aha! i remember when i first starting playing i had the opportunity to sit in on a session of 5-6 flute players in miltown malbay in the dead of winter. they were really good. they played at a very relaxed and comfortable pace for hours. i did not play because i did not have many tunes as well as being well out of my league. but sat with my flute and listened. the music took me away. it was like being in a dream. it was a wondeful night. for the next two days afterwards my playing was markedly different, my friends wondering what had happened to me that mysterious night that i took off for miltown. it was like a bit of magic had rubbed off on me. but i could not maintain it on my own. it was quickly snuffed out by the return of my usual spastic ways. so much for my aha experience! but at least i got a taste. and that keeps me coming back for more.
In a similar vein, I always find my playing improves if I play in a small group with more advanced musicians. It’s nothing conscious, but one begins to pay attention to all sorts of details that get lost in other settings.
Indeed I agree about the challenging flutes being good for one to play. But the hardship must also have some sort of a reward waiting in the end, which Hammy’s flutes definitely do.
I reckon if it were just “the harder, the better”, I’d personally be still tooting out with just my Delrin Seery and a random old German “Nach-Meyer”. 
By the way, after the aforementioned, when I got my hands on the Hamilton flute, it felt very easy to play!
‘There’s no fun in playing fast’ (Michael McGoldrick)
Well…that might not be absolutely true, but I got the message, and it works!
Interesting…when I was waiting for my Hamilton, I played the Seery almost exclusively thinking I would “build my chops.”
I also found the Hamilton very easy to play from the first day…perhaps not coincidence.
–James
I’m not sure if the Hammy is the right flute to own if it’s your first flute. I tried learning flute on a Hammy like 2-3 years ago, and you really needed to have great embouchure control not to blow the high A and B too sharp. I was sick of being so out of tune and gave it all up. I think some people, like me, would rather start with an easier instrument just to keep motivated and then learn a harder instrument later on. Anyway, since then I picked up the concertina and I’m in love with it. I’m getting a lesson from Claire Keville in Ennis in about 45 minutes
I tried a friend’s Hammy at a house session recently and noticed a similar phenomenon - the octaves weren’t in tune. At the time I thought it was because the slide was incredibly loose, but it’s probably more likely that I’m just accustomed to the very forgiving embouchure on my ME/RR.
When your friend played the Hammy, did you notice the same thing?
Just curious
M
I think that’s more of a generic getting-used-to-blowing-a-large-hole-Pratten-style flute issue than something particular to Hammy’s flutes.
I even had a flute student who was playing a Bryan Byrne flute (small-holed Rudall-style) whose second-octave notes were extremely sharp, but spot-on when I played that flute.
With a focused embouchure, the tuning issues tend to disappear. Some flutes are more forgiving than others in that regard, but I remember playing Az’s Hamilton and not noticing any tuning problems.
Tuning is a big issue. I’ve learned that I can tune on the fly by altering the position of the blow-hole relative to my lips (turning the flute in or out) and just by focusing the air differently.
We all know that blowing too hard in the upper octave makes a flute go sharp, don’t we? And that we should save our big, forced blowing for the low notes rather than the top notes, right?
The nature of our instrument is to be out of tune. It is up to us to blow the flute into tune with itself.
Can’t say I did - I believe the flute itself is “in tune” for a practiced player.
True confessions time: one of the things I was most anxious about on taking up flute was glottal stopping. I vaguely knew what it was, and certainly knew what it sounded like, but didn’t really know how to do it. Beyond the basic mechanics of “how do I make a sound?”, this was my biggest worry about the transition from tinwhistle to flute.
For the last year or so of fooling around on my old Dixon 2-piece, I’ve been using cuts and taps when I needed to separate notes, but I broke down and ordered the Mad For Trad tutorial when I bought my Burns.
So I was going through the tutorial and working on the recommended exercise when I had an Aha! moment: the glottal stop used in playing flute is exactly how I articulate notes when (mouth) whistling.
Tinwhistle playing is fairly recent for me - I started less than 4 years ago. Flute’s even more recent. But I’ve been mouth-whistling all my life - I whistle when I walk, I whistle when I’m thinking, I even (apologies to Disney) whistle while I work. To be honest, I probably drive my friends and family a bit crazy with my whistling, especially when I’m using it to work on a new flute/tinwhistle piece and repeat the same tune ad infinitum. And - not even knowing it - I’ve been working on glottal stops most of my life.
So I’ve still got lots of things to work on - embouchure, timing, more fluid fingering, adding more tunes, you name it. But glottal stops, at least, no longer worry me. Whew! 
And in my Hammy experience, that particular flute required MAJOR backing off in the second & third registers, starting about middle D or E in fact. Fortunately it held clear and pure tonewise – nicest 3rd octave I’ve ever played – and seemed much happier once we got up to A … as long as I kept my wits about me, that is!
It took me a long time to learn not to overfill that flute.
Which, speaking of, probably brings me to at least the truest piece of advice I ever got: “Expect to spend a long, long time getting to know your flute…that time spent, and the flute itself, will teach you a lot.”
One can’t play flute with a mustache like Nietzche’s.
In fact, you can’t even eat, except if you use a straw.
Aaarrrrrrrrr… That’s what I like to hear…
And what I strive for, tuning on the fly. I think it helps to play along with recordings (like WFO, for example) as well. The tuning doesn’t seem to be the same between one track and the next… But it can be kind of subtle. So you need to make tiny adjustments as you go. (FWIW, I am using the Slowdowner on about 70% speed, I am certainly not up to playing along at speed)
a friend also told me this one… Take out your tuner (groan) and close your eyes. Play a note ( G, for example ) When you get what you feel is a nice strong G, open your eyes and look at the tuner. See where you’re at. Train your ear to “hear” if you’re blowing those notes in tune on your own flute…
M
M
I remember when I first got my Seery, which was my first large-holed Irish flute, I thought the flute was horribly sharp in the second octave.
To make a long story short, the problem wasn’t the flute, it was me. I was not correctly supporting the lower octave.
I find both my Seery and my Hamilton are quite well in tune without my having to do “lip gymnastics.”
–James
I did most of my learning on a german flute with a poorly cut embouchure. I’ve played a hamilton once, and it felt easy as well
I still play that same flute, but it has a Jon C headjoint and plays wonderfully
Well…not to get back on topic or anything but I havent heard anyone mention listening. When I am having a bad flute day I consintrate on listening at my lips. I know, that sounds odd but I cant think of any other way to discribe it. I change my embochour all the time during a tune and if I focus on the sound at my lips everything gets better. Another thing I do is try not to think about my fingers. If I am playing a tune I know well and am having trouble with it nine times out of ten I am thinking about what my fingers are doing enstead of just letting them do it.
Now I am woundering if any of you Hammy players have ever played one of Jon Cs` Pratten models. Selfish reason for that question.
Take care
Tom
One of the coolest tips I ever got was actually from a student of mine: he casually mentioned that he though he sounded best when he visualized projecting the sound about twenty feet away, rather than obsessing about what was going on close up. It’s like aikido for the flute.
I’ve also benefitted from Robert Dick’s “throat-tuning” technique. I.e. blowing long tones and singing the pitches that you’re playing, really focusing on getting the note you’re singing in tune with the note you’re playing. According to RD this trains you to go beyond “keeping your throat open” by shaping your mouth in a way that accoustically appropriate for each note. I’m not sure about that, but what I have observed is that it really cleans out the tension in my whole oral cavity; my tone is worlds better when I warm up this way.