Here’s a vid of one of my favorite fluters, John Wynne with John McEvoy. I noticed this before, but in this video it’s very apparent that Wynne plays left-handed using a 6(?)-keyed right-handed flute (a Murry?). Seems he can use the short F key, but the rest he has to avoid, e.g. the long F. Anyways, great playing, just wondering why he would have a fully keyed right-handed flute being a left-handed player. I guess it’s a great flute and worth the extra maintenance of keys that are never used.
Thanks for posting this. Lovely music. I don’t think the flute is a Murray, FWIW.
Also I think the flute is being amplified–you start noticing a black wire running
from the headjoint down the fluter’s arm, about mid-way through the video.
I don’t know why he’s playing a keyed flute where he can’t get at the
keys, mostly; only the maintenance on such a flute’s keys is likely
to be much reduced. Thanks again.
I would say that it was amplified. It sounds pretty loud. Also Jim, I think you are right about the little flare thing on the barrel. Murray flutes and Burns flutes look similar in that fashion. I have never seen a Murray without the little cool flare out on the headjoint. I don’t think that flute is a Murray.
I’m surprised and interested by the amplification.
You know there are instruments that seem to have trouble
being heard in noisy environments. And a lot of the
informal ensembles I see forbid amplification.
But what would be the matter with
mild amplification, really, of a quiet instrument,
just to make it as audible as the rest? E.G.
some mandolins.
I didn’t see whether the fiddle was amplified,
but it doesn’t seem to be. Must look again.
Nope, don’t see any evidence the fiddle is amplified.
There’s a clip-on mic on the flute head. It’s a TV SHOW ABOUT MUSIC, for heaven’s sake. Any sound person wishing to remain employed on the show would do whatever’s necessary to get the sound right for the medium. If the flute needed miking but the fiddle didn’t, then there you are.
There was a topic about this not long ago. Some left-handed players learned to play a righty flute and never got themselves a special lefty flute. And it works, you can use all the keys with practise, even the G#. I know a player here in germany who used to play an antique right-handed Metzler left-handed, and she played A major tuned without problems. She got herself a very very custom Aebi now, which has keywork specially designed for her playing technique. Just the G# has been relocated.
Many left-handed flute players play keyed flutes made for right-handers. Why? Because they have them, and because they like them. Some just don’t use the keys, some Blu-Tack them shut (Catherine McEvoy does this on the Rudall and Rose flute she was given as a teenager and still plays) and some players actually play the keys. It’s a real kick to watch the left-handed Cathal McConnell reach up with the ‘wrong’ hand to hit the G# key on his right-handed flute!
Cathy is spot on, there is a lapel type mic connected to the flute, and the fiddle player has a lapel mic also possibly hidden under the fiddle attached to his shirt, you can see the cable down his shirt, when I am not taking stills for a living, I double up as back-up cameraman for work and also sound assistant, we recently filmed and recorded an orchestra and full choir, and we pretty much had mics on everyone, this was fed into a mixer with each instrument monitored for recording, I dont think John wynes mic was for amplifiaction but more for recording purposes, so the best audio could be captured for the edit, the first thing TV chanels will reject a programme on is bad audio and inferior picture quality unless its a newsflash story then you can shoot it on your mobile phone
JW does in fact play a keyed righty Murray; I saw it and discussed it with him very briefly at one of the official “sessions” [Battle-royales, more like] at East Durham last summer.
