Hey all, hoping to pick your collective brains on this.
I’ve been playing a polymer flute for a couple years now, and am looking to upgrade to my first wooden flute. I come from 14 years playing the clarinet, so I like a dense, focused, and projecting sound with a bit of playing resistance. The problem I’m having, though, is I haven’t been able to find a flute so far that can make that sturdy sound and hold its own in sessions that I can also play. My hands are rather small - not abnormally so, but I’m a short woman so for most of the Pratten style flutes I have tried I couldn’t even reliably cover holes with piper’s grip. I haven’t tried all that many flutes because until relatively recently I lived in rural New Mexico (not a lot of ITM out there…), but the ones I have tried are a Tipple PVC, a Grinter, and an Olwell. I own the Tipple, and I can’t progress any further on it because of the hole covering issue. I struggled with the Grinter as well, though not as much, and the Olwell was the best of the three where I could actually play it and be heard for several tunes in a session before I had to sadly give it back to its owner.
Given all of your collective experience, do you have any recommendations for specific flute makers I should go talk to that produce flutes with these sound capabilities and hand specifications?
If you are looking for a strong tone, the answer lies in your embouchure - not the size of your hands or the flute. Not trying to be difficult, but it’s really not a function of the flute. If you can play a clarinet, you can certainly play any number of decent ITM flutes.
I don’t disagree that different flutes have different characteristics but a good player will get a strong, powerful tone out of any decent flute. In my experience, the only people who subscribe to the idea that some flute designs are intrinsically “louder” than others tend to not have very good control over their flute. A good musician playing a “Rudall” will cut through a session of mediocre musicians playing “Prattens” any day.
My advice is to find a nice flute that you like and is comfortable for your body. From there, learn how to focus your embouchure to get the right tone out of it.
Don’t know if you are still in NM. I’m in Taos for the next week and have with me a Copley delrin which I would be glad to let you try. It will give you an idea of what Dave C’s flutes feel like and the volume of which they are capable (even if you are ultimately after a wooden flute). Send me a private message if you wish, Jim
Also note that there is a pre-owned Copley blackwood flute for sale on The Irish Flute Store at a reasonable price.
These folks are in Greeley CO. They know what they are doing (I’ve done a fair amount of business with them),
and I believe they will give you two weeks to see if the flute is for you.
Hi Casey, thanks for the response! Your shop is actually in my top 3 choices right now, based on what people tend to recommend for nice small handed flutes. I might be contacting you soon
Thanks for the info! Since I haven’t played a Rudall before, I wasn’t sure what the variability between flutes styles was like compared to the variability between players. I’ll keep this in mind.
Dang, if this was two weeks ago I would have been able to take you up on that, since I used to live in Los Alamos. I just moved to Los Angeles, however
I play a Casey Burns large hole Blackwood folk flute and although I can’t hear myself in some of the larger sessions I attend, I’m told that the flute is definitely cutting through. It also plays in tune remarkably well. I’ve never missed the tuning slide.
There is something to be said for how an instrument is made and Casey makes a mean “Session Weapon!” But Brendan is right- it really depends on how focused and consistent the player is. My professors forced me to practice long tones, scales and arpeggios until there was no difference between registers (and yes, I moaned and complained like a 5 year old). So, that’s what I’m doing as an Irish music hack, too. Hopefully it’s working.
I play what I believe is a standard casey burns folk flute. It is a great flute and I can really honk on it and have gotten better and louder with it since I play it every day. 90% of playing once you have a decent instrument is practice.
That said, the instrument does make it easier or harder to do certain things. So, I’m getting an Olwell pratten. For me, the ones I have tried are easier to play louder, allow for more control via embouchure and can take more push in the lower octave.
I can achieve most of what I want on the Burns. In general, it is solid advice to tell people to upgrade their skills before upgrading their flute. However, there is nothing like getting an instrument that wants to be played the way you want to play it. So yeah, upgrade your skills but also, keep trying different instruments and if you find something that really suits, get one. It’s worth doing because the right instrument for you is a brilliant experience. I don’t think you would go far wrong with a Burns, I love mine.
I played Jeannie’s and it was a very nice flute. Reasonably loud and a great tone. The holes were placed for smaller hands.
Another one you might consider is Terry Magee’s Grey Larsen Preferred, which has small holes and is good for small hands. Maybe not the loudest but I find does just fine in sessions and is a wonderful instrument. They turn up occasionally - I think I saw one recently listed at both The Irish Flute Shop and Irish Flute store.
Jeannie’s flute is a nice one out of nice boxwood. And fairly new. I attempted to make things as easy as possible for her left hand and have the fingerholes on that flute as close as possible, and then my standard small handed on the right side. Its a lovely, easy flute to play with a big tone - and its also sealed for the desert climate and would work great in Los Angeles.
No one’s popped in to say it, but maybe it needs to be said: Casey is a well respected maker in these parts, and in our opinion (mine too; I’ve owned a CB) the things he tells you can about his flutes be relied on.
