Here's my "official" review of the Hamilton blackwood flute

Irish Flute
1

Now that I’ve lived with the Hamilton flute for about a month, here’s my thoughts so far concerning this flute.

First, the Hamilton is the best flute I have played. It can produce a very wide variety of tones, from the dark, rich, sonorous sounds you would usually associate with larger B-flat flutes, to a hard-edged, brilliant gleam, to a ringing, pure, almost metallic shine. It can do this at every volume level from whisper-soft to very loud. When pushed to its edge, the Hamilton is by far the loudest flute I’ve ever played or even heard. For a flute, it can produce truly enormous volume while retaining a true flute sound. it doesn’t seem to be possible to blow this flute so hard that the sound breaks up–it will literally take as much air as you can give it.

If this flute has a weak spot, and it’s not much of one, it is that you have to have a very well centered embouchure to hit the low E and D solidly, and you must hit them with a solid blast of air. I have found that reminding myself to keep my right arm well away from my body helps this and has the benefit of also helping with taking full, fast breaths while playing. When things are lined up right, the low end is as solid as any flute I’ve ever seen, and the low D can be really pushed into a gravelly barking growl that can be startling and almost frightening when you aren’t expecting it.

The third register deserves special comment. It is as clear, pure, and easy to blow as on the Boehm flute. For a keyless diatonic flute, this is quite remarkable!

There is no way to hold this flute it won’t play–when playing some airs, I hold this flute at about a 20 degree offset angle from my head, and it still plays, with a lovely, soft, lilting sound.

The embouchure hole is slightly smaller than I was expecting it to be, and has a beautifully sculptured “Banshee filter” (thanks to Terry McGee for that wonderfully apt and fitting term!). This is the shaping along the sides of the embouchure hole which drastically reduces hiss and air in the sound when playing at extreme volumes. The flute is also an easier flute to blow and fill than I was expecting, given the reputation of Prattens as being hard flutes to fill. (Note: with some Pratten designs, such as the Seery, this reputation is deserved. I still like the Seery very much, though, even if it is a harder flute to fill.)

The tone holes are enormous; I though the holes on the Seery were big, but these are bigger. The reach isn’t bad, though, and the top of the tone holes are very slightly smoothed, making it a much more comfortable flute to play than the Seery is, especially when playing for long periods of time. Also this is a very easy flute to half-hole: many flutes can be half-holed for F-natural, G-sharp, B-flat, and C-natural, but on this flute these notes speak cleanly and clearly.

The tenons are lapped in cork and are reinforced with metal bands.

The headjoint is partially lined for the tuning slide but this lining stops well below the embouchure hole. The stopper is machined of Delrin, and has a sharply concave face and is ringed with cork. The crown is turned of blackwood and, while simple, is quite handsome. The entire flute is quite light, and in spite of the extra-large tone holes, quite comfortable to hold and play.

Overall the workmanship on the flute is outstanding. The wood is beautiful, a rich, deep almost-black brown, with a gnarled grain that varies from tan to blood red. There is a knot on the body of the flute which faces the audience and gives the flute a striking and lovely appearance.

The total price for this keyless flute was well less than $1000 U.S. dollars, which is a really great price for such an outstanding flute.

There ya have it, folks.

For those who can afford it, this is now the flute I recommend for anyone seriously wanting to learn to play Irish flute. Second-best choice would be a tie between the Seery and the M&E Rudall & Rose model polymers.

Best wishes,

–James
http://www.flutesite.com




[ This Message was edited by: peeplj on 2003-02-20 13:46 ]

2

Well, I’m speechless!
It was worth the wait, then? :slight_smile:
Mary

3

That’s a pretty glowing review and I agree with all of it except that I wouldn’t like anyone to get the impression that the bottom E and D on Hammy’s flutes are in any way disappointing. I agree that the embouchure is a little demanding but if the player puts in the work then the bottom notes are very clear with a great response. I don’t agree that they need extra power to make them sound well. (Flutes vary, of course, so obviously I’m not saying, James, that your conclusion is wrong for your flute but is a month long enough to be so definite?) I find that the pressure required for the A gives a great E and D but you can “give it air” for more dynamics in playing.

Jim

[ This Message was edited by: JGrant-Skerries on 2003-02-21 05:20 ]

4

It seems that Hammy has really improved on his flutes over the last few years. I’ve never played one, but the reviews of his flutes in the last year or so seem to be much more glowing than ever before.

Is this just my imagination?

Make that decision of a $1200 Olwell vs. a Hammy an easier one?

5

On 2003-02-21 05:19, JGrant-Skerries wrote:
That’s a pretty glowing review and I agree with all of it except that I wouldn’t like anyone to get the impression that the bottom E and D on Hammy’s flutes are in any way disappointing

Jim, I agree.

I was just pointing out that these lowest notes require a more tightly focused embouchure than the rest of the flute does to get their full power.

This does not represent any problem with the flute, and in fact is true of nearly all fine Boehm-system flutes as well.

Peace, :slight_smile:

–James
http://www.flutesite.com

And yep, folks, the flute is that good. If anything, I’ve understated rather than overstated how good it really is. Playing that flute is a jaw-dropping experience.

6

I’m intrigued by the “banshee filter” , would you mind elaborating? Or , if it’s just me that’s in the dark, where can I find out more?
Ectophonic

7

On 2003-02-21 05:59, gcollins wrote:
It seems that Hammy has really improved on his flutes over the last few years. I’ve never played one, but the reviews of his flutes in the last year or so seem to be much more glowing than ever before.

Is this just my imagination?

Make that decision of a $1200 Olwell vs. a Hammy an easier one?

I’m not sure he’s improved (though I’m sure they all do), as his flutes have always been quite good; what I think is that forums like this bring out the reviews more vividly. In the past, you didn’t have as many players, for eg, playing polymer flutes, and then realizing just how good a well-made blackwood can be. This is not a slight on the polymers (necessarily), but a player like James, who’s worked so successfully at getting a good sound on one will really appreciate a flute like a Hamilton, more, say, than either an old-timer set on whatever they’ve played for decades, or a beginner who jumped straight into one and can’t yet appreciate it.
That said, I’m sure all makers, even the best, do improve. Terry McGee has gained far more respect for his flutes even in the few years I’ve been on Woodenflute and C&F – early on, his reviews were modest, now they lean or fall into glowing ones.
My Hamilton is about two years old now, almost to the month, and it’s a grand flute. In that two years, of course, I’ve really improved as well; nice to have a flute to grow into, rather than outgrow.
The biggest difference, IMHO, between a Hamilton and a Pratten Olwell is the money and wait – the rest is very subtle and subjective, and I personally prefer the Hamilton. Re the money and wait, well – do the math! :slight_smile:

8

Gordon, thank you for the kind comments about my playing and tone! :slight_smile:

I must point out that I still love my polymer flutes and they still get daily play as well–the M&E R&R and the Seery in paricular are both very fine flutes. If I don’t have the time to dry the bore properly on the Hammy, I just grab a polymer and catch a quick tune or two. A lot of my playing is a “grab it while you can get it” affair these days, and polymer flutes are perfect for that: you leave them together on your desk, ready to go, grab a tune, lay them back down, no maintenace ever needed.

As to the “Banshee filter,” when I had the McGee RAF for a week, one of the first things I noticed was the sides of the embouchure hole were noticably overcut and smoothed, while the near edge and blowing edge were quite sharp with little bevel, as they will be on most fine flutes.

I looked over my other flutes, and the only other flute that had an embouchure cut like this was my old high-end Gemeinhardt. It is also smoothed on the sides, but less drastically than the McGee was.

I asked Terry and the other makers about this on the woodenflute list, and he referred to the Irish wind blowing around the sharp corners of houses and making whistling moaning sounds, which the folks inside might think was the Bain Sidhe come to dinner. :slight_smile:

He calls that smoothing down of the sides of the embouchure hole a “banshee filter” because it removes any hiss or spurious sounds from air bouncing back from the embouchure hole when playing.

The Hamilton has an embouchure cut like this, and the fine craftsmanship is really evident when you examine the embouchure hole closely.

And it works–all three of these flutes, the McGee, the Hammy, and the Gemmy have a lovely “glisten” to the second register, and a very easy-blowing third register.

Best,

–James
http://www.flutesite.com

9

On 2003-02-21 07:19, peeplj wrote:

And yep, folks, the flute is that good. If anything, I’ve understated rather than overstated how good it really is. Playing that flute is a jaw-dropping experience.

My (Bohm) flute teacher keeps telling me to drop my jaw. Maybe I better get me one of those Hammies!

10

Thanks for the review James. I’ll put this one away with the others, until next year when I’m plannig to buy a new flute.

MarkB

11

Excellent, helpful review.
Gee I wish…

I managed finally to get
a newish Seery. I have learned
by playing one that the older Seery, from
about 3 years ago, had smaller
finger holes and is less loud
and bright than the new ones,
for anybody who is shopping
for these. The newer ones
are better.

12

This post might be kinda OT to this thread, but I’d like to ask here since it has to do with Hammy. I will go and pickup my Hammy in july, and was wondering if anyone had some input and/or pictures of the two other flute cases that Hammy is selling. I searched the internet and didnt find anything, well at least no picture. There’s one of the case in which you can also put some whistles, so it sounds interesting but there’s not much information.

13

Banshee filters…you learn a new thing every day! Thankyou.

14

Thank you very much for the great, and educational posts.

My question is:

Is there anywhere here in New Jersey that I might be able to hear/try a Hammy, or an Olwell? I’ve searched for music shops that might have them, but have found none. To date, I have a number of Erik The Flutemaker bamboos, (The 1999"G" being my favorite!) A wood flute from Ebay, (The 135.00 Cocus Wood Low-D Celtic Irish Flute but the “Other Worlds Celtic” one.), and My favorite flute, the Polymer 3-part Dixon my grandfather gave to me.

OR perhaps I should have started with:
Would a beginner like myself really notice a difference between a Dixon and a Hammy? Or would it just be wrapping a sow in silk?

Thank you in advance,

Ken

15

On 2003-02-28 03:51, knorris908 wrote:
Thank you very much for the great, and educational posts.

My question is:

Is there anywhere here in New Jersey that I might be able to hear/try a Hammy, or an Olwell? I’ve searched for music shops that might have them, but have found none.

Unless it’s used, it’s highly unlikely you’ll find any good quality “Irish” flute in a shop, including, or especially, a Hammy or Olwell.
Where in Jersey do you live? I know of several Olwell owners out there, and here in NYC. I own a Hamilton.
The best way to try these flutes would be to attend sessions where there are a lot of flute players. The more advanced players will generally own better flutes from the better makers (this isn’t always true, of course, and I’ve seen some newbies with very pricey flutes as well). In either case, most players will let you try theirs, if asked nicely. Certain areas seem to have more flutes by one maker than others, either because the maker lives closer or some player introduced their flute to an area and it caught on as the flute of choice, so it’s best to check out a number of sessions, especially if you get a chance to travel at all.
Regarding whether you’ll be able to tell the differences between a great flute and a “beginner” flute, probably. The better flutes get a better sound easier – maybe you won’t get the tone you hear from your favorite fluter on CD, but you will get a better tone. I have never played a Dixon, so I won’t compare it, but I’ve played other “beginner” flutes, some polymers – the better ones are usable and you can learn on them, but a great quality flute is usually not harder to make sound, rather the opposite.

[ This Message was edited by: Gordon on 2003-02-28 10:45 ]

16

Hey Peeplj,

Got any more tunes on the Hamilton loaded up on your site?

Happy fluting - rama

17

I’ll try to get some more recording done this weekend. :slight_smile:

Right now nothing new though. Check back again around Monday and there may be new stuff. I’ll post here too so you’ll see it here as well.

Best, and thanks for your interest,

–James
http://www.flutesite.com