Hi, I am newly registered on this site but have been reading postings on here for a couple of months now and have been gratified and slightly amazed by the wealth of knowledge that is available to flute players these days.
My story is this ( which will lead to the relevant question ). I learnt to play ITM on flute and whistle as a teen over 25 years ago back home in England. At that time it was quite hard to get any kind of decent flute at all and even harder for a kid with no money. I had some truly awful instuments, and one that was not bad if you were happy to play on your own. Eventually in my early twenties I quit playing which was partially, but not solely due to the difficulties of dealing with antique german flutes and other assorted oddities that came my way.
However ITM has remained one of my greatest loves and I recently purchased a cheap cocus wood flute that I believe was manufactured in Pakistan…it’s not half as bad as some people would like to believe, and certainly not as bad as some of the flutes I played as a kid. But it is hard on my fingers, being ostensibly a Pratten style, this however was not a problem for me when I was younger and not one I anticipated having to deal with now.
Thanks for bearing with me if you have. I have decided that with all the new Flute production out there that I would like to invest in a new flute from one of the established flute makers and after some research have narrowed my choice down to Terry McGee’s GLP. This is taking my painful fingers into account of course but also because I have studied Mr.McGee’s website and his postings on this site carefully and have developed a good deal of respect for the man. My problem with the GLP is that judging solely from the soundclip on the website it seems to my ear at least to be a somewhat ‘brighter’ instrument than I would usually consider to be appropriate for ITM. I crave a darker harder sound but without the painful fingers (left hand only ). I wonder however if this brighter sound is due also to the choice of tune and also to Larsen’s individual playing style. Are there any players out there with a somewhat brash and not overly sensitive style of play who are having a good time with the GLP? Should I be advised to try a different type of Flute of Terry’s? Should I shut the hell up. In this age of rampant materialism should I simply remember the good/bad old days when I was happy to blow anything that had six tone holes and an embouchure? Please advise.
I’d suggest asking Terry straight up. God knows if he’ll be too shy (Ha!) to barge in and answer the tread himself, but it’s obvious that he has spent much time pondering the woodenflute imponderables, and I think that any answer he gave would be both sound and honest.
Do you have access to any of Gray Larson’s recordings? Even if what he records with is his original (Firth & Pond, perhaps?), I assume that Terry’s copies have much the same accoustic properties. That is, after all, the point of the entire operation.
I’m assuming that if you can hear the colour you like in one of those, it won’t be the flute’s fault if you can’t reproduce it with a GLP.
There are several things which effect tone and some are more important than others. Some of these in order (IMO) of least important to most important are:
1 material the flute is made from, eg delrin, different species of wood
2 design of the flute body, eg Rudallish, Prattenish, GLP ish etc
3 blow hole design
4 the player
And each of these is far more important than the preceeding one. Plus of course there’s the interaction of all of these.
Terry makes a number of blow hole cuts and the more modern cuts do tend to be a bit “brighter” than the older style cuts. They’re also easier to learn to blow. So if you want a “dark” sound choose his “improved elliptical” blowhole cut and learn how to blow it, or learn to achieve the darker sound on a more modern cut. It is possible.
Cheers
Graeme
It sounds as though the GLP may not be for you.
It does indeed have a bright sound, at least
the one I played did. Partly it’s the rectangular
embouchure of the one I played, but I expect
it’s also the flute’s bore, finger-hole size
and general design.
If I were you
I would consider seriously a Rudall-style flute.
These often have not a painful or difficult
fingering, they are often easy on the hands.
With a standard oval embouchure they
will also have the darker sound you
say you’re after.
Some Rudall-style flutes have bigger holes and
migh even pose a challenge, however, so you have to
be sure to buy one that has small to
medium size holes.
If you search (the search function is at the top of the board)
you will find a wealth of
posts about Rudalls, Terry’s but also others.
Just a quick note.
I’ve played Terry’s GLP… one of his early ones out of Corktown Ironwood and it was very easy to play and get a good strong tone out of it. It really carries well in session. The emb hole was ( I think) more rectangular… Mr. Eskin, if you happen to see this, please correct me.
Right now… as it type, I have in my lap, in fact, one of Terry’s new blackwood Pratten’s. #686 to be specific. I’m borrowing it from a friend that loves flutes but doesn’t have much time to play them. I on the other hand have been playing the helloutof it. 
The emb is a modified ellipse moving toward a rectangle. Its pretty easy to fill and its really loud. I get a strong buzzy tone that can just about cut down trees. Its a really good flute. That being said I also own a Jon C. Pratten’s and Jon’s Pratten’s flute profiles are slimmer, lighter and a bit better balanced so it might make for a better flute to begin with. They are both as loud and strong.
Its going to hard to give back Terry’s flute though… I may just have to find a way to keep it!
What does this mean? Please elaborate, perhaps pointing to a clip or specific recording.
FWIW, any flute can be played “dark”. The most desirable flute is one that has the ability to played dark or bright with ease.
I have to agree I could get a really good honk off of the GLP.
Chocolate is as chocolate does.
Of course I can get a good deep honk off of my Rudall but its not the same as the Pratten.
I’d be more concerned with getting a flute that is well in tune and dynamic.
Jon C. is making a Rudall&Carte model that might fit the bill. I know I tend to evangelize Jon’s flutes but they are insane bang for the buck… besides being a great guy to deal with.
re: Please elaborate, perhaps pointing to a clip or recording …Any flute can be played dark…
Well I dunno really. What with getting old and out of shape espeically in regards my fingies I s’pose what I was getting at is I’d like something that is not so big it hurts but not so small I can’t find the bleedin’ holes with the lights turned off.
Hi LL,
Concerning your request for a dark toned flute (as suggested-it’s not always about the flute, but how you play it), you may find more helpful ideas in these previous discussions about it here on Chiff (Terry is involved in both of them):
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=30174&highlight=dark
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=39775&highlight=dark
And as to your top hand problem-I have a similar problem, and more than the size of the holes being the major concern, the spread between the holes makes a bigger difference in how I can play a flute in comfort than not.
You may wish also to consider getting an ergonomic hole placement for your top hand especially (or both), like Casey Burns does with a lot of his flutes (if you choose that option). I find his hole placement very comfortable for using standard grip on top. No doubt Terry or other makers could do this for you also, if you ask. But Casey does this routinely, and makes very nice flutes too-which might make them a good choice for you also. Click on the Ergonomic Flutes tab on the left margin:
Good luck to you, and welcome to Chiff!
I have one of Terry’s Rudall refined flutes, I think he calls them. It’s a grand flute and ‘easy’ to get a good solid tone.
If you’re after a “dark” raw sound then prehaps a Sam Murray flute might suit your playing style? Have you seen and heard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mQuQtNA9yk
etc. from the Sam Murray thread? The music is in the player of course, but it was interesting to hear Sam talk of how he has developed his instruments with the “Belfast style” of playing in mind. His flutes can be “pushed/blown hard” if need be without the sound suffering if that’s what you’re after. I was sufficiantly inspired that I purchased a Murray flute that came up for sale last weekend. I must add that have no experience myself of Terry’s instruments, but many speak well of them
Welcome to C&F, Lazyleft.
I play a GLP, and have for two years. Interestingly, the main reason for ordering that particular flute was that I started on one of Doug Tipple’s flutes (still the best bargain out there), and frankly, I had a LOT of problems covering the holes and making the stretch to play the instrument.
With that said, after getting the GLP and playing it for a few months, I picked up the Tipple one day and discovered that, even with the much larger holes, I could cover them just fine and the reach wasn’t nearly as long as I remembered. I’m fairly sure that the PVC didn’t shrink, so it must have been me.
Anyway, back to Terry’s flutes. Mine has the improved elliptical embouchure, which is more of a traditional design than his rounded rectangle or two semi-circle designs. It takes more effort to get a focused tone off the bat (so I’ve been told, I have no experience with the other two), but it is capable of producing different tone colors from really dark, up to really reedy if I do my part (which doesn’t happen nearly as often as it should, heh heh). One thing you might think about, if you do decide to get a GLP, and that’s to have Terry put a C-natural hole in it. While it isn’t necessary by any means, it’s really handy, and a side effect is that having it forced me to put my thumb in the same place each time I play and that has created a very solid, repeatable left hand hold for me.
As for the different tone colors… That’s almost entirely up to you, the player, and what tone you’re willing to work hard enough to get. When you’re first starting out, your embouchure isn’t developed, and you’re going to get a mushy, hit-or-miss tone. As you play more and develop more, your tone will improve, randomly at first, but it will improve. Eventually, if you work at it long enough and hard enough and get some help from someone who can watch you and make constructive suggestions, you’ll get to where you can make the flute sound like you want it to. I’m not there yet, but I’m still working on it, and the random bits of great tone are a little less random than they used to be. Occasionally, I pick the darn thing up, and the sound that comes out is really good. I play for those times 
. But you know what? I sound pretty much the same on the GLP as I do on the Tipple and on my Hall, tone-wise. Here’s an example: Last year, I had a week-long class with Kevin Crawford at the Augusta Irish week, and he played several flutes by different makers that people in the class had. You know what? He sounded like him on all of them. Sure, there were minor differences, but overall, Kevin Crawford sounds like Kevin Crawford.
I hope that this rambling has been of some use to you. Go ahead and get the GLP. It’s a great flute, light, very easy on the fingers, and when you get to the point that you can drive it well, you’ll be amazed with what you can do with it.
Good luck, and have fun with it.
dow
P. S. As I haven’t bored anyone with a picture of the GLP lately, here’s a link to one. FYI, it’s in Cooktown Ironwood, and has the Improved Elliptical embouchure, and the eccentric bore head. As you can see, it has no tuning slide, but has his Minimum Disruption Tenon design. Mine plays in tune (A=440) at about 3/16 of an inch out.
Edited to remove embedded picture and replace with link to same.
SM flutes are dark? I can’t watch the youtube clip at this moment but SM’s are not dark IMO even though Liam Kelly’s playing always seemed a bit dark.
For me, dark is when a given note approaches a simple sinusoidal wave, i.e., with little or no upper harmonics. Akin to a flabby wine, lacking acidity and thus boring. Blah.
Anyway, just goes to show how unreliable flute jargon can be.
Hey Dow,
Would you delete that picture and make is smaller?
Thanks,
Michael
Sure, Michael. I’d be glad to. It does make you scroll back and forth to read, doesn’t it. Anyway, it’s fixed now. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Thanks a million.
Michael
Aha! So THAT’S how its done!
Thanks Denny
Test Forum/Guide to Posting Images/Page 3/post by I.D.10-t what quotes some twit from GOK
Thanks again. With that in mind, here’s another one that the OP might find useful:
