OK, so my husband makes six-hole flutes out of bamboo and PVC. The bamboo ones have a nice tone, but they don’t sound like an Irish flute. The PVC ones do, even when I play them. They are carefully made (electronically tuned, and he’s worked on the subtleties for a long time).
We have rented space at a Celtic music festival to set up a table and try to sell them. Does anyone know what we can expect? Are the kind of people who go to such festivals the kind of people who might be willing to buy a flute? Does anyone have any tips for us? Thanks.
Well, people certainly sell flutes like the ones you describe
at Renaissance Faires. So it’s doable.
Maybe you can
sell some here too, on this board. Where are you going to go?
What are you making? do you have pictures?
Keys? How much? Tell us everything!
Oh, a tip. Play tunes on the flutes at the faire.
But you knew that, I reckon.
Also people will be nice.
Thanks, Jim. This is a “Celtic Music Festival,” and not a “Renaissance Faire,” which I’ve been assuming is different, but actually I’ve never been to either.
I’m hoping that the connection between liking to listen to Irish music and wanting to play it yourself is as obvious to everyone else as it is to me. And I’m assuming that Irish music fans will appreciate home-made stuff more than the guy on the street does. And that we will actually even maybe break even, at least on expenses, if you don’t count the crazy hours my husband has been obsessively putting in out in the shed.
Our stock so far is: a dozen low-D PVC flutes, electronically tuned, one piece; a dozen PVC G-flutes; a dozen bamboo flutes, in D and G; a handful of whistles in low F, PVC with a wooden fipple (these I think are especially nice–not loud, but with a good tone. I whistle better than I flaut); a dozen wooden swords for kids, and some lathed Harry-Potter-style wands, just because he makes those, too; and I think there are some home-made baseball bats in the works as well.
I’ve never been to a Ren faire but I reckon Celtic Fests
are close enough for folk music, as they say. Lots
of nice people, in a holiday mood, fanatically interested
in music… Obviously a CMusicF selects for musicians
in a way that Ren Faires do not. So I think your plan
is entirely rational, though I can’t predict the outcome,
of course.
One thing for sure is that the instruments must be well in tune.
I’ve seen bamboo flutes not in tune and I don’t think
any musician will buy them. I take it yours are.
I have sold PVC/CPVC flutes and whistles at both Ren Faires (with dedicated “Celtic” sections) and Celtic Music Festivals. And I continue to do so. My opinion is that it can be a crap shoot. It all depends on the folks that attend the event and their interests on any given day. That can be determined somewhat by the venue, the targeted demographic, the weather and the scheduled performers. PM me if you’d like more specifics.
If the fish don’t bite intitially,
don’t give up. Sometimes nobody gives me nothing
for the first hour and a half, then they are
fighting to stuff dollars in the jar.
Yes, the flutes are in tune, because my husband uses an electronic tuner. So they’re in tune not only with themselves, but they’re tuned to the true notes.
I bought my first bamboo flute from a vendor at the Celtic Fair many years ago, when it was still called the Scottish Highland Games here in the eastern US.
I don’t know how much competition you may find there these days; but there certainly is a market.