Hello All
Glenn has a batch of flutes almost ready (9 I believe in cocobolo and Honduras Rosewood). I know Glenn has an excellent reputation for whistle making, and would welcome your opinions on his flutes.
Much appreciated.
John
[ This Message was edited by: mccormackjohn on 2002-06-04 00:03 ]
[ This Message was edited by: mccormackjohn on 2002-06-04 00:21 ]
Well… I’m a new flute player… I’m not sure I’d even call myself that at this point… But I’m trying out one of his flutes in Cocobolo right now… I had Shannon Heaton of Siucra (www.siucra.net) play it today… Now, she plays Olwells… and she said it was a nice flute… especially in the mid range… meaning around F# G A… She also said that the low D wasn’t as hard to get as alot of other flutes and that she could tell that though it sounded “new” that it would break in to be a nice flute. One interesting thing about the flute I guess is that it doesn’t have the two “venting” holes at the bottom… I guess this is because this particular flute was never meant to have the C & C# keys… I like it because it makes for a shorter flute… BTW… The workmanship is beautiful and the woodgrain is gorgeous…
Maybe that helped,
I have a followup question:
We just took delivery of two of this batch – one of each wood – so that my wife (the flute player), who is a concert-flute player, could try them out for size. These are absolutely gorgeous flutes, especially the cocobolo. This one also plays like a dream except:
The F# is WAY flat. (It can be brought into tune by adjusting the embouchure, but that might be a problem since she plays mostly concert flute.) We’re wondering if Glenn, or possibly Irish musicians in general, favor a lower F# (mi) in the scale. Is it a standard temperament?
Also, does anyone know if it’s possiblefor the flutemaker to sharpen this note without trashing all the higher notes?
Thanks in advance, Charlie
Charlie,
In all likelihood the F# is not flat to the rest of the flute, it’s just your corrupted equal temperament ear that thinks it sounds flat. Simple system flutes often sound “out of tune” to ears that have been trained to a boehm system flute. The F# is ususally the note that most boehm players identify as being flat. For an interesting discussion of playing in tune with a simple system (baroque) flute, go the Folkers@Powell web site. You can also put on a recording of one of your favourite Irish flute players and play along with the tune. You’ll probably find that the F# sounds just fine. Glenn’s whistles are reknowned for their spot on tuning. It would be difficult to imagine that his flutes would be any different…but you never know.
Steve