Hey everyone. I’ve got this flute that a friend loaned me a couple of months ago, and I’ve had some pretty good times with it. It seems that there are these neverending debates regarding Rudall vs. Pratten, type of wood, etc. So I posted a clip on
my](http://www.myspace.com/jonathanmiltonmusic%22%3Emy) music site to see if some of you fine people would like to guess what side of the fence this flute sits on, what it’s made of, whether it’s lined/unlined, whatever else.. Once you get there, click on “My Love is in America.” That’s the only track I’m playing the flute on. It’s a quick one-take recording and a little rough, but you get a decent idea of the tone. I recorded w/ Audacity and the cheapest, crappiest little computer mic you could imagine.
i’m not an expert of flutes at all, i’ve been playing for less than two years and tried very few flutes, and for a very short time… but i want to try if i get it right 
i think it has small holes and maybe small bore, and that’s all i’ll try to guess…
but remember that it’s mainly the player that makes the sound, so sometimes might be impossble for the listener to find out what flute is, specially without hearing another flute for comparison…
I’ll take the bait. I’d say Rudall with unlined head. Wood? Not sure, but I’d guess blackwood. When do we get the results?
Nice work! Solid playing.
As to the make, I have no idea. Whoever guesses correctly, well, I guess they’re good at guessing. In my opinion, the player makes about 98 percent of all the difference in how the flute sounds.
I’m going to guess it’s a polymer “Rudall” model M&E flute.
–James
African blackwood Irish flute
Guessing a flute from a single recording is pretty much useless. Most of the sound is created by the player, not the flute shape. I will sound totally different on the very same flute. Uploading a set of recordings with the same tune played of different flutes would be better. A good player can make a Rudall sound much like a Pratten and vice versa (and judging from your recordings you certainly are a good player!) so that, without being able to hear other reference recordings from the same player on different flutes, one probably would call a Rudall a Pratten …
Copeland low D in brass.
Hmm, and I thought it was a cabbage slide whistle.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GmrWHJHFw20
Do you suppose the dowel is boxwood?
Man I like that guys videos.
Really, I have wondered how many can tell the difference between a Low whistle and a flute. I have often wanted to hear the same tune played on a whistle, piccolo, low whistle, and Irish flute by two or three different people (trying to play as straight forward as possible) purely for the fun of listening for similarities and differences.
I think my fave is the slide carrot.
IMO, a low whistle tend to sound much like a newbie flute player with unfocused and soft embouchure. Or maybe the other way around, a newbie flute player often sounds like he/she is playing low whistles.
A decent flute played by someone who knows his way around the instrument has a sound that no low whistle could ever reproduce, although I’m sure many have tried.
Heita3’s carrot, “paprika” (red bell pepper) and broccoli ocarinas are brilliant (although over the long-term, I’d rather listen to Jonathon’s flute playing).
http://youtube.com/watch?v=m3S8O9HAr1g&feature=user
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aXWh1EZCVCA&feature=user
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_GabHGlGm14&feature=user
Looking for a Low-D sound clip, I found this page by Michael Eskin.
FWIW (not much given my noobieness!) Jonathon’s “My love is in America” has the sound I associate with a Pratten. I like that tonal quality.