After having tried to play a 30 inches bansuri flute, and after having given up because of the finger spacing, I ordered a 22 inches Indian bansuri flute which is the equivalent of an irish low D flute.
The smaller bansuri arrived today. It is very nicely made, like the big one.
A straight and clean piece of bamboo with no apparent defects.
It is very easy to get a sound out of it, almost instinctive.
The finger spacing is much more forgiving and I have no problems at all to cover the six holes with the piper grip. The side seventh hole is a bit of a stretch, I can barely cover it with my pinky, but I understand that it is not mandatory to use it, you can play the bansuri like an Irish flute. The sound is mellow and pleasant, and surprisingly enough the intonation seems good to me. It is also easy to go to the higher octave. The bansuri is super light. I really think that you can’t get more with just $ 35.00.
I believe that this bansuri could also be an ideal way to start for someone who wants to “try” the six holes transverse flute but does not want to invest too much money until he knows that he likes it.
I am the proud new owner of Gerardo’s large E bansuri (equivalent to low B Irish flute in pitch). I must admit that I am having a hard time covering the finger holes, so this flute will be up for yet another flight to a new home. One thing that I notice about the bansuri that I had forgotten is that all of the finger holes are about the same size, whereas on an Irish flute there are usually several different sizes of finger holes in order to compress the fingering somewhat. For example, having a large finger hole for the right hand ring finger (R6) puts the hole even farther away from the next hole than it would be on a similar cylindrical-bore flute with a smaller hole for this finger. Clearly, the Indian makers are more concerned with having large holes so that you can half-hole and slur the notes than they are with having a flute where it is more easy to cover the holes. Their priority is on sound production and not necessarily player comfort.