Some Boehm Playing

Irish Flute
1

Hey Guys,

Here’s a reel on the boehm flute. It’s a gemeinhardt with a solid silver headjoint and b footjoint. I am going to get a wooden headjoint soon after I move to Colorado.

What do you think? I know it doesn’t have the woody sound altogether, but with a wooden headjoint, that’ll be cured.

I just don’t see the point in waiting 3 to 10 years for a flute and then paying thousands of dollars. The great players of the past didn’t do that and I’m not going to.

This piece isn’t the best example, but I’m really into the Galway style and the playing of Paddy Carty and Sean Moloney.

Lady on the Island


This is one is called The Jug of Punch and is really difficult, in my opinion. It’s been a work in progress for some time now.

2

Very nice, indeed! I would say (and I never thought I would) that you should stick with the Boehm and never bother with a wooden flute. You’ve got the sound, and changing would be pointless. I started with Boehm, and played it for many, many years before I came to ITM and got a wooden flute. Believe me, if I had gotten the sound you have, I would have just stuck with Boehm. I am mightily impressed. Bravo!

BTW, I don’t think you need a wooden headjoint at all, but if it lights your candle, go for it!

3

Your Gemeinhardt clicks just like mine does. You play it so well, unlike me. Do you think you’ll get tired of the clicking?

4

Wow thanks! You’re making my head swell!

I’m trying to memorize “The jug of Punch” the way Paddy Carty played it. It’s a really difficult tune. I love the way he switches from F#s to F naturals, shifting the sound from D minor to D major. The accompanist (I think it’s a banjo) just seems to know exactly what’s going on. I think that’s why he or she sticks to open fourths and fifths and lets Paddy drive the harmonic progression.

Thanks again, that was very nice of you to say.

5

I kind of like the clicking. I’m a weirdo, but I just do.

I’ve been playing the piano for years, jazz and classical. I always loved the sound of the hammers striking on the inside in the upper register.

When I play with other people, you really can’t hear the clicking. I also think If I refine my technique and not slap my fingers down so hard, I could eliminate a lot of that click.

Thanks for listening.

6

Verrry nice! I paly ITM on the Boehm as well so I’m gonna be studying this quite a bit.

So do I! I also like rattling the handles on my mandolin case with my feet as I play :boggle:

7

You inspired me to attempt to play my boehm. So last night I oiled my lovely Casey Burns and played my smelly old Gemeinhardt instead, which I’ve soaked in dry coffee grounds to try to get the mildew smell out. I actually got pretty good after a while but my left index finger went numb! I love the sound it makes, though. So loud and the notes come so easily after playing the wooden flute and the fife now for a couple months.

8

I am sorry to hear of your L1 numbness, in playing a Boehm. Just maybe it could be due to your not straightening your left wrist enough, perhaps. For instance, I play with both of my wrists straight, and on the right hand I think of spreading the fingers out, while on the left hand I think of laying the fingers out, where the L3 sets the limit.

And yes, the Boehm is superbly responsive. That Boehm guy really knew what he was doing!

Oh, yeah, back to ITM. :smiley:

9

Great going, Lee! The Jug is indeed a beast (try it on a keyless :boggle:!!!), but you’re well on your way to taming it, I’d say :slight_smile:. I love the “arc” Carty puts in his phrases - isn’t he amazing?

10

Nice playing! Sorry if I misunderstood your sentence, but did you mean that the great players of the past didn’t wait for a wooden flute to be made and therefore used to choose a Boehm?

I’m quite ignorant about it, so could you mention other great players of the past that used a Boehm? (just wondered how long ago is the mentioned past).

Also, without having an open holed Boehm, isn’t it impossible to do slides and finger vibrato?

11

Actually, I suspect some of them did the historical equivalent of that, and I’ll bet money there were waiting lists for Boehms, too, given the long tradition of bespoke flutes! – but no, Romulo, the Boehm design came later than the simple-system flute (though there are wooden Boehms today, and lots of them).

IMO, today’s typical Irish flute player (at least this one!) is basically a staunch anachronist, waiting three to ten years and paying thousands of dollars for a replica of a simple-system flute – the flute that Theobald Boehm’s design* superseded.

(*i.e., the design that people threw masses of the old simple-system flutes into the junkshops for)

BTW, wasn’t Paddy Carty’s flute a Radcliffe system (sort of an in-between evolutionary step on the ladder)?

12

Slides, as in glissando, no, but finger vibrato, yes.

13

Yes, I know that, that’s why I wanted to know what exactly Lee meant by that.

Well, to each his own. Actually, the literal translation from portuguese of this proverb would be something like “to each madman his mania”


Though I’m not much fond of Boehm flute’s bright tone and wouldn’t say it superseded the simple system flute in terms of timber

14

Nice conversation. I don’t want this to be another boehm versus simple battle, but I don’t think it’ll go that way. I love the simple flute and in truth, am just to poor to get a more expensive keyed one. I have a nice boehm flute, so in the spirit of the tradition, I’m making use with what is at hand!

Yes Paddy Carty used a Radcliff system flute, which was keyed like a boehm but played more like a simple system flute. My guess is the F# wasn’t on the B2 or B3 finger like the boehm.

The original boehm flutes had a wooden mouthpiece, so I bet they sound much, well…woodier.

As for slides and finger vibrato. I can do slides just fine on my boehm. In fact, I’m learning a tune now called “Caislean an Oir” that sounds good with some slides. It’s in G minor.

I don’t like the sound of finger vibrato and don’t even do it on my irish flute. (I’m playing a dixon polymer, btw) So that doesn’t really bother me. Rather than vibrato on longer notes, I like to change the timber by rounding my mouth a bit and then frowning it. hard to explain, so maybe I’ll do a video.

You don’t have to make the boehm sound bright. With some embouchure control, you can make a boehm sound any way you want. I need some more of this control. If you listen to my two clips, I’m going for two different sounds. Lady on the island is more bright and jug of punch is more dark.

But at the end of the day… it is what it is, and it’s just a matter of personal opinion and what you’re used to. There are people like Sean Moloney, Noel Rice, and Joanie Madden that sound more irish on the boehm flute than most people on the Simple flute.

This clip is east Galway player Sean Moloney playing an ALTO boehm flute. I tell you, they are hard to play.

http://www.seanmoloney.com/musicfile/farewelltomusic.mp3

There are other free clips on his website. He’s brilliant.


See you all later,
Lee

15

No I didn’t mean they played a boehm because they didn’t want to wait. I meant that wooden flutes were probably all over the place and in the spirit of Irish music tradition, didn’t fuss over the particulars of this or that flute to the degree that we do today, but rather went with “whatever was on the table” I guess since this is such a musical minority and these flutes are so rare, it’s more common to pick them apart.

Just my theory…


You live in Japan? Nihongo ga dekimasu ka? Shakuhachi mo fukimasu ga shakuhachi no hoo ga irish flute yori muzukashii to omoimasu. Saikin, Nihongo de anmari hanashite imasen ga, Romulo-san to hanasetara ii no ni!!
Ja-ne!


You can’t type japanese in romaji in this forum or it thinks you’re swearing in english!! haha

16

Well, I didn’t mean to start another Boehm/simple system battle again either, I just wanted to make sure I got your point. I also wanted to know some famous players of the past that you said used to play on a Boehm.

そうしたらロマ字使わないほうがいいかな :stuck_out_tongue:
ええ、尺八もできるの？新潟大学に研究した時に邦楽の部活にちょっと参加しました。尺八の最初の一歩だけ習ってすぐ止めてしまいました。練習は合気道部の稽古と同じ時間だったし合気道のほうが好きだったので。。。

17

Sensei!! Kanji wa sukoshi shika dekimasen! Nihyaku kanji o naratta kedo america ni sunde iru kara wasureyasui! MAC or tsukatte ite hiragana to katakana de kakeru ka mo shirenai.

18

Ok, sorry, here is the transcription

そうしたらロマじつかわないほうがいいかな
ええ、しゃくはちもできるの？にいがただいがくにけんきゅうしたときにほうがくのぶかつにちょっとさんかしました。しゃくはちのさいしょのいっぽうだけならってすぐやめてしまいました。れんしゅうはあいきどうぶのけいことおなじじかんだったしあいきどうのほうがすきだったので

Would we be locked by diverging from music to languages? Well, I’ve seen posts in Dutch and Swedish, maybe we should start posting in Elvish!

19

Sorry I misunderstood your question, Romulo – but I certainly agree with the general discussion (at least the part I could read :blush:). Bottom line, what’s most important is that you’re playing, not what you’re playing.

20

Sorry, I’m a walking tangent!! I’m also a linguist and get really excited when I can converse in other languages.

So did you guys like the sean moloney clip?