I would be interested to hear opinions how these two flutes. Lehart and Aebi do compare…
Any information you would like to share would be welcome, think of tone, playability, design based on…
Soundclips even better (anyone know of a source?)
Greetings
berti
How they compare with each other or with other wooden flutes?? Well I remember being in a workshop with Mike McGoldrick when I had a Sam Murray flute and he had a keyless Lehart. He played my flute and demonstrated that the Sam Murray flute had a nicer tone than his Lehart, but he just liked his Lehart for some reason.
I’m sure I remember hearing somewhere that the Lehart flutes were “easy to blow” but I took that to mean you could get a good sound out of them more easily, but again the Murray flute definately had a sweeter and nicer tone than the Lehart one.
Hey Berti,
From the WOODEN FLUTE OBSESSION Vol. 1 disk 1 track 4 is played by Michael McGoldrick of FUSED and he is playing a Gilles Lehart Flute.
Then on Vol. 1 disk 2 track 9 is played by Sylvain Barou and he is playing a Gilles Lehart flute with a Thomas Aebi headjoint.
If you don’t have the CD’s you can hear sound clips at http://www.worldtrad.org
This ought to make your flute prefference “clear as mud”!! 
Best of Luck to You, hope you can find your one true flute!
Jordan
hi berti!
i posses lehart 5 keyed flute, and i like it alot.this is some kind of rudall design with big holes.very nice tone, easy to fill it.his outside desing is unique, with cooper rings, very retro look, wich i like also.his price is also very good 540 euros for keyless, 77 euros each key.
some friends of mine posses thomas aebi ruddal and rose flutes.also very lovely tone , i find it maybe harder to produce good tone very quicky( but that is me, not flute!). beautyfull look (one is made of cocos,second from blackwood!)
when i buy flute i hesitate beetween aebi and lehart, but aebi was to much expensive for my wallet.(then, keyless was almost 1000 euros!)
marin
hi berti!
i posses lehart 5 keyed flute, and i like it alot.this is some kind of rudall design with big holes.very nice tone, easy to fill it.his outside desing is unique, with cooper rings, very retro look, wich i like also.his price is also very good 540 euros for keyless, 77 euros each key.
some friends of mine posses thomas aebi ruddal and rose flutes.also very lovely tone , i find it maybe harder to produce good tone very quicky( but that is me, not flute!). beautyfull look (one is made of cocos,second from blackwood!)
when i buy flute i hesitate beetween aebi and lehart, but aebi was to much expensive for my wallet.(then, keyless was almost 1000 euros!)
marin
Berti-
I’ve got a 3 key flute by Jil. I’ve not ever played a flute by Aebi, but I have been told that they have a particularly exact embechure, but that once you get it it allows you a wide range of tone, particularly in the deep/dark areas that Rudall-type flutes are known to produce. The LeHart, if I can make a comparison to that description, is a different bird altogether. The flute plays when you whisper across the embecure. As best I can describe, its a very easy flute to produce a very good tone out of. A friend of mine who plays a Lehart says the same thing, although he adds that it doesn’t have quite the internal tonal range that an Aebi or a Grinter might. That might be very good for a McGoldrick, whose style seems to be far more based on smooth breathing and more exacting fingerwork that those who might ornament with a puff, spit and blow technique.
That being said, I’m on Grinter’s waiting list for one of his newer Rudall designs. But I don’t think I’ll be getting rid of the Lehart. The flute is an exceptional value and I would say is by far and easily the best flute in its price range, and probably a far better flute than many flutes priced twice what it is. The only flutes I’ve played that I liked as well were a 6 keyed Wilkes Pratten formerly belonging to Jean-Michel Veillon and an 8 keyed Grinter Rudall.
Rob
www.metloef.com
Hmm interesting.
One thing you all seem to comment on, is how “easy to play” the lehart is.
Does that mean, you do consider it an easy flute, easy to BLOW or easy to PLAY? How much of a challenge is this flute for you.
Or does it just mean it is easy to blow/ fill but not easy to play…
I would really be interested to hear from people who have played BOTH and could tell me more specs…
Currently I am playing a flute that surely requires some work (loaner) but do like it very much still when I seem to get it right …feeling that a flute that makes you work, might give you more in return in the end…
But of course I have not tried either of these two…
greetings
berti
I currently have a Lehart D flute as well as a nice new Aebi blackwood in Bb.
Unfortunately, I consider those two much too difficult to compare!
I can say this about flutes being “difficult” versus “easy” to play, though.
For me, personally, I have a flute that I consider the easiest of all to play.
It is my Murray.
I get EVERYTHING I want out of this flute.
I am NEVER going to be a pro, because that is not what I aspire to.
I rarely if ever play with groups of others, so whether or not my flute is in perfect tune, is a somewhat moot point. (And can be adjusted easily with changes in emboucher or tuning slide, at least enough to play along with most recordings. Hence, the “work” part…) All my flutes are “in tune” enough to suit my personal standards, playing for my own enjoyment, at home. However, it has been demonstrated to me by others that some of them are much more “in tune”… The Lehart is one of those.
Some of them require much more “work” to play ~ that would be my Hammy and my Byrne.
I like some of them for the sheer pleasure of their aesthetic ~ my Doyle flute is such a beast.
Some are so impeccably crafted, so “easy” to play, so in tune, and so good to listen to, that playing them is a gift ~ that would be my Olwell.
All those things are the variables that combine to make you the sort of player you are or aspire to be.
That said, my Murray flute is my personal favorite. It fits my hands just right. I like how it looks. (Mine’s not very perfect, being one of those flutes that you can detect where the “twigs” were growing out of the branch…) It’s 2nd octave just “sings” ~ (although that is subjective, someone once asked me if I was sure it wasn’t an Eb flute
) It is easy for me to play. I can get any kind of sound that “I” want out of it. I enjoy it the most. It’s exactly what I look forward to at the end of a long workday. I’m sorry, but most evenings, I am not inclined to take out my flute to “work” at it, but to create a few tunes that please me and help me unwind at the end of the day. And that’s all. 
Berti, when you try out the various flutes, see what it is that gives you the most personal pleasure, and go in that direction. Some folks want a challenge, and that’s what they are looking for.
I love my Lehart flute, as well as my Aebi flute, but for different reasons.
I love all my flutes, for different reasons.
I can compare them, but they each offer something special of their own.
So just about anyone can have an opinion on the various flutes, if they are a personal “good fit” then they will tell you, the flute is Great! If they tried one and didn’t get along with it very well, they may say “I prefer something else” ~ then there’s always the idea that you try someone’s flute, like it, order one and it’s not quite the same! Things vary ~
Holy crapp, I’ve written a book. Somebody stop me!
Mary
Hi Berti,
I play an Aebi and I tried out a Lehart just a few weeks ago. It was a session situation and the Lehart barked happily. I agree with what has been said before by various people in this thread: that Lehart flute was very easy to blow, and therefore easy to play. I liked its tone, not as loud and dark as my Aebi, but still quite nice. I can’t say how it would have developed if I had been given more time with it. The look of the keywork and rings are surely something to get used to, but the keys do the job. There must be a reason for all these flautists starting on a Lehart and then switching to some top-tier make, but given the low price and the playability of the Lehart, I would recommend it. But if you can afford it, go for Aebi.
Berti, I hope to meet you soon, so you can see what my Aebi is like.
All the best,
Claus
(typo edit)
whew…a lot of replies here and I indeed do feel drawn to the aebi.
but of course, I have no idea what I am talking about! 
one thing I have definitely decided on, is to try let money not decide which flute I am going to get. (hard thing when you have not yet found that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow…)
problem is that I prefer to get one good flute without to have to upgrade for a very long time, if at all (preferably not).
something I will not outgrow too soon.
if that is going to be a lehart, aebi, I don’t know…it might well be possible that I am going to end up with something completely different!
looking forward to meet you and your aebi, claus 
that sure will give me a much better idea what I am talking about and keep my big mout shut till I have learned some more … 
greetings
berti