Anyone played one of his new designs? I’m about to get in the queue and he’s mentioned that he’s got a new design for his R&R flutes that many are finding quite nice. Anyone care to comment?
Rob
I haven’t played one of his “old” designs, in fact I didn’t know he’d changed anything. Anywho, my wife took delivery of a lovely 8-key about 2 months ago. The toneholes are large for a Rudall-inspired flute – they’re about the same size as those in my Olwell Nicholson. In fact, it’s similar in many ways, the embouchure cut (to my very untrained eyes) looks pretty similar. It’s a wonderful player, capable of a great variety of sounds; the one criticism I have of it is that it’s heavy – I’m used to boxwood and unlined heads, so the combination of blackwood and a fully-lined head is a little much for me.
It must be that he’s opening the flute up a bit, but I only assume that from what you have written. I will be switching from a Lehart. I wrote Grinter about it and this was his response:
“My flutes are very different from those that Gilles LeHart makes, but I’ve had a number of people swap over, and they end up loving my Rudalls. I’m also making a new design model Rudall, which is tending to suit a lot of players more than my older models.”
Anyways, seems like a good thing to me.
Rob
What’s the wait on a keyed Grinter, these days?
Ours was about 22 months.
I’ve tried Mike’s new Rudall model,it’s louder than the previous model
and perfectly in tune as no other Irish flute I’ve tried,except the Wilkes.
Okay, I’ll bite: What other Irish flutes have you tried?
Loren
Aebi
Doyle
Lehart
Hamilton
Olwell
Grinter
Murray
Wilkes
Williams
McGee
McMahon
Rudall & Rose
Prowse
Boosey (not in D)
other antique flutes
Mike’s new model sounded exceptionally well in tune to my ear.
Hmm . . . you sure have tried a lot of flutes!
It’s interesting that you think Grinter’s are more in tune than some of those. I’ve tried several of them (the other makers’ flutes) myself and they were “perfectly” in tune. So how does one improve on perfection?
Maybe the timbre of the notes is very even?
Stuart
Might be due to personal embouchure variations aswell.
I haven’t said that all other maker’s flutes are out of tune.most of them
with an adeguate embouchoure can play perfectly in tune,but I’ve found
that for my ears Mike’s new model needed definitely less lip (or chin) adjustement than any other flute(except the Wilkes) I tried and played enough to have an idea about,not only an impression.
Playing an instrument that needs less adjustment would allow the player
to concentrate more on the music and less on other boring things that
musicians do have to mind,at least if they want their music
enjoyed by audience/listeners/other musicians they’re playing with.
The one I’ve tried was Mike’s own flute and I’ve only reported my 1st hand thoughts about it.
Rob,I would go for the new model.
Sturob and Loren,did you tried Grinter’s new model?
Hmm, interesting comments indeed.
Nope, I haven’t played any of Grinter’s “New” flutes…well, not that I’m aware of, I mean without a date as to when he started shipping the new models, I wouldn’t really have a way of knowing I suppose. All the Grinters I’ve tried that were several years or more old, had a very nice (sweet) tone, but all were on the quiet side. Not a bad thing, but there was certainly room for improvement, volume wise, if a maker wanted to go that way. I’ll be interested to give one of Michael’s new flutes a whirl, if I ever stumble across one.
Loren
The only Grinter I’ve ever actually laid hands on is my own, a Bb that was I think the third he made. It’s nice and it’s in tune with itself.
So I know I’ve not played any of his new flutes.
Stuart
I was in Ennis this past November and met Michael. I have been playing a Grinter flute since 2000 and have been perfectly happy with it. Previous to getting one of his flutes, I played a Rudall & Rose/Wylde, that happened to be the same model his design was based on. For this reason I was already used to the embouchure necessary for those style flutes. I had a chance to give his new flute a go and didn’t see too much difference in tone, as I’m able to get a fair amount of volume and tone out of the one I play already. If there were a difference, I’d say it has more to do with embouchure styles than anything. His new flute has an embouchure hole that Pratten style players will find more suitable I would guess. I haven’t spent much time playing Pratten style flutes, but I believe that the embouchure might be more forgiving. The Rudall & Rose flutes seem to have a narrower runway than the Pratten ones. I hope this helps.
another difference between his old and new model is that the new can be also made with interchangeable bodies (in Eb and C).the nice thing about it is that when you’re in tune at A 440 changing the body you’re still in tune (I mean you don’t have to move the tuning slide).and the tuning is
a bit “improved” by sure,because I’ve noted it and then also Mike said that
he did a couple of changes to the tuning.
This is all quite interesting and good news indeed! I’ve tried out several Grinter flutes in the past and I could never understand what this Grinter hype is all about. I even do think that Kevin Crawford sounded better on his Wilkes. So maybe I will like Grinter’s new flutes more?
Michael Grinter, send us a RAF, will ye?
What do you base your opinion on; his recordings, or did you sit next to him while he switched from one to the other? Recordings can be deceiving because a lot depends on recording technology, engineers, and recording circumstances, but when you’re sitting in a room playing each flute and comparing them, and you’re Kevin Crawford – I doubt that you would choose to play the lesser flute. Kevin told me he stopped playing his Wilkes when he received his first Grinter. He didn’t say there was anything wrong with the Wilkes, he just preferred the Grinter. I’m sure he scrutinized them carefully and selected what he thought he sounded best on.
Well, there is still a bit of speculation going on for your part though, no? Polite people don’t always explain all their reasons for doing things, so perhaps it’s not fair for any of us to make assumptions? I know of (name) players who, proportedly, have switched from one flute to another because they couldn’t get repairs taken care of quickly enough. Others (it has been said) because they liked an instrument but couldn’t get the maker to give them exactly what they wanted. Other times players are said to have fallen out with a particular maker, and so on. Having dealt with professional (working) musicians most of my life, I know all to well that there can be many reasons why a person might play something other than their “preferred” instrument on stage.
At any rate, I don’t see it as being useful (for any of us) to name names and such, rather it would be better for the player in question to go on the record, or not, and the rest of us might do well to refrain from speculating on motives we really aren’t privy to.
But that’s just my opinion on the matter, I’m not trying to cram my POV down anyone’s gullet 
Loren
Oh, I wasn’t going to say the Grinter is a lesser flute, not at all! And I am also sure Kevin prefers what he plays. It’s just that I preferred his sound on the other brand. Yes, I am talking about his sound on recordings. I have played some sessions with him, but that was in the days long before Lunasa and Grinter. Haven’t met him since. I know what studio tricks can do (and can’t do). But still, his newer sound somehow reflects my own experience with Grinter’s flutes. Coincidence? Maybe. 
Claus
I have seen Mike in November during the Ennis trad festival, and took delivery of my new 8 key cocus. before that I was playing an Aebi (in cocus too).
I have tried several Grinter flutes before, and I have to say (for most of them) I didn’t like it so much, I found they were really weak and dry sounding, with very few embouchure capabilities. But I must admit that I was completely amazed when I first tried the new flute. It reminded me immediately of one of the last Chris Wilkes’ Rudall model :
a rich deep resonant low register, bright and vibrating harmonics, great tuning, and above all an embouchure who shows a very suprising versatility.
Mike told me that he made the bore wider at the footjoint and the top of the left hand section.
For me it is really different from what he used to produce before, but he also told me that many people didn’t like the flute I had chosen for myself because it was a bit hard to obtain the proper tone. And I like difficult embouchures because they generally give more possibilities…(a feature I also like very much in Tom Aebi’s flutes)
and my new flute allows me to use more dynamics in my music, this instrument is sounding great wether it’s played very softly or very loud.
I’m a big fan of Chris Wilkes’ work, consider he is the best flute maker of today. But I don’t think I could wait 6 years for my instrument ! The Grinter is approching this quality very near and I didn’t have to wait for ages.
I also have the C joints in cocobolo that goes along with the D embouchure, it’s also fantasic.
cheerzz ,
Sylvain