yesterday I had a chance to try two aebi flutes from a forum member and have instantly fallen in love with them…so aebi is the maker I am going for (so far only have a 3 piece dixon, tried a grinter, and have an loan flute from an friend to practice on too).
but I am having an hard time to decide whether I want the pratten or the rudall, before contacting tom to get on his list.
so far I had only played rudall style flutes and this was my first meet with an pratten, which I had expected to be hard to play/ hard to fill…none such thing at all.
though I am still pretty new to all this.
what things could I take into consideration to help me decide for the one or the other…when I heard him play the pratten, maxing it out to let me hear what it could do I liked it very much but …hmmmm the other one was also very nice, a large holed rudall…
I think what matters most is which particular flute you like rather than type. There is no right answer, and different makers will have slightly different models of each type.
I have an Olwell Pratten and a Byrne Rudall
and I’m going slowly crazy trying to figure
out which is better.
The Pratten has a big warm sound,
the Rudall is more focused and pure.
The bottom of the Pratten honks easily.
The bottom of the Rudall is less strong,
but it’s there and getting louder by
the week–it will honk like a Rudall.
I listened to Mike Rafferty play his Olwell
Pratten–oh, well, that’s a revelation.
But the Rudall’s focus is fascinating.
The Pratten seems to do better at sessions,
it blends in and I can stay in the lower
register, which is warm and loud
and blendable.
But the Bryne is increasingly effective and
it cuts through. I heard Bryan play it and
it has a lovely low end.
Of the two I now favor the Bryne,
but this is such a personal taste
thing and I make no promises
about tomorrow.
Buy them both and sell the one
you like less, if you can bring
yourself to part with it, I say.!
Hi Berti, you live right across the chanel from Michael Cronnolly in County Mayo in Erland. His R&R is a typical large hole job. I am sure he would loan you one to test-play.
Well, since I feel strongly about this topic . . . I’ll weigh in with the dissenting opinion.
You can’t really draw any parallels between a so-called Olwell Pratten and an Aebi Pratten . . . if you’ve played an Aebi Pratten and an Aebi Rudall, then you have the only meaningful information.
Unless the maker claims to be making an accurate replica of a Pratten, or of a Rudall, without his own tweaks . . . then the meaningful distinction is between makers moreso than between a maker’s individual models.
FWIW, I have a large hole Olwell (Pratten if you will) and a medium hole (Rudall?) Olwell. The medium hole is like a Rudall with large holes. I am totally taken with the sound. It might not have as much raw volume but it carries just as well and has a clear, focused tone. As I play more I realize that flute quality doesn’t depend on bore and tone-hole size. Nor is it about volume per se. Projection is more important than volume at the source.
Stuart is right, BTW. A maker can call his flute anything but it won’t mean it is that thing. The most meaningful comparison would be between a period Rudall and a period Pratten. But then you wouldn’t be comparing two Aebi models, would you?
thanks for the replies, this makes all the sense I needed
I have decided to go for the large holed rudall model, just because I mostly have been playing rudalls and feel more drawn to these right now. an pratten style might be the next thing on the list, if needed…
won’t need an new flute for a long time to come after this aebi arrives…
oh goodness!!! thanks for the laugh…we will see what happens…at least after this flute the flute fund needs replenishing first of all…also, this is just the start for me after having played this dixon 3p poly …but I am forewarned thanks )
I think more makers are hitting a sweet spot with “small bore Prattens” or “large hole Ruddalls,” wedding the best qualities of each. I love my Copley for its rich, focused tone, booming bottom end, sweet upper end, quick response, pop, and projection. It can go reedy or round or chiffy–it’s up to the player. Far from being a “compromise,” the Copley is a new improved hybrid. Sounds like you get something similar with the large hole Ruddalls by Aebi, Olwell, McGee, and others.
The more I play this Copley, the more I’m persuaded to have a monogamous relationship with it. Rather than lusting after various flutes, I’m promiscuous with the air stream, toying with all sorts of embouchures and volumes and alignments to see what range of tones I can find. In short, rather than having the same experience with many different flutes, I’m out to have many different experiences with one good flute.
Ahh - thanks Scooter, you may have briefly rescued me from a slide into flute aquisition syndrome… my situation is rather like Berties but slightly worse - I have had my Dixon 3-pc for a year, and have a Copley arriving any day now from someone on this board. So I too will instead try being ‘promiscuous with the airstream’ and stave off the flute purchasing… (I also bought a new boehm flute 3 months ago…oops)
that’s exactly my experience aswell. but there’s always a little luck involved like, the ideal holespacing, which is personal.
maybe if i bought and Aebi instead of a Copley, i would have a similar experience.
anyway, i believe, once you got a good flute, your better of spending your time practicing than buying flutes over and over again.
(what an luxury problem we have here…)