Can anyone share their opinion on Sweethearts 8 key irish flute, firth pond model. Also, wondering what members consider the best Irish flute to be. Slainte
they don’t seem very popular (yet), imo
I played one (his own) when I visited his shop last February. It’s a big flute in all senses of the word…not surprizing since he uses it for contra dances. I liked the sound, but was not able to comfortably seal the low C & C# keys. Ralph could, so it was probably related to hand size (big man vs medium sized woman) and pinky strength. I ended up buying a used flute from his collection: an 8 key Rudall made by the late Dave Williams, which suited my hands, lungs and playing style better. But I started with one of his keyless rosewood flutes, which was a pleasant and honest flute, and served me well.
But as has been noted in the reponses to your other post, there is no such thing as a “best” Irish flute. Flutes, especially wooden ones, are very individual critters, and you have to experiment to find the one that best suits your body (ie hands and embouchure) and playing style. There are quite a few excellent makers out there: some with great reputations and waiting lists to match, and others just entering the biz. There are also antique flutes, which some people swear by…and others swear at. If you browse these forums you’ll find lots of suggestions. However, about the only thing we agree on is the “worst” flute…the dreaded Pakistani flute-like objects that are found in large numbers on eBay and in some music shops (Irish flutes are generally sold directly from the maker to the player).
Happy hunting and welcome to the board!
Doc Jones has two six keys in, must admit I’m interested. I have an original Hall 8 key with Cornia headjoint, and it’s incredible, so I’m thinkin about it, anyone else with experience?
Similar to KateG, I also found closing the C and/or Cn keys to be nigh impossible; I was, to be sure, much more of a beginner at that time.
“Best flute” truly is highly subjective.
I liked the rest of the Sweetheart at the time, but didn’t really use the keys much at all. I’m not a fan of a fully-lined headjoint, so I played that instrument for less than a year before selling it. I got lucky, selling it overseas (Switzerland, if I recall correctly) for a good price. The offers from in-country were near dismal.
I personally like Terry McGee’s work a lot.
But I’ve more recently discovered what I believe to be a fairly “hidden gem” among Irish flute makers - Maurice Reviol of New Zealand.
I had reached the point of ceasing flute altogether (reasoning that it is THE SINGLE instrument among my collection, including pipes and hurdy gurdy, which requires the most practice just to maintain passable playing).
I found I just couldn’t.
I sold the McGee I had at the time (blackwood Prattens) in favor of one from Maurice; according to my minimal research, the main differences between the two seemed to be that Terry standardly lines his barrel joint with cork between the metal slide and the wood, and that Maurice will do that upon request but not yet as a standard feature. In addition, Maurice is the sole maker I’ve heard of who caps his tenons with brass to aid in crack prevention should a flute section roll off a table and hit the floor.
I should add that, when asking Maurice about the cork lining, he responded that if my barrel were ever to crack, he’d take it back and replace it with a barrel which has the cork lining.
Moreover, Maurice does particularly wonderful keywork with post-mounting, so adding keys in the future wouldn’t require selling a flute I was used to and breaking in another with blocks for keys.
Then I came to a second decision time regarding whether or not I’d ever play flute again.
I had decided to sell it; I even listed it for sale.
I was working with Doc Jones on a deal.
I simply couldn’t.
Maurice’s flute turned out to be the first instrument I’d ever seriously considered selling, and had on the block, and then was compelled to keep. To me, it’s that good.
I came to the point two months ago of being able to afford all the keywork I wanted.
It already sported a Cn thumbhole (which I also have on all my whistles and my Bleazey G flute - when properly placed for the player’s comfort, no cross-fingering or key in the world can provide the same kind of expression control as another finger on another hole), so I had Maurice do a few things:
- He converted the foot so that I now have two interchangable feet - one short D-foot with an Eb key and one long C-foot with Eb, C#, and Cn keys;
- He added Bb and G# keys to the LH section
(my flute body is in two parts - two reasons:
- it was the only blackwood Maurice had available at the time that I needed a flute relatively quickly;
- it fits into my wall-mounted cigar humidor (where I keep all my whistles and flutes) nicely this way).
- He added two Fn keys (one for LH, one for RH) to the RH section.
- He was willing to fulfill other, more cosmetic, requests:
he had all the keys plated black chrome - which looks amazing, and he worked with me, with a silver piece I sent him, and with paua shell inlay for my desired beautification of my end cap.
Shoot, you put any CD on now of any genre and I can toot along!
For photos of what he did with my flute, check out his web site and go to “Gallery”:
Second this. If it were me i would spend the money
elsewhere.
I hasten to add i like the unkeyed more ordinary
and less expensive Sweet flutes.
As to the best, that’s controversial.
However I suppose most everybody agrees you
can’t go wrong with Olwells.
Could you be a little more specific about your experience with the Sweet flute, e.g. tone, tuning, embouchure, difficulty of play.
Thanks
Patrick doesn’t make an 8-key flute. Or let me rephrase that: he doesn’t sell one. He told me several years ago that he had an 8-key model in “R&D.” I suppose one day it might move into production, and if/when it does, it will no doubt be a great flute.
Right. I think the question was What’s the best Irish flute?
I took that to include 6 keys and even no keys.
An 8-keyed Olwell would be very interesting. I confess
I haven’t ever played a keyed Olwell. I don’t
know what his key work is like. By the way, I’m taking the route
you once recommended, I believe, in ordering
keyed sections for my unkeyed Pratten.
When it comes to the modern, keyless Irish flute, Sweetheart has made some very good ones.
Although I also have a Sweetheart one-key flute, I have no experience with any of Sweetheart’s 6 and 8 keyed flutes.
Ralph Sweet is a fife player, with long experience with historical performance, and contra dances, and, frankly, Sweetheart flutes tend to reflect that heritage.