hi everyone,
i’m sorry if this has been posted before but i’ve searched the forum & can’t find anything. i really need to start buying some CDs and listening to flute players & music. i know taste is subjective, but i’d appreciate your recommendations.
thanks!
y
For me the question needs to be split in two - do you want CD’s to inspire you to pick the flute up, the ‘I’d love to play like that’ feeling, or CDs that you might actually try to pick up a tune from, maybe play along with and stand some hope of imitating (I realise that imitation is not everything, one should try to develop one’s own sound, but when starting out it’s a good way to learn a variety of techniques)
I’m sure everyone will dive in with their favourites or ten in the first category, but I think the second is harder. The best combination of tunes to inspire and tunes to learn is surely the Wooden Flute Obsession series. So I’d start there - you’re bound to find something that makes you go ‘Wow’ and something you want to try to play on those CDs.
http://www.worldtrad.org/WFO_CD.htm
Good luck with the flute journey!
I’ll second the WFO CDs.
Another good place to start might be to get the Mike Rafferty tune book that Lesl has kindly put together, and get some discs by Mike. He has a delightful flowing style, and his CD’s are pretty sparsely arranged, making it easier to hear nuances in the playing.
If you’re into stuff that’s not strictly IrTrad, get something by Chris Norman or the Baltimore Consort, of which he was a member for a decade or so. “Man with the Wooden Flute” is a classic by any measure.
Yes, Mike Rafferty Speed 78 is a winner.
Here’s a good list of players from Brad Hurley’s site, which is a great resource:
http://www.firescribble.net/flute/players.html
thanks for that. it really is a mixture of the two that i’m looking for - inspiration & imitation. WFO sounds ideal. up until this point i havent actually listened to a single flute CD, the only flute playing i know is what i’ve heard a sessions over the years.
i’m really enjoying it sofar & a lot of the tunes i’m learning do sound familiar, but i want to build up my knowledge & eventually my reportoire (which currently stands at 11 tunes 
)
Dublin, what a great place to learn the flute!
I have a madfortrad DVD that is very good. Beginner and advanced tunes, played slow and fast, with and without ornaments.
Great tutorial!
Nate
It’s also quite helpful to listen to fiddlers.
There’s also a great discography on Gordon Turnball’s site, The Flow. He has great descriptions of various fluting styles and that may allow you to choose a couple of CD’s that highlight each of those styles.
I’ve been told in workshops that box players can be a good source of playing nuance ideas.
I listen to pipers and harp players a lot too.
isn’t Harry Bradley in Dublin now? i think Paul McGrattan lives there too.
I’d have to agree with Wormdiet about the boxes, especially when it comes to playing polkas. 
pinkyirl, do you know by name any of the fluters of Dublin sessions that you have liked? Perhaps that would give people here an idea of where you might be striving for in the end?
(Although when I was starting out, I was completely swept away by the magic of Matt Molloy’s playing and what I ended up striving for myself is nothing like that. Still fancy listening to Matt, though.)
Markus
Not to mention Catherine the Great (McEvoy, that is!)
so maybe buy a minidisc recorder and go to all the sessions you can… you’ll get stuff that you’d never find on CD.
I listen to a lot of Box players also. Of course I will mention my two favorite bands which have both inspired my playing a lot first off the more trad band Danu which has the great playing of Tom Doorley on Flute not to mention the other members who are all amazing. Secondly the more “modern” band Lunasa which feature Kevin Crawford on Flute, I wen through a couple months only listening to them and that is when I picked up Flute again after playing just Whistle and Mandolin and forgetting that I ever had a couple PVC Flutes. I would suggest any CD you find by these bands plus Kevin Crawford has a couple of solo CDs himself.
Of course those are the newer players, some prefer the older style. Like Mike Rafferty who was mentioned earlier, he is a great player and I cannot actually recommend Lesl’s book as I don’t have it, but as a fellow player at a session we both play at I will say that I have high expectations for it.
I just dusted off my WFO 1 CDs tonight, after not listening to them for a little while, and every time I do this, I am just amazed at the talent on these CDs-when you can, get them both-WFO 1 and WFO 2. It’s definitely the source of inspiration. Thanks Kevin for putting them together!
Remember too, WFO 3 will be ready soon too! Can’t wait!
Edited to add: Right now, after listening to WFO 1, I got stuck on a tune, as I often do, and am just blown away by Marcas O’Murchu on track 3 on the first disc-3 jigs no less (I’m not usually a jig kind of guy), but most of the time when I hear amazing musicians, it really doesn’t have to be even the same genre of music I usually like-I just am mesmerized by the talent and how well it is put together. By the way, it’s not exactly bedtime music-it’s got my heart pumping-so be forewarned-you might be up for a while if you listen now!
Astounding how much talent people have!
http://www.claddaghrecords.com/www/categories.asp?cid=15
41 flute CD’s wouldn’t mind if that was part of my flute-cd collection.
cheers,
Jeroen
lads i dont actually know any flute players’ names at all!
i grew up in listowel co.kerry where alot of the fleadh ceoils were held, so i’ve grown up listening to trad music & going to local sessions. my grandad in tipperary played the flute aswell as the box, fiddle, spoons, harmonica etc. i hopped on the bandwagon with my friends & did irish dancing classes from the age of 5 - 9 aswell, so alot of tunes are familiar to me.
i played classical piano from age 12 - 17 (my parents’ wish rather than mine) but i never really got into it. i was able, but i didnt put in the effort or the practice.
so i’ve enjoyed the flute for a long time, but never had an active interest until i started the lessons in october so i am a complete & utter newcomer in every possible way! will be making a point of getting to know more players from now on though so i’ll pass on any info to ye!
btw Avery - sorry to say I can’t make it up to the IANJ session tonight. but will be at the next month’s one very likely. - Lesl
Funny coincidence – I woke up this morning with that very set (“Maho Snaps”/“Get Up Old Woman and Shake Yourself”/“The Chicken That Made The Soup”) in my head and actually dialed “Bheal go Bheal” up on my iTunes immediately upon arrival at work this morning. That set’s the first track on it; what a great way to kick off a recording!
If you don’t have O Murchu’s “Bheal go Bheal” CD, Barry, I’d heartily recommend it – I have a feeling his “Providence” set will knock your socks off. 
Must have been an O Murchu brainwave floating around this morning …