Was gonna buy a low whistle. I know of a guy who has an M&E polymer for sale though at a fair price. Got me thinking of taking up the flute. Got a friend who plays flute and says it’s fun.
I’ve read comments by different players on thesesson.org that M&E polymer flutes are harder than others to play in tune.
Would people here recommend to forget about the M&E as a first flute, because of this hardness of keeping in tune for a new player?
Another question, are there irish flutes that don’t have high volume for noisy sessions?
Hmmm… I don’t recall having issues with my M&E polymer in sessions… If you want polymer, you might also take a look at Dave Copley’s flutes. As to your second question, do you mean you want a quiet flute for sessions? Usually you’d want the opposite. The M&E is not the loudest of flutes, but it’s not the quietest, either.
Sry. I meant that I want a flute that’s not very loud because I don’t play in sessions.
But volume is no big deal really. Im more interested in what people have to say about the difficulty of playing M&E in-tune for a newbie. All flutes are hard I think, but maybe M&E is too hard? That’s what I read at thesession.
I have to echo this, as well as when just playing alone. But it’s been a few years, and my memory of it is faint. More to the point, for me, is that nobody ever suggested to me that it was out of tune, so I guess we can take that for what it’s worth.
All flutes have to be played INTO tune to some degree according to each one’s idiosyncrasies (remember that the flute is only half the instrument!), but if the stopper is way out of position, this could contribute to a real intonation problem, too. If a flute seems wonky from the get-go, start with the simplest thing first and check the stopper.
One real drawback to the M&E polymer for some people is that it’s a noticeably heavy flute, so I’d take that into consideration. I personally didn’t find it hard to play at all. Everyone’s going to be different on a given flute.
Maybe. Again, depends on the player. The fellow I sold mine to couldn’t get a hard bottom D out of it to save his life for as long as he owned it - and he’s no slouch - and yet I had no trouble whatsoever with that. Pissed him off to no end, but he’s a civilised chap and I’m grateful he saw fit not to kill me. In the past I’d tried flutes that I had only trouble with, and yet others could play them straightaway. The upside is that one can always sell, and get another. The bigger upside is that the longer you play, and learn, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to play other flutes with relative ease.
Done some reading on the forum and I see that Tipple flutes are both well liked and have good price.
Got the money though to buy a M&E if its much better even for a new player. Is the leap between them very big?
I haven’t played an M&E. I did start on a Tipple, though, like many others here. Many of us consider it a “best-bang-for-the-buck” beginner flute. It’s not conical, so it doesn’t play EXACTLY like a true Irish flute, (which the M&E is). It’s a length of white PVC plumbing pipe fashioned into a flute.
The advantages of the Tipple are that it’s very inexpensive and it plays well. It’s a good way to find out if you really want to play the Irish flute. If you stick with it, you’ll eventually upgrade, but you’ll never feel like you made a bad decision.
From the perspective of an innocent flute bystander (me) … There have been a few fluters in our sessions who played M&Es on their way to something better. And honestly, to this listener they sounded (and looked) perfectly fine.
Nothing wrong with the the Tipple cylindrical + wedge as a starter flute. I have one myself. But in terms of the look and feel and design of the real Irish timber flute, the M&E is closer.
I got a plain tipple D to start, and it was endless fun.
Later, I gave the tipple to a friend and got a delrin Copley, which was a totally new dimension of sound. Incredibly responsive and rewarding to play, and I never grew out of it. I can easily control the volume and tone to suit any occasion, and I always get comments on its rich tone.
I just got a wooden Lejeune flute at my teacher’s recommendation, but I’m still keeping the copley for the above reasons.
Summary: I recommend Copley highly, but Tipple is more than suitable to start on.
Are you looking at an old/small hole M&E or the larger hole R&R style M&E? I’ve played both (owned the latter), and they’re in tune.
They do have a slightly flat F# and slightly sharp A and B, but that’s a common artifact many flutes modeled after older flutes…it’s more of a just temperament tuning instead of the modern equal temperament tuning, and to me, it sounds more Irish in nature. That said, these notes are not that far out of tune and you can play them perfectly in tune easily.
It’s a fine flute for a beginner…or someone more experienced. I’ve played a mess of very nice flutes (Burns, Olwell, Williams, Chappell, etc.) and I’m perfectly happy with my keyed M&E.
I second the Copley over the M&E. I also think Casey Burns’ flutes are great if you are open to wood, e.g. the Folk Flute. In fact, just my opinion, the M&E was one of the least favorite flutes I’ve tried. Perhaps since I’m a bit further down the ITM flute road now I may have different opinion, but at the time I tried one I found it shrill and very hard to play in tune. Copleys and Burns are much more user friendly, based on my experience, and have a sound I find much more satisfying. In my clips, Castle Kelly and Out on the Ocean were played on a Copley delrin with the square embouchure cut; the Sunset and Cooley’s are on different Burns flutes, if you want to have a listen.
