In praise of flutes in higher keys

Irish Flute
1

I’ve been playing flutes in higher keys a lot lately.
I have three G flutes, a Tipple, a Sweetheart rosewood,
and a Bleazey boxwood. These are a lot of fun.
They sound very good, they’re easier to finger than
the D flute (so difficult passages are easier),
and they have good volume. This makes them
great for the street, in fact. Also I can play
well with singers in C, and it gives a nice
alternative to playing in G on the D flute.

Also I have a Tipple A which is very enjoyable
to play. This enables me to play in D using the
‘G fingering’ on a D flute. Again this seems to
work well on the street.

Finally I have a Sweetheart professional D fife.
This isn’t so easy to play but I’m getting the hang
of it. Here I’m a bit nervous about my hearing
and I play with earplugs if I’m really going to
wail on it.

I haven’t yet played an F, a C flute, or a (high) Bb flute

Anyhow I notice that we are rather fixated
on D flutes–understandable, of course.
But these other flutes are enormous fun, IMO,
they have their own tonal and musical possibilities,
and playing them improves one’s embouchure
and fingering–something that transfers
back to the D.

Anybody else playing these instruments?

2

I play a number of Olwell bamboos in higher keys, Eb, E, F, G, and A

I agree with you Jim. They are much fun. I once had a 10-hole Healy fife that was kind of a kick as well though I’d never go with ten holes again as many of the notes are so easily crosfingered.

I played a Ward Eb that really rocked.

Chris Norman plays an F flute on his Caledonian flute CD that is very cool


Doc

3

It’s funny that you should write about higher flutes Jim, yesterday while playing my Low A, I was thinking that a G flute would also be neat to play in some circumstances.

MarkB

4

Yes, G is my favorite of the higher flutes so far.
Big enough to have some substance to the tone,
small enough to be easy to hold and finger.

Sweetheart makes some nice wooden
higher flutes.

I wonder whether Bb flutes are so high pitched
as to hurt one’s hearing?
Sweetheart has a quasi-military fife,
the M2, which is bored for Irish music,
which means that the first two octaves
are strong–it isn’t made to go up into
the stratisphere, as are military fifes
in general.

Anybody have one of these? Opinions?
Reviews?

5

Chris also plays a few other high-key flutes. I know he has a G Renaissance (cylindrical) Olwell; I’m pretty sure he has a Sweet high-key flute, too.

6

Wouldn’t a (high) Bb flute technically be a fife? (Or does a Bb flute become a fife when it’s voiced to play best in the higher octaves?)
I used to have an Olwell F bamboo flute, which was absolutely terrific. (Dave Copley is now making F flutes, by the way.) F flutes have a great sound–probably my favorite high flute pitch, and they are delightfully nimble and responsive.

7

i have Tipple high A and Bb flutes. the differences are minimal, imho. i generally don’t play above the 6th note on either of them (and that as quietly as possible), but they both have about the same level of (dis)comfort in that range.

also in the high flute category, i have a bamboo G bansuri by Jeff Whittier, and Tipple F and E flutes. it is a lot of fun to play through the various sizes of flutes and hear the tonal changes. each pitch seems (imho) to have it’s own character, independant of other differences in construction. the higher flutes are more nimble and “happy”; the lower flutes have more complexity and dynamic range.

flutes for all moods and situations! we are indeed “lucky and modern”! :^)

enjoy! /dan

8

Yes, depending on who you ask.
Hamilton focuses on the lower octaves it seems.
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=33005
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=31000&highlight=fife+piccolo

Jim, if you are worried about volume you should consider a softer wood flute by Sweet. Not that I have ever heard a difference, but some say it does. Although rosewood would not be that much softer than blackwood for the M2.

9

when i had tried my hand at busking several yeas ago, i went thru this process over a few months period…

first i brought the ‘d’ flute out. next i tried e-flat (olwell) and the sound seemed to carry a bit better and seemd easier to play for a couple of hours at a time. then decided to try my ‘f’ (8keyed boosey) and ‘g’ flute (olwell bamboo). both were fun and carried better than e-flat and less laborious. so next i brought out a couple of the small bflats (one is made by chris abell and the other is blackman of london). (i am not a fyffer, i just played typical ‘itm’ on them, keeping in the low two registers). they were grand. the ‘f’, ‘g’ and ‘bflat’ flutes are definitely fun and a blast to play.

a lasting impression i have of an ‘f’ flute was when i was at east durham the first year they had the summer school. we had a session going on in in the corner of one of the pubs. suddenly this guy at the bar whips out a little flute and belts out a couple of tunes. the blast carried right thru the pub getting everyone’s attention. it was none other than kevin henry doing his thing.

10

Jim, I’ve got a little black bamboo flute by Aaron Heinig, tuned in D minor, an octave up from a standard D. Very user-friendly, nicely finished. When Aaron’s website was around, he recommended these “Skydancer” models for drum circle playing, since they could carry well. I’ve never tried it except solo though.

11

Piccolo=Fife=Little Flute

Piccolo is Italian for small flute

Fife is German for small flute

12

And I suppose that settles it. :wink:

However, I speak English.

And in (American) English:

Piccolo is English for small flute, usually pitched in D, meant to be played in the lower 2 octaves.

Fife is English for small flute, usally unkeyed, most often keyed in B-flat (or thereabouts) and meant to be played in the 2nd and 3rd octaves, so as to be heard over the din of cannon and musket fire.

Oh yeah, and in English, Little Flute means Little Flute.

Will the debate never end?
:wink:

[All the above, tongue firmly implanted in cheek. Why is there not a smiley for that?]

13

I have played an F Flute before which was fun, Piccolos and fifes not my thing.

14

Well, I just bought a Sweetheart applewood C fife at Music Folk
here in St. Louis. They also had one in maple,
but the applewood has a more delicate sound.
It’s loud enough for the street, but not shrill
upstairs. The dymondwood (laminated birch)
Sweetheart professional D fife is very loud
and high–not yet sure what to make of it.

Sweetheart has fifes in G, C, A and these really
just are little flutes. They’re conical and voiced
to play in the first two octaves. And they’re
called fifes, by Sweetheart anyhow.
‘Folk fifes.’

Also Sweetheart has ‘military fifes’
which are meant to play in the third octave
and above, except for the M1 and, even moreso, I think,
the M2, which are voiced for the first two octaves.

As to whether this ‘folk fife’ business is a misuse
of words, please draw your own conclusions.
A rose by any other name…

Rama, you are brave to bring an Olwell on the
street. Anyhow my experience parallels yours,
except I got the point more slowly.
The high pitched flutes are just as good
for busking, better, possibly, and a lot
easier to blow, finger, etc. And they
usually don’t cost a lot.

I’ve never played a Sweetheart blackwood
flute/fife, but the rosewood ones seem
quite good–clean, strong sound. And I suspect
that in these higher keys, the absence of a tuning
slide is less a problem.

They are, I think, going to extend the Dymondwood
into lower pitches, which should be interesting.

Thanks to all, Jim

15

Jim, I got a Tipple G flute after reading yours posts about it. I also wanted something to play while I was recovering from a broken wrist. The smaller flute was much easier to play. I have used it for a few tunes in C in sessions. Definately a nice bridge between the D flutes and high D whistles.

Bob

16

…and the bird like 'em! :smiley:

17

I’m trying to move from higher whistles to higher flutes,
in fact. The hope is that once I really get control
the flutes will sound better. Certainly they can be
louder. But I have a facility with whistles that
I have yet to attain with flutes.

18

I really like the higher key flutes, i play an early american flute in G but my favourite flute is my boxwood boosey & co pratten perfectec in f, i also like my Eb hammy flute, its great when you find a violin player who does’nt mind cranking up the violin to play in the higher keys.

19

I love my Eb Hammy, too, but that’s as high as I’m willing to go.

I can’t tolerate that high pitch next to my ear.

I am surprised more ppl don’t mention that.
It’s probably not good, in the long run.

Whistles at least aren’t as close to the ear as your flute.

M
At least, it seems that way to me.

20

Jim, these are the flutes that I am mostly playing at the moment (a lot) and I have bold highlighted the ones that are “high”.

C bamboo (David Chu, USA - custom made)
D blackwood with delrin head (Desi Seery, Eire)
Eb american PVC (Doug Tipple, USA)
E american PVC (Doug Tipple, USA)
F bansuri - indo bamboo flute (Jeff Whittier, USA )
F# non diatonic bamboo - for B Todi Scale (L. Pollak, Australia - custom made)
G bamboo - small tone holes (L. Pollak, Australia)
G american PVC (Doug Tipple, USA)
A bansuri - indo bamboo flute (Jeff Whittier, USA)
A non diatonic PVC “Bhairav fife” (M. White, Australia - custom made)
Bb non diatonic bamboo - for D harmonic minor (L. Pollak, Australia - custom made)

There are others but I am not playing them much …