After entirely too much drooling, lusting, indecisiveness, and the like over the past year, I finally have me a real live Irish flute!
I went on an “innocent” jaunt to Lark in the Morning in SF yesterday and left with a Casey Burns mopane flute (keyless, all wood, no slide or rings; I believe it’s the Ergonomic Standard model). As others have indicated in the past, trying several is the way to go, and I found this flute to be one of the best flutes in the shop (the 5-key Ormiston is a knock-out, but also costs two grand).
I have 15 years of experience playing classical flute, two years of serious whistle playing, and a few months of Irish playing on the Boehm, so I’m not an experienced evaluator of wood flutes, although I have played some top flutes and others along the way.
The flute is beautifully and carefully made, plays very responsively (ornaments really pop and bubble), with good intonation and an exceptionally rich, dark, woody tone. It’s pretty robust, and somewhat heavier than other flutes I’ve played.
The mopane is a beautiful color with a fantastic grain pattern…really lovely. Compared to blackwood flutes, the mopane flute seems to be a little mellower/warmer sounding.
All in all, I’m very happy with this instrument, and look forward to getting more accustomed to it over the next weeks and months.
The small-handed flute shown at www.caseyburnsflutes.com/catalog.php looks quite similar to the one I have.
A couple of questions, being relatively new to wooden instrument ownership…
The flute is in a padded nylon case; do I need to somehow keep this somewhere airtight/humidified? Also, I’ve read conflicting accounts on how frequently to oil during the break-in period…every day, once a week?
I had a McGee blackwood headjoint a few years back, and I never did anything special for it beyond oiling it periodically, and it never had problems, so can I transfer that experience over to a whole flute?
Micah
Congrats and happy fluting! Regarding oiling, I would recommend you check out Casey’s site and follow his recommendations as to how often to oil a new flute. Also let him know that you bought this one as he likes to get them back in a year or so to fine re-tune them. Good guy to deal with. I just bought his Boxwood ergonomic and am having a ball with it.
BillG
I’ve had one of the Burns Mopane flutes for a couple of years now. I don’t worry about humidifying it, even in Colorado winters. Just play it regularly, and the water content should stabilize over time. I do keep the case in a drawer where there isn’t a lot of airflow in and out. If the case hasn’t changed, I’m not too thrilled with its design that only the end is open. Once you get goo down one of those openings – like red ski wax on the threads – it’s never coming out.
Folling the recomendations on Casey’s web site is probably a good idea. I oil with Almond oil a couple of times per year. Since almond is pretty thin, you really won’t harm it by over oiling. Seems like Lark in SF oils all those flutes after each trial, or did when I was last there.
People have different recommendations–the one
I follow is oil once a week for a couple of months,
then once a month afterwards. Keep the
flute at least 50 humidity, 60plus is better,
not in the case because you’ll get mildew.
Yes, mopane has a warmer, mellower sound
than blackwood. Yes, the ergonomic
flute and the small hands flutes aren’t
terribly different, though they are
different. Of course, CB’s own advice
beats mine. Best
You really keep the flute in a humidifier outside of its case??
I played all the flutes at Lark in SF as well and the only one I would say worthy of buying there is the Casey Burns. I really liked the ergonomic styled one as well, a lovely flute.
My flutes sit right on top of a layer of bubble wrap inside their humidified Rubbermaid container. I’ve not had a hint of a problem yet.
Mary