I first discovered Breton music. I used a Bb whistle to practice bombard tunes without annoying my neighbors.
At that time, for some reason it was impossible to find a D whistle in my town: I think instruments sellers were ordering Generation batches… So the D were sold immediately and you could just find the others.
My brother’s Irish girlfriend Ciara gave me a great old model Feadog D. (I unfortunately lost it later). A friend of mine who played the uilleann pipes really well taught me the basis of Irish ornamentation and gave me my first Bothy Band record… Matt Molloy was a revelation.
My first flute was made by two Bretons, who make good bombards: Hervieux & Glet. I wouldn’t recommend the flutes, but I kept it for 6 years, and still have it… When I had some money, I ordered a great Aebi Pratten. I now play mostly an old Rudall & Rose and a Delrin Jon C.
When I was about 8 or 9 we had a neighbour who played the piano. Not from books or anything and he would sing too. I loved the obvious freedom of his expression.
We didn’t get a piano, but my parents got me an electric organ ( ) Probably because it was cheaper, took less space AND could be played with headphones on. Took lessons, stuffy music. Got into the keyboard/synth craze and got lessons in general music theory and improvisationl. Never got beyond the very basics. With all the electronics i now realise I was far removed from the freedom of the piano playing neighbour.
When my house got robbed 10 years later I lost all electronic instruments incl bass guitar, amps, computer recording gear - the lot.
A friend of mine gave me his mandolin and guitar on permanent loan - figuring I would need SOMETHING to play music on.
Tought myself some chords on the guitar and got interested in singing.
Was actually something I enjoyed
When I moved to Denmark in 2000 I figured I needed to do something to keep me sane. For some reason bought a tinwhistle (what WAS I thinking) and found Chiff and Fipple. Met Jens through the messageboard and got into the small but active Irish music scene in Copenhagen.
Tried to toot on a flute for the first time during a whistle workshop with Mary Bergin. I somehow thought one should play whistle first for many years, but I always found them too shrill.
The flute on the other hand, seemed to be the instrument I had been looking for for those 20 years. I love to PLAY the flute, the directness, the feel and the control of it. The simple system flute has great beauty in its simplicity.
Maybe I’m too clinical/methodical when I try to learn Irish tunes, but the ones I have learned give some of the joy of the piano playing neighbour, especially when playing with others. And when relaxed and having plenty of time to play there are few things better than the tone and feel of a wooden flute and to make it sing…
My car got stolen last year, and my insurance company gave me an extremely good settlement. With a bit of that windfall, I bought an M &E. And now look at me
But I;ve always loved Irish/Scottish music. . . I’m another GHB convert. It was hard to keep playing once I got to college (Dorm rooms aren;t a great practice space) and I also found the competition scene a bit stifling after several years.
I’m a guitarist who wanted to play a more portable melody instrument. At first I wanted to play whistle, but didn’t like the volume of the high notes. A little over a year ago my friend Anton (who occasionally reads this board) told me about Doug Tipple and I ordered a flute from him. I have several flutes but I play my 1880s 8-key german flute w/ Jon C headjoint nearly all the time, unless I need extra volume, in which case I play my McGee keyless.
I started on Highland pipes fifteen years ago, and did the competition scene, and was a member of three street bands. But as I have gotten older, I found that marching in 90-degree heat wearing a 16 oz worsted kilt, black shrit and glengarry and playing the pipes for a three mile parade are not nice things to do to myself. So I have dropped the parades, but still play the pipes, including shuttle pipes.
About four months ago, I was invited to a session in Charlottesville, Virginia. I went with my shuttle pipes, but I was realy taken by the music, (plus the fact that you guys have way more notes to mess around with than the pipes (only nine notes; how hard can it be?) So I got a whistle, and then decided that a flute would really be extra nice too, since I love the sound of it. I bought a Tipple for Christmas, and I’ve been working with it since. I can get some flute sounds out of it, and I think I will just keep right on piping and whistling and fluting(?).
When I was 6 my parents wanted me to lern to play piano, but I never liked it. Few years later I have had the oportunity of listening to Jean-Luc Thomas live, and that was the first time I saw Irish flute. In that time I didn’t know what kind of flute is this, because it wasn’t popular in Poland. One year ago, I’ve found people who play Irish music, and discovered this wonderful instrument for my self .
I’ve been a trumpet player for about 23 years, jazz mostly, although I haven’t played much for the last few years. I’ve always been into Irish trad. music, and have tooted on tin whistles around the house for longer than I played the trumpet, but only more seriously over the last 7-8 years (I’m still pretty amateur on the whistle). I’ve played the bodhran for 6 years and still do (yes, I admit it!!). In the sessions I’ve been playing with, I normally play faster tunes on the bodhran and slow airs and other slow tunes on the whistle. However, the session I currently attend has many whistle players, all better than me! One guy at the session plays beautifully on the low whistle, which I investigated for a while, and that led me to the flute. I prefer the tone and lower register to the whistle, and there are no other flute players at the session! But I’ve just started VERY recently, so I don’t expect to actually play in the session on the flute for a while. My ultimate preference would be to play 70-80% of a session on the flute, and play the bodhran for an occasional change, for tunes I don’t know, etc. Can’t wait for my CB folk flute to arrive!
Great stuff here! I’d like to hear from more makers (Thanks Doug!).
My intial interest in woodwinds was awakened in High School when my younger brother started learning the Clarinet, then later the Bassoon on which he’s now an accomplished, professional player. The rich, resonant sound and the fact that the instrument was made of wood was visual and aural aesthetic that left a great impact on me.
It wouldn’t be till over twelve years later (a little over 4 years ago) that on a ‘boys weekend’, a friend of a friend (who played flute and whistle) popped in a CD from a band with a goofy name: ‘Kornog’ or something - I was mesmerized! Already having a keen interest in the history and culture of the Ireland, Britian and Northern Europe since childhood, the the love of the music was kindled as an extension of that interest. I listened to this guy talk of how easy and affordable whistles were for learning the type of music we were listening to and also about this guy name ‘Olwell’ who made great Bamboo flutes for not much money. A few months later I’d called Patrick and the rest is history.
An interesting turn in musical interest for a guy who listened to primarily to Progressive and Blues-based Rock!
i played the keyboard from age 7 & loved it, all popular music & learning by ear so i could play a request in a pub (started early hehe) etc
but my teacher (a a neightbour) said he could teach me no more & suggested i learn piano. so i played classical piano from age 12 - 17 as far as grade 6 - but i never really liked it. a whole year was spent learning a set amount of tunes for the exam, nothing for pleasure, i couldnt accompany a singer or play a nice tune for someone and i lost all interest. didnt touch an instrument for over 10 years, but always loved the flute and trad sessions.
i bought a hammy metal practice flute last year, along with the grey larsen book & thought i could teach myself but found it impossible to even get a note out of it! i had given up all hope, when my boyfriend treated me to a term of lessons for my 30th birthday in september. and then another term for my Xmas present - so i’m signed up for til next september and really enjoying it.
the hardest part is being disciplined enough to practice - and having patience. I cant stop singing the tunes in my head all day & they sound great - but then i go to play them and my versions are ten times slower, wrong notes all over the place, not much articulation - and i get disappointed. but i suppose i’m doing okay after 3 months…need to keep practicing!
I started age 12 since my parents encouraged me to start playing an instrument. So I went to the music master at school, he showed me the ‘music cupboard’ where the instruments were stored, and invited me to pick one of the instruments available. I chose a Boehm flute – because it was the smallest I studied this for a few years, went through the RSM Grade exams, and then just kept playing on and off through uni and beyond.
This went on until, two years ago, I was getting a bit tired of the classical world, and also wanting to actually play in a group informally, so I tried something else. First I thought of jazz, which I’ve always liked, so I went for alto sax. This I played for six months and then realized that whilst I liked jazz, it didn’t like me.
I then saw an advert for an Irish group which needed a “flautist or fiddle player” – and that was that. Two years later I still haven’t mastered all those tricky traditional ornaments, but I’m having a lot of fun! And, despite having a ‘proper’ Irish flute or two, I still play the Boehm a lot for stuff in those ‘tricky’ key signatures.
And another thing I like about playing Irish flute is that it’s a little bit unusual, in that it’s not an absolutely traditional instrument for the music – quite the opposite of classical music, where there always far too many flutes and not enough seats in the orchestra
the funny thing is, i dont know anyone and/or have ever seen another flute player in real life. i wasn’t even sure they existed(flutes that is), i just would listen to celtic music here and there and i just figured the flute playing was some type of irish traditional flute. and i love simplicity and down-to-earth things, so i looked around online, found out about keyless irish flutes, and bought one (ebay garbage) but it served my purpose… i learned a hell of a lot on it, and now im rockin a casey burns folk flute which is like a godsend for me, and i guess its been like a year and a month, all self taught.. i used the grey larsen essential guide to flute/tinwhistle and it helped tremendously. so yea kinda funny i guess it just happened.
I did it backwards. My sister took up flute (Boehm, of Course) in grade school, and I used hers to teach myself. Years later, when I lived in a small remote town in Eastern Oregon, some friends asked me to jam with their band, and then asked me to * join * their band. About a year later, I was an NSF research scholar in Boston, and bought my first wooden flute. It was a Sweetheart Rosewood, which Bayswater bought not too long ago.go. I got lucky, and had a nice one. I certainly didn’t know what I should have been looking for!
I don’t play Boehm flute any more, btw.
my uncle played, so as far back as i can remember i decided i was going to play the flute. it seemed like aeons waiting for 4th grade to roll around. my arms were too short, but i would not relent, so they gave me a curved headjoint.
i must not have gotten around to irish music until middle school, on the whistle, and i was awful. then i realized i could play it on the flute, and i was still awful. i played too fast, no rhythm, horrible practice discipline. i was still horrible throughout high school. i took private classical lessons for a year and a half, i thought it really helped, but it didnt at the time because i never slowed down enough to get everything right. haha, but now i remembered everything i was taught and i applied it, and i’m getting better. this last semester (1st of college) i really buckled down, and practiced for hours on end during the gaps in my schedule. i’m finally starting to get somewhere. i can play in tune and i can get good rhtyhm.
i play a lot slower now than i did then, but i’m working to get back up to speed, but do it properly. i’m no longer horrible, but i’m not good. i would just say i’m ok.
i dont have a conical flute yet, because i opted to spend all the money i saved up on concertina camp and now on 2 concertinas. i’m hoping to order a Jon C. later this spring, though. eventually i hope to get a copley, but we’ll see how well the Jon C. fits me.
) Probably because it was cheaper, took less space AND could be played with headphones on. Took lessons, stuffy music. Got into the keyboard/synth craze and got lessons in general music theory and improvisationl. Never got beyond the very basics. With all the electronics i now realise I was far removed from the freedom of the piano playing neighbour.
So I have dropped the parades, but still play the pipes, including shuttle pipes.
- I was mesmerized! Already having a keen interest in the history and culture of the Ireland, Britian and Northern Europe since childhood, the the love of the music was kindled as an extension of that interest. I listened to this guy talk of how easy and affordable whistles were for learning the type of music we were listening to and also about this guy name ‘Olwell’ who made great Bamboo flutes for not much money. A few months later I’d called Patrick and the rest is history.
I studied this for a few years, went through the RSM Grade exams, and then just kept playing on and off through uni and beyond.