Help me. I play the tinwhistle, which I love, but I met your group at the Milwaukee Irishfest this summer, and I fell in love with the wooden six hole flute. I want one. I need one. My life will be incomplete without one. i haven’t a damn clue what to buy, though. I have VERY limited funds, and I want it in the key of D. That’s all I know. Can anyone give me explicit directions on how to acquire my baby? 
Well, the first thing is to calm down, or you’ll end up spending more money than you need. 
Try this: http://www.woodenflute.com/purchasing.
I recommend getting a PVC (plastic) model from Michael Cronnolly (http://www.irishflutes.net, get his “Rudall” model) or a Delrin (plastic) model from Seery (http://www.worldtrad.org/Seery/). With either of these models you have a less expensive instrument that plays virtually as well as one of the more expensive ones. If you decide to stay with the flute, you can buy a better flute later and keep this as a practice instrument.
Ah, and join the WOODENFLUTE email list (also http://www.woodenflute.com).
g
There are a lot of budget flutes out there. Everybody has their preferences and it all depends on your budget.
A common suggestion is to put your deposit down for a wooden flute and while your waiting get going on a bamboo or plastic flute.
Under $100 the popular choices for plastic flutes are the Dixon and the Almount. Dixon’s PVC flutes are available in the US from The House of Musical Traditions.
Hammy Hamilton makes a student flute as well as highly respected wood flutes.
In the same price range the Olwell bamboo flutes are highly recommended. Brian Finnegan of Flook! plays them a lot. Olwell is also a highly respected wood flute maker.
Other alternatives for bamboo flutes are SunReed, Erik the Flutemaker, Tallgrass Winds and Woodsong.
For under $200 Dixon’s 3-piece polymer is very popular and well-received.
The next range is $300-$400 for the high-end polymer flutes. These are the M&E and Seery flutes. You may find some simpler wooden flutes in this range (no tuning slides, or ferrules, etc.).
Anything beyond that and your looking for a wooden flute which ranges at about $1000 (give or take a couple hundred) and waiting lists that can be as short as a few months and as long as a few years.
I started on a budget and got a Dixon Low D Duo from The Whistle Shop. I went on to buy a Dixon 3-piece polymer and then an Olwell bamboo. I’m now ready to start saving for a blackwood flute.
One of the best sources is Brad Hurley’s Guide to the Irish Flute. The directory of flutemakers will help you out a lot and there are a lot of good tips and links.
Welcome to the community!
Cheers,
Aaron
Also be sure to check out the Wooden Flute Exchange on that site. It lists flutes for sale second hand from individuals, and you can often get a good deal on a great flute there.
Just be aware that the flute isn’t as easy to play as a whistle – there’s that whole embouchure thing. It is, however, very rewarding.
Good luck, have fun, and welcome!
Steven
The sweetheart maple D is a good beginners flute
for 250. Can be ordered on the web.
If i can add one more piece of advice: stay away from eBay. Flutes are routinely sold incredibly overpriced there for God knows what reason.
Read a lot, email the makers and ask lots of questions, buy something cheap to start and move up later, that’s the way. All of the suggestions above for cheaper flutes are good ones.
And stay away from flutes with nice pictures in wooden cases where the seller can’t name the maker, in all kinds of woods. These are sold regularly on ebay (at least on ebay.de) for $100 - $200, are made in Pakistan and are said to be generally unplayable.
Sonja
I agree with Glauber get an M&E Rudall Rose or a Seery or a Dixon Polymer Three-piece (the polymer one not the pvc one). Any of the three is a great flute well worth the investment.
OR
Get yourself a Bamboo flute by Patrick Olwell. He is arguably the finest flute maker alive and makes a much sought after wooden flute (the holy grail of flutedom). You can’t afford one yet but do, by all means, get yourself a bamboo one they are astoundingly good and are less than $100.
Oh and welcome to the wonderful world of flute obsession
Cheers,
Doc
Thanks, all. I really do appreciate it. I wish I could try out flutes before I buy, but I live iin the middle of nowhere. I’m over four hours from the nearest city (Des Moines doens’t count as civilization)(except for their opera)(will stop babbling now). Thanks.
I wouldn’t worry about not trying a flute from a named maker - most have a return period if you’re not happy with the instrument. If you’ve not played flute though, be prepared for a few days of dizziness and very little sound production - that’s not the flute, it’s just you at first. This is another reason to go with any of the named makers above - they have good reputations so you know at first the flute is OK even though it sounds nothing like you expect it to. With time, it begins to sound like you expect it to, and then one day you’re addicted.
Buy the best cheap flute you can afford!
Eric
Jo:
I’d advise a good wood flute if you have the money; otherwise, the advice given here is good. M&E, Seery, and Dixon all make decent polymer flutes with which to learn.
I’ve sent you a PM, as well; welcome to the wonderful world of flute obsession (it’s pricier than whistle obsession – fair warning . . .)!
–Aaron
Hey Jo, welcome. I also started with the whistle and switched to the “harder stuff”. I have to agree with whats already been said but I would urge you to get a flute from Alan Mount. Just jump over to the chat room, he is always there and ask him for his web site. For 50 bucks you will have a very easy to play hunk of plastic with offset finger holes to make the transition easier and realy a dandy sound. It is a cheep way to find out if you realy want to tackel this nasty little beast. But beware, if you get hooked there is no turning back.
Tom
We most of us started with whistles and then…
heh, heh, heh…