Unfortunately qualification, competency, experience, independence, objectivity, and authentication have not been established for the majority of C&F members, thus making any flute or whistle review rather unreliable. Everything is a FWIW.
While flute tone and playing characteristics are scientifically quantifiable, in truth such characteristics are typically conveyed in rather vague and subjective terms.
All Irish flutes AFAIK are handmade so there will inevitably be sample variation. Older samples may have issues which the player erroneously assumes to be inherent to the design.
Still, I do appreciate honest and fair comments about flutes from all players but only directly from them. Parrots please stick to crackers.
Thank you for your kind apology, which I accept. I agree about
these risks. And I appreciate your concern for the reputation
of flutemakers.
I take these risks as part of the price of allowing the expression
of criticisms about flutes. The alternative, realistically, is that
criticisms will not appear here. Real discussion requires
the possibility of criticism, and there’s no way to screen
out the ignorant and unskillful in advance.
I favor real discussions. More informative, less artificial,
I’m sure you see what I mean. Also
sometimes there is something practical on the line,
e.g. a lot of money or a newbie getting a flute he/she
may not be able to play.
Also I think the risks are much mitigated by the fact that
there will be an answering voice (or choir of voices),
speaking out on behalf of the maker. Some of these
are likely to be quite knowledgeable and more than
able to point out why posted criticisms fail, if they do.
And the audience is intelligent and generally knows a good
deal about these things. I trust in the ability of people
here to sort things out intelligently..
When I was a kid, there were things that no one could say
about the USA. When I went to Berkeley, to grade logic papers I had to sign a three page oath, sign it in several places, in fact,
swearing not to say things, not to talk to certain people.
I refused.
The idea seemed to be that bad views are so seductive and
pernicious that they will enthrall the listener, even in an
open debate before a knowledgeable audience.
My experience is that bad views tend to
get smoked, that they can’t survive the light of day.
I trust in our ability to respond courteously and effectively
to half-baked criticisms about flutes, and
I trust that people here have the sense not to be misled,
especially if there’s a real discussion. We’re better off
if we’re not limited to
saying nice things or remaining silent.
People who make
things professionally, or write things, or whatever,
are going to get discussed and reviewed–sometimes
there will be wrong headed criticisms. That’s life.
Better to be the answering voice than to
forbid the criticism, IMO.
If my FWIW post was going to be the only or last
post in the thread, I would not have posted it. It was
meant to begin the discussion it began. Given the
FWIW and the absence of detail, it was bound to be
overridden by the detailed responses that followed,
as they did. The alternative would almost certainly
have been a ‘nice’ thread, or no thread,
about an expensive flute on e bay that some one
had brought to our attention and was drooling over,
perhaps knowing little about it.
No, I wasn’t unkind to Hammy. I was emphatic that he makes
great flutes. I didn’t say his flutes were ‘said to be out of tune.’
I reported my own personal experience with an out of tune
Hammy. I also included a complete post from the fluteboard,
from Azalin, describing his noobie struggles with a Hammy’s tuning. I said that I was confused, didn’t know
what I was seeing or what this meant, though I was sure
that a better player would have no problem. I suggested the
possibility that these might not be good starter flutes.
Then, having been denounced for saying this (‘unkind’ wasn’t
the word used, as I recall), I bought a Hammy from
Doc Jones. And I posted this in the same
thread.
‘Hi, gang, popping back in for a moment to say
I bought a D hammy from the ever-helpful
Doc Jones. The Fsharp is slightly flat as is
the second octave C sharp, but there are
no significant tuning issues. In short, the tuning is fine.
Excellent flute all round.
I think Brazenkaine was right to say that
any Hammy with tuning issues as serious
as those Azalin and I reported are atypical
and should go back to the maker.’
Unkindness is made of sterner stuff. It would
be a pity if this level of discussion and criticism
was unnaceptable.
I have an Ormiston and had read enough curiousity that I though I should stick up for it. It is a wonderful flute: Has a beautiful sound with a sweet tone and plays very well in tune. Though it is a bit on the older side, it compares favoribly with a Copley 6 key I’ve been trying.
Now, I do have the Ormiston listed for sale here, but not on EBAY. I’m only selling because the sound seems to drop off at the low E and D, and I’d like a bit more projection. In comparing the two flutes, I don’t find any sufficient advantage yet to recommend the Copley over the Ormiston, though to be fair, the Copley has a bit more center in the higher register.
I will say that both flutes are very nice instruments and are fun to play.
And on the question of expressing opinions: I will defend the freedom of speech until it is pried from my cold dead hands. All opinions I’ve read here have been fair and polite…and one cannot ask for more in a public forum.
My credentials - I’ve played longer than some and less than others. I’m also a better musician than some and worse than others. Add to that the fact that I’m older than many and younger than most, I guess I could claim to be an extraordinary example of mediocrity.
That is just a hoot. And Foat Wuth is one of my favorite places of anywhere I’ve ever been.