot like boxwood, but a little stringier.
I’ve found that it absorbs and gives off a lot of moisture. Is this your experience, Avery, and/or do you know if John treats the dogwood?
It is a really nice wood very similar to boxwood but the sound is a bit richer. I’m not entirely certain on what you mean chas, do you mean the amount of moisture it absorbs while playing it and the effect this has on the amount of water dripping out of the footjoint? If that’s what you mean then it absorbs more than blackwood. As far as treatment John stains the outside but don’t ask me with what and I’m also pretty sure he seals the bore with a thin layer of superglue which means that the wood will absorb less moisture. My Doyle rosewood tends to absorb a ton of moisture; more than the Gallagher but I suspect this is due to the superglue. All in all it absorbs more than blackwood but not quite as much as other woods; I don’t think it absorbs as much as boxwood but I don’t have a boxwood flute so I can’t be certain.
I would recommend considering which flute suits you best before worrying about the material. I’ve tried very nice synthetic instruments which played much nicer than others made of expensive and exotic woods. Come to think of it, I’m surprised no one has mentioned the synthetics. They don’t crack or warp, and are very easy to care for. To some, they sound identical to the wooden flutes.
That said, my own liking is boxwood. It’s light (the blackwoods are heavy), may not have the projection of the blackwoods, but does have plenty of character.
Tom (Casey Boxwood Folkflute)
All well and good, but many of the better makers don’t use synthetics.
As far as wood choice goes, it’s important to remember that the material a flute is made of only really gets a chance to make any contribution to the sound of the instrument if it’s being played properly. Once the air column is truly excited and the whole instrument is vibrating, then you might hear the characteristics of the wood shine through. If, on the other hand, the player is only gently huffing down the bore in an unfocused way then - forgive me - it hardly matters what the flute is made of.
Rob
Yes, yes, the whole instrument vibrates when it’s played well. So the vibrating properties of different flute woods, which have different molecular structure, color the sound in different ways. Somebody said it. Thank you.
Red Herring Alert!
Rob Sharer wrote:
All well and good, but many of the better makers don’t use synthetics.
Yes, all well and good, Rob, but many of the better makers are not trained machinists. The synthetics are different from wood, and some synthetics are more challenging to machine than wood. It is quite a challenge to become a skilled instrument craftsman in one material, and may be enough for some of our top makers to excel in one media and not many.
That said, I also would point out that boundary effects have as much to, if not more, do with performance in wind instruments as material. This can be shown by the often perceived difference in performance in freshly oiled flutes.
Bob
I read the statement as one of fact and not one stating any value judgement on synthetics. For whatever reasons, polymers flutes are a less common offering. Considering the OP was specifically asking about wood, it seems if anything is thread drift it is the introduction of non-wood materials.
Back to the original topic (sorta). John Gallagher uses an acid to do his staining - not sure what kind. He showed it to me when I visited his shop. As far as “exotic” woods, he also has a Bb (keyless) in holly. It’s very light and plays great, but he’s not sure if he’ll ever really use the wood - kinda hard to get.
Pat
I get that, except the red herring part.
What I meant is, for example, try getting Pat Olwell to make you a synthetic flute. I know he did at least one, and apparently it stank up the workshop so bad that last time I heard he was disinclined to have another go. Too bad, as a good plastic flute might suit certain situations I find myself in from time to time.
Pat’s not the only one who won’t touch the stuff, which fact does indeed cut down on the options for synthetic flutes.
Rob