Well, I’m pleased as punch today. Last night, I had a brief e-mail conversation with David Copley of Copley Flutes and have just sent him a deposit for a left-handed Delrin D with six keys and a tuning slide. I would have preferred a C#/C foot on it and 8 keys, but apparently that’s not something he’s able to do on a left-handed model. I’ll have to play my favorite Baroque stuff on it up a half-step to avoid needing the C#.
I’ve been reading up a bit here, and apparently a handgun case is the best option as a case for this sort of flute; I feel comfortable keeping my M&E keyless in a soft bag, but with keys sticking out all over, especially a long F, I’ll be happier with the Copley in a hard case. I chose Delrin since I live near Philadelphia, and with the temperature and humidity swings we have here, I wouldn’t feel entirely comfortable with a fussy wooden flute.
Anyway, I’m really looking forward to getting it. I was so pleased that he didn’t charge more for a lefty, and you all speak highly about his flutes. It’ll be a lot of fun to be able to get a G# or Bb on the second octave without fighting so much (although I do find the cross-fingerings fun and challenging) and to be able to play classical and folk music on the same flute. (And to have an Eb and Fnat at all!)
Anyway, I’m so pleased to have a real keyed flute on the way! This will make my third one – a Tipple D, an M&E keyless in polymer, and now a 6-key Copley in Delrin!
I found a nice case for my Casey Burns Folk Flute at Harbor Freight. You might look there as well, but your new flute will break down into different length pieces than the FF so I’m sure the one I have won’t work for you.
Also, Pelican and Anvil make cases for the music and photo industries in all sizes, and you can order “egg crate” foam from almost any camera shop and cut it to fit.
I’ve used pistol cases and foam for years for flutes, whistles and recorders so the do work a treat.
There are also cases marketed for poker chips that have appropriate dimensions. Pop out the trays and add some foam. You can also cut out the foam to fit the flute and add some material for a little nicer look. I have found some on Amazon that worked well.
Have you had to cut the foam to fit the flute? I don’t want to cut away too much foam, but I’m concerned the keys may get a bit smooshed if I don’t cut at least a bit of a “slot” for the flute to sit in.
You can do so easily if you desire, but I’ve never bothered. I do have the flute in a pouch that my wife sewed for it using heavy fleece. Each section is in it’s own pocket, similar to a roll up pouch for multiple whistles. I just swab out the flute at the end of the gig/session/practice, put it in the pouch and place it in the case.
Do make sure there’s a bit of wiggle room for the flute, you don’t want the case to “clamp down” on it. Just tight enough to prevent the flute from rolling around in there is perfect. The soft pouch helps with that as well.
I hope you’re comfortable carrying around a handgun case. Seems to me there are better options, especially with recent events here in the US. Yes, I’m being a bit paranoid, but I prefer to not have to worry about something like this when the solution is pretty simple.
Here’s what I did. The pistol case was $10.00. The gray open-cell foam came with the pistol case. The blue foam is closed-cell and about 1/2 the thickness of the gray stuff. I replaced the bottom half gray with two layers of blue and on the top blue layer I cut out spaces for the flute parts to sit in.
In addition to that, the pistol case sits perfectly in a Protec soft clarinet case which has a shoulder strap so it’s easy to carry. And it doesn’t look like you’re carrying a pistol into the pub.
I’ve had cases hand made from Northwind Instrument Cases out of Tucson, AZ. These are beautiful cases, made to the flute that you will be placing in the case. They cost more, but you will be getting a hand made/hand crafted item, by a gentleman who really knows how to construct a quality case. Frankly, I don’t know how Jim does it. All I did was send him measurements of the flute and photographs; you keep your flute and he builds the case to fit, and fit it does! When you consider the fact that the case is hand crafted from quality materials, the cost, in my mind, becomes less of a factor. I might mention that the case I had made for the Somers Flute was no easy task, in fact, it was quite complicated. Due to the complex nature of fitting this particular flute to a case, the cost was a little bit higher than it normally would have been; I paid in the neighborhood of $300.00.
I had a case built for a Somers 8 key flute; received it about a month ago. The flute fit perfectly in the Northwind Case and it is a real beauty, couldn’t be more pleased. Kind of an interesting back story to this case. Jim had almost completed my case, when a bad monson storm hit Tucson and damaged the roof of his shop. As luck would have it, my case was directly under the leak and damaged the case. Jim offered to mail the damaged case to me to see how the flute would fit. I received the damaged case in a couple of days and, really it didn’t look bad to me;however, Jim didn’t feel right about using it. So, I placed the flute in the case to determine fit, it was a little difficult as there was no lining in the case, just the wood. Looked like it would fit fine, so I advised Jim and sent the damaged case back. It was about one month later that Jim sent a brand new case and the fit was spectacular as well as the appearance of the case.
Hope you enjoy your new flute, sounds like you’ll be having a lot of fun.
The problem with putting keyed flutes in a cloth case (like the Cavallaro) is that the keys tend to get stuck in the cloth/lining. Not insurmountable and I do it, but Dave C’s pistol
case will work well.
It just got delivered! I can’t wait until I get home tonight and can mess with it! I really need to learn how to deal with the keys. They seem to lift up almost not at all – they’re still so close to the body of the flute even when they’re lifted.
I can’t wait until I get home!!
Update: I’m home. It’s lovely, the finish is downright velvety, and OMG THE KEYS CHANGE EVERYTHING. I’ve got a LOT of work to do.
I fear I am not a good enough player to really give you a thorough review, but it seems wonderful to me – it’s more responsive on the high end (at least as high as I can go, which is to the top D), and seems lightweight to me although I doubt I’ve played enough flutes to be able to judge. The embouchure is cut much more cleanly than my polymer M&E keyless.
The keys work very smoothly, although the Eb key is a challenge for me – specifically reaching it with my pinky while also holding the last hole closed with my ring finger. That is not a pleasant thing to do although I’ve gotten better. The stretch that is required between the ring and third finger will never, ever be comfortable or feel natural I think. The strange split I have to do with my fingers to play an Eb has caused me to dub it the Spock key.
It comes corked at the joints, which I did not expect; my M&E keyless is not corked and goes together very, very easily and securely. This one requires a bit of pushing and cork grease; I wish it had not needed corking, and am not really sure that it couldn’t be done without cork like my polymer M&E. I trust that Dave Copley knows what he’s doing, though. Nevertheless, getting it apart to mop out the head is not pleasant, and I’m always worried that I’m gripping it in some way that will cause me to bend the keys. Haven’t yet, and I’m hyper-aware of it, so I should be fine.
Again though, keep in mind that I don’t know enough about these flutes to know whether I’m talking about things specific to the Copley or things that all keyed SS flutes have in common. On the whole, I absolutely love it and am delighted that I bought one. My other instruments are piano and harp, and I have to go where they are in order to play them. It’s heaven to have an instrument that comes to where I am instead.
I’ll have to play my favorite Baroque stuff on it up a half-step to avoid needing the C#.
And I’m already planning a cute quilted bag for it, so I should be fine.
