I just got one yesterday, second-hand, from someone on the board. I am both surprised and delighted. This is, by a long shot, the finest beginner flute available. It out-sings all the others by many degrees. Years ago, someone I knew referred to his Casey Burns flute as a “tree branch.” I had seen them, and they had looked rather thick-walled compared to other flutes, and when I posted on the board that I had heard one referred to that way, I got hammered, clobbered, attacked. Hmph. The flute looks a bit thick, but not unattractive. The embouchure hole looks strange (an almost-round hole with sanding at the sides, to taper it. I thought it would sound unfocused, as I have been playing Olwells and the like for years, but after a short lip adjustment period (about 4 minutes), I was (and am) outright amazed at what comes out of it, and how it feels. It is very different from an Olwell flute. Olwells have the classic reedy Olwell tone and basically play themselves. The thick wall of the embouchure hole makes this flute very resistant…I mean it feels as if it pushes back at me when I am blowing into it. The tone is superb! All the notes sing strongly and beautifully. The purity is remarkable. The second octave is rich, focused and sweet, perhaps more than on any other simple system flute I have played. This is shocking to me, but is, nevertheless, true. The cross-fingered (OXOXXX) C natural is THE STRONGEST (sounds just like its surrounding notes) I have encountered on any flute. I have spent a happy day with it so far and I can say that this flute makes me feel like a flute player…I get lazy on the Olwells and the like. When I play this one, it feels like, I don’t know…a relationship. I am smitten. I don’t know how a beginner would sound or feel on this, but I have no doubt that it would grow with you. Remember, though: because of the thickness of the embouchure hole, it DOES require a different embouchure than Olwells and the like. I want to mention that the Grey Larsen recording doesn’t do this flute justice. I know Grey is a great player, so it must be the compression that takes away the center of the tone. This is a seriously good flute, by any standard.
Jessie,
I agree with you that Casey Burns makes a fine flute! It’s good to see him getting recognition for his craftsmanship. I have one of his Boxwood Rudall flutes, and played one of the folk flutes (on loan) while waiting for my flute. Both were superb instruments with great tone. They also respond quickly to ornamentation.
Jeanie
Jessie,
Great post. I posted earlier that I should have never sold my folk flute and your post is exactly why… I’m expecting a Burns Boxwood Rudall some time this month so maybe that will make me feel better. I may end up buying another folk flute just because they are great instruments. In my beginner opinion Casey is extremely under-rated…
Cheers,
Tony
AKA Grixxly
Jessie wrote…
Years ago, someone I knew referred to his Casey Burns flute as a “tree branch.” I had seen them, and they had looked rather thick-walled compared to other flutes, and when I posted on the board that I had heard one referred to that way, I got hammered, clobbered, attacked.<<
That would have been me. At the time I had a mopane CB flute (this was way before the CB Folk Flute) that played really well. It sounded great and was very responsive. I ended up selling it & moved on to more expensive flutes, but I always missed the CB. Due to a cash flow problem I recently sold all my flutes and ordered a CB Folk Flute just to have something to play with as I’ve been much more into the concertina. The Folk Flute arrived the other day and just blew me away. It’s a seriously great flute! Mine is amazing in the lower octave, it has one of the strongest low D notes I’ve heard from any flute. It responds really well to finger articulations, rolls sound very crisp. The tone is wonderful. I’d say it’s kind of warm & woody, but powerful & complex too. More on the pure than reedy side. I’ve always liked playing CB’s flutes, maybe it’s the resistance that Jessie mentions that I like, but something about them just feels good to me. I find them a very easy flute to play, in terms of blowing, but even more so the easy finger stretch. They feel very comfortable in my hands. I happen to like the thicker walls, makes the flute feel substantial. If you like simple lines (which I do) you’ll love how this flute looks. Mopane is very pretty and when it ages and darkens it looks even better. Mine has a lighter patch of wood on one side that looks cool. This is an excellent flute at any price.
Jessie, I’m sorry for ripping into you for saying CB flutes were tree branches, but I did like the flute a lot and that seemed very unfair. Good luck with the baby, my kids are 19 & almost 15.
bruce boysen
I like trees.
I’m anxiously awaiting a Burns R & R puny-hands model. Casey’s a great guy to work with. I’m thrilled that someone out there is making flutes for those of us with size-challenged hands. Someone help me figure out a way to wait till the end of next week, I should have it by then! 
Dana
I like trees.
~JessieD<<
Good one! Me too.
bruce
If we didn’t have trees, where would we get all these great instruments from? 
Regarding the low d. The first time I hit the low d JUST RIGHT on my wifes fold flute I almost jumped out of my sking. It actually vibrated my chest and surpised me a lot. I was used to the low d’s on my whistles which are great in and of themselves. This though was a great and intoxicating (dare I say addictive?) feeling.
Once I can pry the thing out of my wifes hands I will be giving it a more serious go, for sure. 
if we didn’t have trees, there would be no life at all 
berti
curious after the CB folk and when I succeed learning to blow then will get one myself later.
Howdy… does anyone have experience to compare the Burns folk flute with either a 3 piece Dixon or bamboo Olwell as far as tone and volume? Thanks for any thoughts - Tod
I don’t know how much this will tell you but you can hear Grey Larsen playing a folk flute on his web site. Look under flutes.
Steve
Well, as I mentioned in my review,
the Grey Larsen recording doesn’t do this flute justice. I know Grey is a great player, so it must be the compression that takes away the center of the tone.
The sound in Grey’s recording (on Casey’s site) is not the sound of the potential of this flute. Nor is the tuning (off-key last note). I suppose that was a stylistic choice on Grey’s part.
Jessie,
I’d be interested in hearing more, if you wouldn’t mind. I really miss mine… I gather that you’ll be giving it more playing time than you might have anticipated?
On a side note, I’m getting very anxious. I received and email from Casey on Sunday that he was in the final stages of voicing/tuning my Boxwood Rudall model, and that he anticipates shipping near the end of this week. Then I think I’ll be down to only needing a few more instruments… An Olwell and an Abell whistle.
Cheers,
Tony
Sure. What do you want to hear? I have been playing this flute exclusively since I got it. It FEELS good to play. I am going to order a curly boxwood all-wood 5-key flute from Casey. I just have to decide which model to go with.
what is curly boxwood? will that give curled flutes? how original 
good to see you are having fun jessie!
berti
No, not curled flutes. It’s also called fiddleback boxwood (I think Casey came up with both of the terms in relation to boxwood, but they are common terms for maple). It is wood that exhibits a beautiful texture, and as you move it in the sun, different spots light up. It’s beautiful in appearance. It’s very rare in boxwood and there is a premium (an extra charge) for it.
Well, I think I’d like to hear anything you can think of! Since you have a great deal more experience than I do, I’m sure you noticed or will notice things that I would easily overlook…
Something I am curious about, you had mentioned earlier that your Olwell’s play themselves (I’ve heard that a lot, I need one of those!); but I’m guessing you’re not saying that the Burns is a ‘chore’ to play. Can you explain that a little? Maybe it’s the resistance you feel playing the Burns, that isn’t there with the Olwell (not that, that is good or bad)? The reason I ask is that my Hammy is pretty easy to play but I don’t feel that resistance with it that I did with my Burns. I don’t think I knew what to call it then… But in the same breath the Hammy can take all the air you want to shove down it. Course I let the Burns go too soon, but I recall that it could take a lot of air too, if you really wanted to ‘lean’ into it.
I’d just like to hear about stuff like that, if I was at all clear.
Cheers,
Tony
I wouldn’t describe playing a Burns flute as a “chore.” I had (until last week) an ergonomic standard model in mopane, and it was (is) a very rich-sounding, woody, forgiving instrument to play. However, because of the thick walls (and maybe chimney depth), there is, as Jessie mentions, a certain resistance–something to push against. I now have a 6-key Copley-Boegli (also in mopane), and it’s quite a different instrument to play. Having only had it for a few days, I’m still in the early stages of getting to know the flute, but it seems to me that it is somewhat less inherently resistant than the Burns, requiring the player to create some of the resistance with his/her embouchure. (Maybe. I’m not finding myself to be as eloquent on this subject as I had thought I would be when I hit the reply button.)
I should also add that while the Copley-Boegli is brilliant and precisely what I’ve been wanting, it has given me, if anything, a deeper appreciation for the Burns. The Burns is somehow different from other simple-system flutes I’ve played, but Casey definitely makes some great and enjoyable instruments. As Jessie mentioned in her original post, the cross-fingered C natural is spot on, both tonally and pitch-wise. Also, I found the all-wood flute to be quite robust and easy to care for.
Micah
Hmm…yes, your guesses are correct (for me, anyway). The Olwell can take lots of air and honk or take tight embouchure and sound pure-ish, but the Burns flute is different. With the right embouchure, it just responds more, as if the player is a bigger part of the equation than on an Olwell. It isn’t a chore to play. I have an analogy. Imagine two people facing each other, leaning toward each other with their hands held up flat against each other’s hands, so each supports the other. If one lets go, the other will fall. If one pushes too hard, they will both fall. There is a symbiotic relationship. That’s what it feels like when I play this flute. It is still surprising, given the price and “low-end” nature of it, but is true. I enjoy it more than other flutes. It likes me.
(Bear in mind that I am not crazy, but I haven’t slept much lately, so that might explain some of my language…I don’t actually believe that the flute likes me any more than it likes lemonade, and having never tried lemonade, I don’t suppose it knows if it likes that.)
I just played around with my CB Folk Flute and blackwood McGee Rudall Perfected with rounded rectangle embouchure. Both are great flutes, but very different in tone and feel.
The McGee sounds more reedy, the CB more pure, and it’s an obvious difference when playing one after the other. Both sound great, they really sing out when you push them. I think the CB actually has a slightly stronger low D, a surprise. The intonation of both is excellent. Like others have said the cross fingered C natural on the CB is amazing, it’s just as strong and pure as the notes around it. This is a real strength of the McGee too, but maybe the CB is just a little better. I’m not really sure which flute I prefer, which is saying a lot about the CB as it costs about 20% as much. If you prefer a more traditional reedy tone the McGee is the winner, but I personally like the CB’s tone every bit as much, maybe even slightly more at the moment. That could change next week, who knows? The volume isn’t that different to my ear, but that’s not something I care much about.
The McGee is easier to play in terms of tone, the CB has smaller holes slightly closer together, so on the CB it’s easier to cover the holes(more a theoretical then real difference for me). The CB takes more work to play the upper octave. You have to really support the notes with a good focused airstream or it sometimes wants to drop down an octave. I also find it somewhat hard on some notes to play the lower octave and flip them up to the upper octave with just my lip. On the McGee it’s effortless to flip all the notes from the lower to the upper octave. Like Jessie said about her Olwell, the McGee almost plays itself. The lower octave is just as easy, but I do work harder to play the second octave on the CB. This might change as I get used to the CB and it breaks in as I’m much more used to playing the McGee.
bruce boysen