Olwell Bamboo C

Irish Flute
1

Hi all,

I tried searching but no relevant info on Pat Olwell’s bamboo flute in C.
I’d just like to hear a little something from someone who’s tried it, about:

  • sound
  • volume
  • reach/hole sizes

Thanks, all :slight_smile:

Cheers,
Eivind

2

Sound: awesome
Volume: excellent
Hole reach: a serious stretch, especially for the bottom-most hole.

I’ve got long fingers and big hands, but even I cramp up a bit in my right hand when I’m playing this flute for any length of time. Most of the holes aren’t too far apart for me, it’s just the last hole (farthest away from the embouchure) that’s a real stretch.

I really enjoy playing the C, it’s a great key. I have a “real” C flute on order from Chris Wilkes (with 6 keys) so I’ll sell the Olwell when that’s ready.

Here’s a clip of me playing the slip jig “Give Us a Drink of Water” on the Olwell C:

http://www.firescribble.net/drinkofwater.mp3

3

That sounds lovely Brad! C is such a nice key isn’t it? I suspect I may get a C flute sometime in the future but the memories of your Bb are still poisoning my head as well :wink:

4

A friend of mine says that Joanie Mitchell always used to call C a “happenin’ key.”

Bb is great, but C is better on the flute in some respects: the flute is easier to play in tune and it has the best qualities of both D and Bb…all the power of D and much of that deep mysterious sound of the Bb. Plus it’s easier to convince fiddlers to tune down to C, and lots of pipers have C pipes.

5

Yeah, like my buddies Peter Laban and Eldarion :slight_smile:

6

I just wanted to ditto Brad’s comments. My Olwell C is my favorite flute to listen to but it is a bit of a booger to reach.

Doc

7

But then Billy Joel said something like “C is like white bread, it’s always there, and you know what you’re getting, but it isn’t a crunchy, whole grain key like say, F#.” Not that flutes are made in F#, but it is interesting to see what different musicians say about keys.

8

And your buddy Brad as well, eventually :wink:

But I won’t be playing them in public for at least five years, maybe more.

9

Very nice clip Brad! Hearing a clip like this reminds me of why I wanted to play the flute.

Bob

10

Yes, very nice clip, I love the playing. Do you happen to be in a room that warrants itself to much reverb or is that post-production?

11

It’s post-production, not that there’s much “production” involved…I just opened my PowerBook, fired up Amadeus II for recording, using the microphone built into my iSight (first time trying that, so there’s a bit of clipping here and there; normally I just use the PowerBook’s built-in microphone), applied a standard VST plugin to give it some reverb, and saved it direct to MP3.

I actually recorded a different tune first (The Ballaghadereen Fair, one of my favorite reels at the moment), but wasn’t really happy with the way I played it…I just listened to it again and it doesn’t sound too bad after all so I put that up on the site too, the bottom C at the end gives you a sense of what this flute can do…normally the bamboo flutes don’t have a really strong bottom note but Patrick seems to have figured out how to do it.

http://www.firescribble.net/BallaghadereenFair1.mp3

This is a wonderful flute tune, by the way. I learned it from the box player Bob Abrams, who learned it I think from the playing of Mick Mulcahey…it’s a great version.

12

Wow it sounds like natural reverb…

13

Hey Brad,

thanks for your feedback and very convincing sound clips -
it sounds absolutely lovely…
And yes, that’s pretty good for software reverb!

Looking forward to try out the C now :slight_smile:

Thanks and all the best,
Eivind