Hi, this is my first post in the Flute Forum so greetings to those who haven’t met me before.
I greatly enjoy the sound of the flute and wish to start playing but unfortunately my lack of experience does not allow me to identify which type of flute I like best.
I’ve done some research and there seems to be an overwhelming amount of information for a beginner such as myself. I’m leaning towards the Irish flute because of my experience with the tin whistle and my love for traditional music but I’m not quite sure. I also enjoy classical and renaissance-type music. After I make that choice I still have to decide which key and type, etc. I know I’m looking for something that’s not too low key.
Sorry for the crude description of what I’m looking for but any suggestions or direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Sounds like you’re probably after a standard Irish/wooden flute in D (same key as the tin whistle, but an octave lower. This also means it’s concert pitch so you can play with others easily for other types of music). It will allow you to play any type of music you want, and like on whistle you can cross-finger and/or half hole most flats and sharps.
Does that help any? Then, the next question is what’s your budget, do you want wooden or polymer, keys on the flute, etc…
That does help quite a bit, thanks. I didn’t realize the standard irish flute in D was so versatile. Although price is of little object to me when it comes to musical instruments, I don’t want to spend too much on a first instrument in case for whatever reason I change my mind about it.
I’m not sure about the difference between wooden and polymer keys or the benefits of having keys/no keys, so I will have to look that up.
If this is your first experience with Irish flute, buy something cheap: Tipple, Casey Burns “Folk” flute, M&E or Seery. Any of these would let you cut your teeth, are good enough to play in real-life situations, and won’t force you to sell your children to buy them. Flute is surprisingly difficult, compared with other instruments. It takes a long time to master.
If you know that you want to go this way, then buy the best flute you can afford. Each person has a list of favourite makers, but my list (for Irish flute) is: Rod Cameron, Eamonn Cotter, Hammy Hamilton, Terry McGee, Casey Burns, Skip Healy… (not in any particular order). Any of these would get you a professional-grade flute. Others that are highly regarded but i haven’t tired: Patrick Olwell, Noy.
For Irish music, keys are irrelevant until you get to be a famous recording artist. If you’re looking to play Classical music, then you should ask in Yahoo’s EARLYFLUTE instead of here.
Polymer or wood: depends on who you ask. Ask me, i’ll tell you the material makes no difference on the sound, except for the subjective difference it makes when it conditions the player’s expectations. Ask other people, they’ll give you detailed lists of different kinds of wood and plastics, each giving a different kind of sound.
I like keys, but I agree that one doesn’t need to start
with them and, if one is playing ITM, principally,
can get by without. Keyless is the way to start,
no doubt about it.
If one gets a really good flute, one can sell
it without much of a loss and even with a profit.
Casey Burns is making an attractive mopane
flute at 450. This is sort of midrange,
the CB folk flute at 250 is also a great beginner’s
flute. The Sweetheart maple at about 260? is
a nice flute. There really isn’t a big problem
caring for these.
I agree with Jim and Glauber totally. The cheapest route is the Tipple + or - $50. Sweetheart as per above, Tony Dixon (3 piece polymer or one of his wooden ones - I played an ebony Dixon a few weeks back that was a really sweet flute) for about $260, M&E and Seery come in close the the Burns mopane standard flute at $400-450ish. Oh, and Casey Burn’s folk flute (a stripped down 2 piece model which gets grand reviews) is only $250.
Personally, I think the Seery is a step up from a beginners type of flute, but that might just be me. It takes a good set of lungs to really fill it, and I think a good embouchure helps greatly on the Seery, too. And, the tone holes are the largest of the bunch (of those I’ve played at least).
Oh, one other option is an Aulos grenser baroque flute. I’m rather fond of mine, and it’s low D actually barks! It is quiter than you usually find for session playing, but it’s quite versitile with one key and fully chromatic…they run aroun $240-$300 depending on case options or finish options - matte black vs. shiny black). It does take a focused embouchure to get it to really sing though.
Why are they chromatic with only one key? Are baroque flutes easier to use cross-fingerings for getting the extra notes? I’ve always wondered why the usually have just the Eb key.
they are chromatic because of the smaller tone holes and your ability to lip up and down a bit (or soften the strength of the airstream) - these things allow for very good cross-fingerings. So, with the D#/Eb key, you cover all possible sharps and flats. On my Aulos, I think the only chromatic note I really consider weak is the low Fnat., but all the others sound good.
I’m not sure why David is selling his or why he only played it for a few minutes, but I think baroque flutes are one of those things you either like or don’t like. Regardless, he’s offerring a great deal for the matte finish Aulos which a couple of earlyflute listers have stated is tonally superior to the shiny version. If I didn’t already have one, I would buy it.
The Aulos being at A=440 is convenient because you can play with modern pitch musicians of just about any style with it’s chromatacism…except you probably can’t play with hard core baroque players who hang down lower at A=415.
Like I said earlier, I like my Aulos. I play a lot of ragtime, classical and baroque on it - anything where I need chromatacism. It’s a different creature when compared to my Seery though, so I like having them both.
I love Baroque flutes too. But like Jay said, it’s one of those things you either love or hate. They’ll never be as loud as an Irish flute, but they’re fine instruments on their own right. Log G# is usually the devil note. Low Fnat is a problem mostly because the note is naturally very sharp and you have to lip it down. The black Aulos is a C. A. Grenser model, so not really Baroque but more of a transition between the Baroque and Classical period. Good for all kinds of music, really my favourite kind of flute at the moment. There are better flutes for old Baroque music and better flutes for Irish, but the Grenser is a good compromise.
I thought it would be fun to have a baroque flute when and if I’d play with baroque players. I found myself trying to force the flute to play like my keyless Irish flutes. The technique is different, I found out. I’m too deep into the Irish stuff now ever to see my way out. It’s enough that I don’t play my C and Bb flutes as often as I should to assuage my guilt about having instruments I seldom play.
So I’ll let this go. Then I won’t feel so guilty.
[quote=“jim stone”]I like keys, but I agree that one doesn’t need to start
with them and, if one is playing ITM, principally,
can get by without. Keyless is the way to start,
no doubt about it.
quote]
I agree with Jim on this one.
I rarely play anything that requires keys, or makes me really wish I had them. As long as you stick mostly with ITM, you truely won’t need keys for the thousands of Irish tunes out there that you can memorize!
(Sorry, Eric, I just can’t get used to the keys ~ I’m old and set in my ways, I guess.)
Casey Burns flutes have a beautiful sound, are reasonably priced, and he is very accommodating to your requirements. I would recommend his flute.
An Olwell bamboo would be a great first flute unless you have small hands. THey are extraordinarlily good and fairly inexpensive. It will tied you over while you’re on someone’s waiting list.
no need to apologize. Keys truly aren’t for everyone. We all have our little oddities…me, I like keys, but although I love to look at wooden flutes I still have no desire to own one - I’ll take mine in delrin, instead.
Some days I think of wrapping up my Seery, sending it to Desi, and having him add 4-5 keys. But other days, I truly appreciate the simplicity and tonal pallette of cross-fingerings and half holing. Plus, I can’t possibly imagine being without the Seery for the months it would take even with the Aulos baroque flute to play in the meanwhile.
One thing to ask yourself is how big are your hands and fingers. If you have smaller hands and fingers, you may want to start with a Ruddal & Rose style rather than a Pratten style. The holes on a Ruddal & Rose are smaller and closer together. Another good wooden choice is a Bleazy. You’re now learning how difficult it is to get into the Irish flute world. Get several choices in the $300 range and see who’s got a wooden one in stock. If none are available then get a polymer one. Don’t wait, just do it.
Hi Crevam. if you can afford it, (about $500) the first flute to by is made by M&E of polymer. Buy there R&R model with no keys. The reasons are:
(1) If it turns out that you do not like flute, you can sell it at the buying price because everyone will know you did not damage it. It is heavy and sturdy.
(2) If you get into flutes and might want to play in other keys like F, Eb, Bb,Bnat, and minor keys (you said you liked traditional other than Irish), then M&E will retrofit and you will have as good a flute as anyone.
(3) For a newbie, taking care of an expensive wooden flute, is full of anxiety. Then if you really want a wooden flute after trying one and learning to play, and are not rich, you can sell one and buy the other.
(4) Some of the best flutest in the world play this flute and the others on this forum will agree that it is a viable way to go, even thought they would go into flute playing another way. It depends on your personality. A risk taker and spendthrift would not do what a cautious stiingy person would.
In the above entery, I should have said that the same thing goes for the Seery and for the M&E. Maybe for a newbie, the M&E is easier to learn on at first.
