Looking for feedback on my flutes

Irish Flute
1

Well, I think I am at the point were I would like to have a review of my PVC flutes. It’s kind of scary asking that on these forums just because there are top notch makers and VERY accomplished players. But I figured I might as well get beat up by the best. :slight_smile:

I am looking for one or two players that can review one of my flutes to let me know what needs to be changed and suggestions on those changes. I am most happy with my F flute, so would prefer that those are the ones being reviewed. I know D is far more popular but I am rather picky and am still working on the “ideal” hole placement.

Since this will be at my expense I am looking for someone in Canada or the US to keep shipping costs to a minimum. If you are outside there I don’t mind having you review my flute but really would need to ask that you pay for shipping.

For the reviewers, the flutes will be free but I would need to know you can already play well. Either you have posted your playing here already or can link to some recordings. Ideally, I would like someone that can make an old running shoe sound like a $4k irish flute. That’s not asking too much…is it?

For anyone else here that is interested in just buying one I will be selling a few rather cheap just to get feedback. I will sell them for $10 (that’s for either an F of G flute) plus shipping. This is simply a super low price to get some needed feedback on my flutes. I have been selling them locally for $30 and a local retailer sells them for $34.95. I will probably make about 6-10 of these available.

The F flute is pretty bang on pitch-wise. It is generally within 10 cents of being in tune. The embouchure is 7/16" so it is rather forgiving and you can get a fair bit of volume from it.

Anyway, if you are interested please either post here or PM me please.

2

i would be more than happy to review your flutes. pm sent with address. i will also make a recording so that you know i can play, and post it here.

3

I now have 2 people to review my flutes. Thanks guys.

I will offer these flutes for $10 to C&F members for just a short time. As mentioned, this price is simply so that I can get some feedback. I won’t be able to sell them for that much later on.

Let me know if you want one and I will post here again when I feel I am maxxed out.

4

Did you post any recordings of YOU playing your own flute?

I’d be interested in hearing that.

5

Sounds like you are mocking. w/e

6

Not at all.

I’m serious.

7

well, get over it!

entirely too much of that here…

8

C’mon Anvil! Step up to the plate. Take a flute, give it a toot,
then hoot, hoot, hoot…
Cheers, Arbo

9

Well at least you didn’t call me Shirley… or late for dinner.


Don’t all dog pile on me kids.

I just wanted to hear what he sounds like on his own flutes.

I mean he’s making them. So he must be able to play them.

I was just interested… thats all. Don’t read into it.


Oh Arbo, I’m afraid can’ take him up on his offer you see as I can’t claim to be “VERY accomplished”.

10

I hear nothing but sarcasm in your post, Anvil. When I had just started making flutes you had stated that I couldn’t make a decent flute unless I had a lot of playing experience. By posting this you are trying to call me out as it were.

I have stated on the forums here many times that I am a beginner and don’t have any experience with ITM, so I just don’t want to post anything. The whole point of having others try my flutes is to give me tips on how to make them better and to let me know if I am going in the right direction because I am not an accomplished player. It would be pointless to have me attempt to showcase my own flutes. I can’t even make an old shoe sound like…an old shoe.

I didn’t ask that only “VERY accomplished” players review my flutes. Read that part again. The part about making an old shoe sound good was obviously tongue in cheek.

All I am wanting is people that can review my flutes and I have 2 that are going to do so and 1 that is buying a couple flutes from me. That is exactly the response I was looking for and I thank those that are willing. I am new to making flutes but want to be as good as I can with what I have.

11

well, ya must’a read part of his post…

we’re gettin’ real close to Shirley…

12

Let’s not get the dander up. (What does that mean, anyway?) We’re all learners, and at various levels. I support posting clips, and just did so myself, after a long period of procrastination. I’d like to hear a clip of these flutes, even if it’s just a simple scale. Berating the playing, or reluctance to play, of an acknowledged beginner defeats the purpose of this forum, IMO.

13

Oftentimes instrument makers are not players, and vice versa. I think that it is reasonable for Darren to request accomplished players to test drive his flutes. I do the same with my flutes. I have a flute on the way to Jemtheflute in Wales for that very purpose. I have recordings from various people around the world playing my flutes at my website, but you won’t find one where I am the performer. You can be thankful for that.

14

I’d suggest making at least a few of your flutes, and then passing them along to the C&F community for nothing more than the cost of shipping.

After all, if you seek the opinion of this community, then perhaps the investment of a few, relatively inexpensive PVC flutes could be worthwhile, eh?

15

The internet tends to lend itself to communications sounding a little harsh.

I am not “calling you out”.

You just seem a little jumpy though and I’m sorry you’ve got the wrong idea.

I’m actually on your side.

Now… I only suggested you spend some time learning to play.

I don’t mean Matt Molloy/Sylvain Barou ( indulge me…I like Sylvain’s playing :slight_smile: ) level of playing. Just a handiness with the instrument. I think its important and somewhat obvious.

I do find it interesting that you come here asking for help and you don’t seem to want to take any when you find it critical. What did you expect?

There are people far more blunt than I am here… in fact they like to be mean… but thats another story :smiley:

Look, I have no problem with you making your flutes.

Why should I?

I think its very cool you’ve caught the bug to make flutes!

Thats great.

Trust me you’ve just joined a large group here.

I just find there is a little disconnect in your logic.

You want to make Irish flutes and charge people money for them but you tell us you don’t know the first thing about how to play them or about the music they are intended to play.

How could you possibly understand what you making?

Why would anyone want to buy one and why would you want to sell it to someone?

Really. Just think about that.

I think its nice you are giving flutes away to people that want to demo them.

Thats good.

But how are you going to convert what these people tell you into changes in your flutes if you can’t understand what they are telling you?

How can you cut an embouchure if, you yourself, can’t get a decent tone across the octaves?

You can’t and you may be wasting their time.

Thats not right.

I’m not trying to discourage you.

As I say its actually just the opposite.

I think the world could use a few more flute makers and flute players.

However if you just want to make plastic tubes with holes be my guest.

I’m sure you’ll get people to buy them.



Now Doug you can play your flutes.


Speaking of Mr. Tipple…

Darren, you do understand you are muscling in on Doug’s turf right?

Thats the way it came across to me.

Doug it much to nice to ever say so.


I’m sorry if this come across as being mean. I not trying to be.

16

Aanvil, there is a LOT I wanted to say in response to your post that I will not.

Let me just say that I make no claims that my flutes are going to be the greatest ever. I thoroughly enjoy making them and will continue to do so. However, I will not wait for a year from now to become a better player first. I will take the feedback from these people and WILL actually be able to do a lot with it.

While it make seem shocking to you I have learned a fair bit about cutting a simple embouchure and understand the basics of what goes into an embouchure. I have spent MANY hours in researching different embouchure cuts in order to understand the effects from them and have made 40-50 flutes trying different techniques. IN NO WAY do I think that I now can cut a great embouchure. The more I read and learn and try the more I understand how much more there is to learn. That doesn’t mean that I can’t cut an embouchure now. Surprisingly, a simple embouchure still works fine with a smooth, straight cut on the blowing edge and slight undercutting on the sides.

The following is a quick bit I recorded on my cheap microphone…just so that you know I can get SOME sound from my flutes. It is “The Path You Can’t See” by Gian Marco Pietrasanta. Unfortunately, I learned it by ear after only hearing it a couple times, so I need to get it back closer to the written version.

http://www.box.net/shared/v920rifsco

No, not anything great, but shows that some music can come out of a “pipe with holes in it”.

I don’t at all expect my flutes to be Session flutes. I am actually making them more for practice or playing-around flutes mostly for non-ITM players. Your idea of one maker for all PVC flutes is extremely ludicrous…I hope you see that. Perhaps there should only be one maker of wood flutes as well?

I have been selling my flutes to people that either want to learn flute and want something cheap to get started and to those that already know the silver flute and want to play around with something new. My market will probably never be to this forum, I only turn here in order to get advice on how my flutes are so far.

This really is a far simpler exercise than you seem to want it to be. I am offering a couple free flutes for testing so that I can make changes. I have already had people take me up on that and am looking forward to the responses. From there I will make changes as needed.

I don’t expect to make the perfect flute. This a journey for me and I want to learn as much as I can. Lets have an end to this argument please.

17

This thread has made me think about flute recordings that I have made. Although I don’t have any personal recordings at my website, I have had a link to a short clip of my playing on my ongoing ebay ad for several years. I have to tell you, though, that after listening to that clip again this morning, I decided that I would be better served by removing it, which I did. I let Michael Eskin’s ITM clip stand alone to represent the sound of my flute. The sound of my clip sounded OK to me several years ago when I recorded it, but it sounds humorous and unacceptable to me now, and, please, I don’t want my playing to be compared to that of Cutekelly.

18

good it was just a sound clip :smiley:

19

Haha! While I was just out I was thinking I would come back and post about having Cutekelly do a sound recording for me. :smiley: