Hi
I"m wondering how many ‘d’ flute owners also own and play a ‘c’ flute. Wondering what uses they make of the ‘c’ flute. I imagine that, among other things, it could be useful for playing in ‘a’ with fiddles.
Thanks.
Jeff Zajac
It could?
I’m pondering acquiring a C flute for playing english country dance music, which is commonly played in flute-hostile keys of C and F.
I think you may have done well to create a poll for this topic.
I play a large UNKEYED bamboo C made by American David Chu. The flute has a fantastic lip plate and sounds sonorous.
What do I play on it?
Currently,
She Moved through the Fair - G Mixolydian
Wild Mountain Thyme - C Ionian (gapped)
Londonderry Air - F Ionian
as well as
D Blues
an a lot of
C Behag and Yaman
E Bhairavi
B Gujari
The first two I do in those keynotes because of certain lady singers I accompany. The LD Air in F because it sounds a bit different in the lower key cf the usual G tonic renditions on Irish flute/whistles.
D Blues scale =
XXX XXO
XXX OOO
XXO OOO
(XOX XXO)
XOO OOO
XXX XXX
XXX XXO+
I have a Casey Burns boxwood C flute.
I play along with CDs a good deal and a fair
number of tunes are pitched in C.
Also I play it just to play it.
Also if you are accompanying singers,
a C flute is handy.
Very useful to me, perhaps even more so,
is a (high) G flute, which enables me to play
in G, C, and (less accessible) D.
This is a great flute for the street,
cause it’s easily heard.
Hi Jeff,
I’m guessing youmean F not A. F is the other key you can easily get ona C flute if you want to get A you need an E flute. 
I have an Olwell bamboo C. I don’t play it as much as I should. It has a wonderful tone. I use if like the others for tunes in C or F.
I have a Low A coming from Casey Burns and am thinking about getting a C body for it. His Bb headjoint is good for A, C, Bb and B bodies which was my primary motive for getting one of his (besides that I really have a soft spot for Burns flutes and think Casey is a fine fellar).
Terry McGee started making C flutes of late as well. I haven’t tried one yet. If it’s anythng like his Bb it will be pretty awesome.
I think Dave Copley’s C flute body hooks up with his D flute.
Doc
With music, as with many other things, we tend to get stuck in a rut. Because of the the notation system that we use in Western music, certain keys are easier to notate than others. So, if we are a beginner on the piano, we start with the key of C (no sharps and no flats). If we play the Irish flute, then D or G are our preferred keys, although many others are possible. With the classical guitar I found myself playing in D, A, and E for the most part, because these keys are easy to notate in sharps, and they lend themselves easily to the guitar.
However, in my opinion, and I think that it should be universally obvious, all keys are good keys. There are many keys that are unexplored, only because they are difficult to notate. Beethoven chose C# minor for his “Moonlight Sonata”. That is not a key that you would normally choose because of the difficulty of the notation, not because of the sound of the key itself.
Here is where the beauty of simple-system flutes come into play. With open hole flutes it is easy to make a flute with the fundamental in any key. You want a flute in low C#, no problem, you can make it. Our system of notation is both a blessing and a burden. It is a blessing because we can easily communicate musical ideas. It is a burden because certain ideas are preferred because of the structure of the notation system. My idea is to leave printed music aside, and explore, improvisationally, the unexplored beauties of the uncommon keys.
You’ve gotta have friends! and if some of those friends don’t play ITM, but instead play other styles, then a C flute can be helpful. I don’t have one, but would use one to play:
With my BF, who is a beginner on the ukulele, and refuses to play anything that is not in C, and whose ukulele we don’t want to tune up a step so as not to confuse him.
With my dear friend who plays the clarinet. By using a C flute, we can play duets written for two of the same instrument and neither of us needs to transpose.
I should be getting an A-Bb-C combo from Casey any week now. In addition to the English tunes that Simon pointed out, there are a few tunes on Irish (or Irish-ish) discs that I’d like to play along with. The Bothies’ version of Maids of Mitcheltown and Touchstone’s The New Land are two that come to mind that lose just the tiniest bit of warmth being transposed up a step.
I’m thinking of getting one of Mr. Bingamon’s metal tubing flutes in C. Anyone have any experience with them? They come at a wonderful price, and I’d like to have a C to mess around with.
If not, I’ll probably order a Tipple with a lip plate.
And there’s always the ability to play with flat pitched pipers at a workshop.
Or a flat pitched piper who lives close by, and/or fiddle players who prefer playing tuned down.
Who’d be insane enough to do something like that? 
I have played a Ralph Sweet C flute for several years, but have just recently taken delivery of a Terry McGee C flute. It is a beauty! As a result the Sweet C is available if someone wants to buy it. PM me if you are interested.
I use the C primarily to accompany the singers in my band who sing mostly in the key of C.
Clark
I have played a Ralph Sweet C flute for several years, but have just recently taken delivery of a Terry McGee C flute. It is a beauty! As a result the Sweet C is available if someone wants to buy it. PM me if you are interested.
I use the C primarily to accompany the singers in my band who sing mostly in the key of C.
Clark
I’ve only read stories about that sort of depravity, of course.
Ah Doug you wax poetic…well said.
Doc