A couple of months back, with Jon’s help, I worked out that what I was looking for in a travel flute was a Jon C Delrin Rudall; I told him at the time that I was waiting for some extra cash to come in before ordering (and resigned myself to a wait once I did order).
But about a week back, when I finally told him to go ahead, Jon had a surprise for me - someone else had ordered (then cancelled) the model I wanted. As an extra bonus, he’d had it with him last week at Friday Harbor so it had lots of good Irish music vibes
The flute arrived today - very nice indeed. The craftmanship is impressive, and it speaks easily, but I can see that it will take a while to get the best from it.
Compared to my Burns Folk Flute, it seems a touch quieter and the embouchure seems a bit more demanding (getting a solid low D requires more work), but I was surprised at how easily and sweetly the 2nd octave plays. Also (though this is probably a function of my undeveloped embouchure) it seems to take a bit more air to fill than the Burns - not excessive, but noticably more.
I don’t intend to neglect my Burns, either, but this flute should see a lot of play - just being able to leave it set up will see to that (and the nice travel roll Jon shipped it in will be a help on the road). With two good (and quite different) flutes to work with, it should be a long time before my skill even approaches their limits.
Congratulations. The sweet second octave is typical
of Rudalls, as is often the more difficult low D.
These tend to be more demanding flutes to play,
but they are addictive, no question.
That is exactly our experience with the Jon C flute we borrowed from Doc Jones. It was just too demanding for Renee to play. After Doc watched Renee play a bit closer he pulled out another flute and BINGO, we now have a new flute for Renee.
Have fun with that flute, Dana. I gave it a crank before it went out to Friday Harbor and it was loverly. I’ve had difficulty on the bottom of some Rudallesque flutes (M&E and Byrne) but this one hinked without contorting my embouchure.
Luckily for you it wasn’t made for lefties because rumor has it a certain flute instructor would have brought it back to Ireland.
Thanks for the words of encouragement, all. I’m already noticing a reduction in air demand as I adjust my embouchure (oddly enough, it’s also sounding less breathy for some reason ). I imagine that more volume (when I want it) will come in time, but “quieter” isn’t always a bad thing, either.
Aaron, Jon mentioned that certain flute instructor - I wasn’t certain if it had been played near, by, or for her, but it sounds like good flute juju any way you take it. I have a serious case of admiration for her playing; and I’d love the chance to take one of her classes. Pity that technique can’t be passed along with the flute.
Interesting. I posted something a while ago about my experience with my Sweet keyless and a Casey Burns FF. I started with the Sweet, and I had trouble getting the low notes for a long time. Later on, when I had a chance to play one, I was surprised how easy it was to get the low D on the Burns, but also noted it was louder overall and slightly less easy to get the second octave.
Sounds like I am at a similar development stage to you. I find that working on one flute for a while does help when I move to the other. Probably not a good idea to swap back and forth every day though, doesn’t give your “muscle memory” enough consistent data to work with.
I thought this line: “The craftmanship is impressive, and it speaks easily, but I can see that it will take a while to get the best from it.” could have been straight from the AFRG, but it seemed a bit rude to DCrom to poke fun at his review. Anyway, he did include some more specific critique.
Still, the AFRG is disconcertingly accurate in too many cases!
Guys, you really need to work on your critical reading skills - this was a gloat - with comments.
And “it will take a while to get the best from it” was just honesty - anyone who’s heard me playing flute - or whistle - would be laughing hysterically if I claimed otherwise. Matt Malloy and Catherine McEvoy have nothing to fear from me - except, possibly, hearing damage.
So I guess you’re going to hold on the the Casey Burns huh? I’ll be happy to take it off your hands if you ever feel the need!
Actually, I’m going to order one for my Bday coming up in June. I’ve convinced Mrs. LimuHead that it needs to be ordered 8 weeks out 'cause that’s the approximate delivery time on Casey’s website - so I get to order it mid-April!
Enjoy your new flute. Looking forward to trying it at the nex shindig!
Yes, I’m planning on keeping both. They’re very different beasts to play - per Casey Burns’ web site, his Ergonomic Standard (and Folk Flute) design evolved from the Pratten. I’m interested to see how playing one influences the other (I’m already working my embouchure a lot more to keep the Rudall low D from going flat - maybe this will help me play a bit sharper on the Burns, too).
I’ve been playing the Cochran Rudall almost exclusively the last couple of days (took advantage of this to give the Burns a good oiling), but I plan to give the Burns a workout tonight. We’ll see.
You’re certainly welcome to try the Cochran anytime you want - for that matter, if you’d like to borrow the Burns (and that Syn you liked) for a while just let me know.
Congrats on the upcoming birthday (and the to-be-ordered flute), you young whippersnapper! (My kids tell me that I’m older than dirt) Y’know, Limuhead, if you could figure out some way to play more than one instrument at a time you’d be a one-man session. (Flute, whistle, fiddle, concertina, uke, guitar, saxophone, piano . . . what have I missed?)
). I imagine that more volume (when I want it) will come in time, but “quieter” isn’t always a bad thing, either.
