Couple things…
I’ve got a couple of whistles which I can play a bit, but being a guitarist, I’ve developed an insatiable lust for chromatics. I heard a rumor that Irish flutes allow all the notes to be reached more easily than on a whistle. If this is true, I must look into it immediately.
What do you recomend? I want one that I can grow into, cause I know I’ll play it.
i’d go for an M&E in delrin to start with http://www.irishflutes.net/mef/KeyedFlutes.htm
it’s best to buy a keyless version first, the keys can be added later on and and there isn’t much of a wait.
this is a beginners flute, easy to maintain, but a quality non-wooden flute.
keyed wooden flutes are a lot more expensive.
I have to disagree that it is a beginners flute. Unlike most flutes in the price range, these flutes have all the things you would look for in a professional model, including the sound and playability.
Regarding the chromaticness of Irish flutes, a keyless flute with a relatively large bore and tone holes like the ones generally favored for Irish music will not be much easier to play chromatic then a whistle. However, it is very common to have keys put on them, which will make them fully chromatic. M&E has good inexpensive keys as well as great inexpensive flutes, but I would also recomend getting a keyless version to begin with, keys can be added at any time.
i know you like your M&E, it’s a very good flute. i actually prefere big holes and bore,
and i’m just a beginner . anyway, i can’t think of another flute this cheap that can be keyed after.
In general, I’d say a keyless flute is considerably more difficult to play chromatically than a whistle. Due to the conical bore and the thickness of the wood, it’s more difficult to half-hole. Some large-holed flutes allow a pretty good half-holed Fnat and Bflat; some small-holed allow a good cross-fingered G# and Bflat. Beyond that, though it becomes quite difficult – I’ve yet to meet a conical flute that allows an Eflat to be played; half-holed G# is just about non-existant for me, even on the Hammy.
I kind of have designated flutes for playing in C (Olwell Nicholson) and A (Bleazey and Olwell Rudall). I have to go to my nameless keyed flute to play anything with an Eflat. Don’t come across Bflats much.
Yeah, I don’t know who told you that ninjarron, but I personally don’t find accidentals any easier on an unkeyed flute than on a whistle. Of course, some people might find it otherwise …
And then of course, there’s always the Boehm flute option. You could pick one up at a pawn shop for $100, go crazy tootling away with all the chromatics you could ever want, and then decide how you’d feel about the leap into the abyss.
I played my Boehm with our Irish band for a long time, and the flute was really not an issue (the player, on the other hand … 
) The tone was a little brighter, etc., but you can learn to wool it up it a bit with your embouchure, etc.
No matter what you do, though, have fun! 
There’s a whole legion of us that have the M.E.R.R. and like it. Mine’s in my lap at the moment.
Over the past week I’ve been able to get more power out of mine a lot more consistently than in the past three months. Nonetheless, it is a very forgiving flute. I took mine to a session a week after I got it (1st transverse anything), and managed to wheeze through a few tunes coherently.
You could start off with a Doug Tipple PVC tube flute. Ppl here love them, and though they are not upgradeable with keys, they are also under $100. Try the tipple, then decide if you want a keyless wood flute + Boehm OR a fully keyed wood flute from there.
I say Tipple because they are cheap and it will make a good back up for when you have your expensive keyed Flute thast is of course if you like the Flute.
I think we need an “M&E Legion” patch or something. Maybe a bumper sticker.
Seriously though, go with the M&E, because you can add keys, and if you get tired of it, we’ll have recommended it to enough other people that you won’t have any problems selling it. Plus it’s a great flute if you do like it, and you won’t even have to upgrade if you don’t want to.
That’s news to me. I have not found a “professional model” flute that equals an M&E as yet. If I did I probably wouldn’t pay for it. IMO M&Es are fine to start off on for a beginner, but Seery’s will pay off more if the beginner is determined.
If you’ve an insatiable lust for chromatics maybe you should consider going for a Boehm or a Radcliffe flute.
A Seery is a heck of a flute, and it probably meets your needs for something to grow into. Keys will cost you triple the cost of the M&E though if you want to go fully chromatic.
Eric
Ninjaaron, if you decide to follow Cathys advice and get a Boehm, drop me a PM, I have a good one here that I’m trying to get rid of because I’m not a Boehm fluter. We’ll discuss price and stuff off the board.
Does anybody actually make Radclif system flutes these days?
Thanks for all the replies, they are greatly appreciated, and I will look into all the things that you have suggested.
Er du svensk? Jeg bor her over i Danmark for to års! Min dansk er faktisk noget lort, men jeg tale lit. Sådan går det. Jeg tænkte du var det for dit brugernavn.
If you can’t read that, just ignore it.
Anyway, I’m interested, but I have to get a Job this summer before I start dropping money on flutes, so don’t hold your breath. I would like to buy it, but if you find another buyer first, go for it.
Jag är svensk Och jag tror att jag förstod allt du skrev.
I’m not trying very hard to sell this flute. It’s just laying around here now and I’m not playing it. I bought it brand new when I started playing Boehm in school one and a half year ago. I grew tired of it in a year and since then I haven’t picked it up more than one or two times.
Drop me a PM whenever, there is a good chance I still haven’t got around to selling it then.
Fedt mand! nu ser jeg hvad det siger under dit billede. Men ja, det er så sjov at vide dansk bare fordi det er som en lille hemmelig sprog alle vejene… nå, udside skaninavia. Meget sjov på nettet.
Det er for jeg er blot en dom amerikaner… Muligvis.
Whatever I guess. But yeah, I’ll drop you a line if I scrape any noteworthy amount of cash together.
Det är roligt. Det finns några danskar på forumet och flera svenskar också, så några andra förstår vad du skriver.
Det kanske är för att du är amerikan, men jag tycker det är lättare att förstå det du skriver än mycket annat jag har läst på danska.
Är det inte svårt för dig att läsa svenska eftersom danska inte är ditt modersmål?
Hey Ninjaron there’s a 5-keyed M&E flute on ebay right now (not mine…)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10183&item=7325933269&rd=1
It would be fully chromatic and have a half-life of about 100,000 years.
Boehm flutes are a snore-fest.
Doc
That seems like a deal!
Establish a brief relationship with the seller thru e-mails if considering the flute. He is a relatively new e-bayer, it looks like.
2 heads! Nice!
M
Euh excusez-moi, mais là ça devient un peu lourd… C’est joli à regarder le suédois, mais jusqu’à un certain point 
Oops ! Sorry.