I recently purchased a Garry Somers Practice flute, and since I couldn’t find much firsthand information on the web about this flute I decided to post a quick review.
I play the Boehm flute and tin whistle, but this is my first “Irish” flute. (I’m not sure that an aluminum flute made in Brazil can claim to be all that Irish, but I’m not very Irish either). In other words, I won’t be offended if you take my thoughts with a grain of salt. I’m sure you’re all dying to hear all the lengthy considerations I went through before buying this flute, but the short version is one evening I thought “why not” and ordered one from Whistle and Drum. Less than three days later it arrived on my porch.
The most important thing is obviously the sound. To me it sounds quite good. It has a tone that is warmer than a concert flute with a bit of a reedy edge that I find nice. I’ve been able to get a respectable amount of volume from the instrument, but find that it still sounds good when played softly.
The finish on the body gives enough texture that the flute is very easy to hold onto. I was surprised by the size of the holes (remember that I am new to keyless flutes) and Mr. Somers states that the holes are similar in size to a Pratten model, but even though my fingers are relatively narrow I found that I prefer playing with fingertips than using a piper’s grip.
The joints fit together well giving the flute a nice solid feel when assembled, but can be adjusted or separated without applying excessive force. While I don’t advocate abusing any instrument, this flute is definitely rugged. I think it would take gross negligence to seriously damage it. If you are an outdoors type this could be a perfect travel instrument. This is doubly true due to its light weight. My scale puts it at 209 grams.
In summary for a relatively modest sum I received a solid instrument with a good tone that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to others. Additionally I was very impressed by Whistle and Drum’s service and will be sending them more business in the (hopefully near) future.
[Thread title changed at request of the flute maker. - Mod]
Hello Kirby, and welcome to Chiff! Nice to hear someone new has found something great they like, and by your excellent description, no doubt it would appeal to many others. It even made me want to try one!
Or maybe it’s just a flute you can start on for a reasonable price, without investing $300-$500 to find out how you do, or like the flute. And then you practice, practice, practice…seems a good name to me.
Yeah, I guess maybe so. The word “practice” gave me some crazy notion about using it for your practice and saving your superbad Rudall 8-key for performance, a concept that to me just doesn’t make sense. But as long as the idea is now out there: Don’t do that. Play one or play the other, as the case may be.
Just to clarify this - I don’t actually call this model a ‘practice flute’ anywhere. I call it the ‘aluminium flute with delrin head’ or sometimes just ‘the aluminium flute’. Hammy Hamilton uses the term ‘practice flute’ for his aluminium flute with nylon head and I think that’s what the original poster (Kirby) had in mind.
I’d prefer if the title of the thread, at least, could be changed to ‘Garry Somers Aluminium Flute With Delrin Head’ to avoid confusion but not to worry if it’s too late.
I would think that’s a somewhat different issue. From what I observe, people who are looking for “session” instruments tend to want those that can be heard (primarily by oneself, I charitably surmise) amid the noise of a good-sized group whether by volume or a piercing quality. I do think this would be a more important issue among whistles than flutes (which - construction aside - are entirely dependent on how they are played for volume, projection, or other audibility factors). But even on a bad day I’ve never really had difficulty hearing myself in sessions, so I can’t speak to others’ motivations.
Never found yourself sandwiched between two rambunctious accordionists (one button, one PA) in a session with 20 additional players, have you?
Apart from the one time I was in the above situation, I tend to agree with your statement. Luckily, that has happened only once in 16 years of active session attendance.
Can’t say I remember ever being sandwiched between marauding boxes, but then I do have a high tolerance for pain, and the drink might also be a factor. Some of the most vexing sessions for me were when the group was so big, you’d get a time lag from one end to the other, like doing the Wave but with tunes. Shipwreck. Life preservers and dinghies.
