I have a little bit of experience with regular silver Boehm flutes and some experience with tin whistles. I’d like to purchase a simple system Irish flute. I’ve been looking at McNeela’s offerings. I don’t have a tremendous amount to spend, so I’ve focused on two models. First if the “New Irish Cocuswood” flute. Second, is the African Blackwood flute. Interestingly the cocuswood is LESS expensive.
I guess, my question is: which would be a better investment? Would the African Blackwood be worth the extra money? Also, does anyone have personal experience with them? Are they true conical bore flutes like what one would find in the 19th century?
i very much doubt the McNeela “cocuswood” flute is actually made of the same cocuswood that was used to make flutes during the 19th century, as they claim. that wood is almost extinct and essentially unavailable for commercial use, and any new flute made from it would sell for a very high price, certainly much more than €200. rather, the flute will be made from some other, unrelated wood also called “cocuswood” (the common name can refer to several different species) which is much less suitable for making flutes from. this misleading marketing would make me wary of buying any flute sold by that company, regardless of how good it was.
I’d suggest sticking with a known, long established maker, which McNeela is not. If you tell us where you’re located, we can give some suggestions. In the price range of the flutes you have listed, you’re going to be restricted primarily to polymer flutes, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
Also, the Cocus flute in question is not true Cocus wood (Brya ebenus), despite what the advertisement says.
I’m in southern Colorado, in the USA. Whatever I get, will probably have to be purchased pretty much ‘deaf’. I’m so remote right now that I can’t get anywhere to try anything. Is the african blackwood version any good? Any other suggestions? I’m really just getting started with whistle and flute, but I don’t want to “waste” my money on something that I’ll soon get frustrated with.
Second the above. There are some fine delrin flutes made in your price range, some really good makers. And you would be able to sell them one day, if you graduate to something still better, more readily than the flutes you’ve linked to.
I have heard rumors about this so called flute maker, like you can buy the very same African Blackwood flute from a German store for $250.00, and the other one looks very like a $39.00 on Ebay. Oh and now that I am looking at the photo’s there is a Pakistani African Blackwood on Ebay for $150.00
Caveat emptor!
I like the Shannon Delrin at the Flute Shop, its nicely made and not too expensive BUT well regarded here and elsewhere on the net.
Hope that helps.
Used Burns Folk Flutes also pop up here regularly over in the Exchange and are normally in the price range you are looking for. Shannon’s as well. Both are worth considering.
If you live here in the U.S., particularly somewhere dry like CO., you really shouldn’t buy a flute made in Ireland because it’s likely to crack, unless it’s made from boxwood, then it will likely warp. The problem is, it’s just too humid in Ireland to get the wood dry enough for the U.S. climate, unless you live in the Pacific Northwest. Stick with U.S. makers for your first flute if you want a wood flute.
Tell us what your price limit is and how quickly you “need” a flute and we can be most specific.
That said, for either wood or polymer, Dave Copley offers the best bang for the buck IMO, and you’d really never need another flute - they are excellent flutes.
If The Copley waitlist is too long for you, The Forbes flutes get good reviews from most people, although I didn’t personally like them nearly as much as my Copley. Gary Somers makes a good polymer flute too, but you’d have to order from overseas unless you could find one used here in the U.S. I’ve never played one of the Shannon Flutes, so I can’t comment on those.
If you want to spend top dollar there are more expensive flutes, usually with long wait times. And Lots of used flutes come up for sale here, on the flute forum and the used instrument exchange section.
Wonderful suggestions so far! I only have about $400 to spend unfortunately. I would prefer wood, but it isn’t absolutely a must. Delrin would be okay. I would like to have something that I can grow into and not outgrow in six months. I also, hopefully, will be relocating out of southern Colorado within the next year to more humid climes. I’d like to get something by the end of the year, but if necessary, will hold out longer if it is advantageous to do so.
I have a nice Casey Burns folk flute if you are interested. It plays great. I can let it go for $265 plus shipping. I think that’s a nice deal and if you were ever to sell it I would think you can get your money back pretty easily. PM me if interested.
Personally, I’m really, really happy with my M&E polymer keyless (so much so that I’m eyeing one of the M&E keyed flutes in the UIE forum). Right about the same price range at The Irish Flute Store, or possibly a little less direct from the maker.
–Maya
Edit–About the same as a new Burns Folk, but more than the Shannon. Galeon Delrin looks kind of attractive, too (from the Flute Store demo video–no personal experience).
I have an M&E Keyless and a Shannon. They are both good flutes and you can make nice music on them. The M&E very easily gets the “hard” sound Irish Traditional musicians go for. It’s a little on the heavy side. The Shannon bugged me when I was starting out because it seemed to have big volume differences between notes. I don’t hear that as much now. I got the Shannon used for very little, and when I got the M&E I much preferred it to the Shannon and still do. Then I bought a more expensive flute, an Ellis ebonite pratten, which is better than either.
You might consider the Geoffrey Ellis “essential flute,” which is wood. It’s a really excellent instrument: loud and free blowing, extremely expressive, really excellent intonation. It’s a cylindrical bore flute and so it plays a little differently from a conical bore flute. It’s a bit more work to get the “hard” sound. It plays a bit more like a Boehm flute. I’m kind of amazed by it every time I play it.
There’s a lot to like about delrin/polymer, from the player’s perspective. Extremely low fuss and high durability
One other thing to pay attention to when looking at the flutes is the hole alignment and spacing, and be sure what it is when you do purchase. I’ve gotten surprised a couple of times over this both with new and used flutes.
For example, Casey Burns offers six different finger hole options on his Folk Flutes. The holes can be in-line or ergonomic; and in either standard spacing, small hand, or large holed. Many other flute makers also offer in-line versus ergonomic.
I currently have two of his Folk Flutes, both ergonomic. A blackwood small hand, and a boxwood standard. I bought the blackwood here on C&F thinking it was the standard version; and was surprised when it arrived and found it to be small hand. Both are nice, but play and sound slightly differently from each other (of course, its also blackwood vs. boxwood). My point is to make certain you and the seller are clear with each other about the flute you may be purchasing. (And you might want to review the flute maker’s website as well to understand more about their flutes.) When I look at some of the postings here, the sellers are not always clear in their description about what they are selling (and some might not even know if they are not the original owner).
I can appreciate your situation. All of the suggestions here are good. As always… YMMV.
Currently, I have the Shannon, an M&E, a Somers, a Hammy and a Tipple. I had a Casey Burns, Sweetheart and a Seery. I miss the Burns. I miss the the Sweetheart. That said, I don’t regret for a moment the move away from wood to delrin. I’ve taken my Shannon to England, Scotland, Florida, Colorado, and every part of Washington and Oregon. It performed flawlessly in every place. I don’t know that one could ask for more. Great sounding easy player no matter where I go.
Again, YMMV. But, I honestly believe that you can’t go wrong with the Shannon.
You’ve already received good advice, so this is simply a slightly more nuanced version of what’s already been said. I think that given where you are located, your first flute should be delrin. I’ve played both Copley and Forbes delrin flutes and own a Forbes. They are both very, very good flutes. Not only good to learn on but good to keep and play for the rest of your life even after you acquire a wooden flute (there is a slight difference in the sound and a slight difference in the feel between the two materials, in favour of the wood). Since you live in Colorado, I would recommend the Forbes. The workmanship is outstanding, the intonation is excellent, and the sound is full and reedy. Rob has been experimenting with a new aluminum stopper which makes the sound noticeably brighter than the delrin stopper. (It won’t mean anything to you at this point, but to me the contrast is between the brighter sound of an Olwell vs the slightly darker sound of a Grinter flute (I own and play Olwells but have also played Grinters).). I recommend the aluminum stopper. Finally, the Copley is a bit easier to play than the Forbes. If you have already developed a good embouchure on the Boehm flute, either should be fine, but if your embouchure needs further development, then perhaps the Copley would make more sense.
Well in that case buy my Hammy Hamilton Student D Irish Flute. Cylindrical bore like you are used to, big brash low D, lots of overtones if you want them and only $100.00
With the remainder of your stash of cash you can buy an African Blackwood Conical bore from the German Store, $275, and have $25 left over for beer
