Went to a session this weekend and, thanks to a very generous fellow fluter, had a chance to play a beautiful blackwood Olwell for a few tunes.
I was expecting some astonishing sound or feel. But as it turns out, I play much better on my Casey Burns flute, and sound better. Partly because it’s more comfortable to hold. And I assume because I’m accustomed to that embouchure. It makes me happy that I’m so well bonded to the flute I have. But…
I’d been wondering how I could possibly decide which flute I’d want for an upgrade, and experiencing some anxiety over waiting lists. Now I’m thinking that there are probably years of good music in the flute I already have, and wonder if I’ll ever attain the skill level that would make a switch beneficial.
At what point does one find the need for another instrument? Will I ever outgrow this one? How will I know?
I think the only reason to “upgrade” is if you start feeling limited by your instrument – i.e. that after a reasonable amount of time spent getting to know it, you can’t produce the kind of sound that you want. A “reasonable amount of time” could be a few years if you’re a beginner, less if you’re more experienced and have a better idea of what kind of sound you’re after.
I started on an old German flute and played it for nearly 10 years before I felt the need to upgrade to a flute that had more power and more importantly, more soul. Power and “loudness” are a lot less important to me than other aspects of a flute’s character…I was looking for warmth and depth of tone, a certain complexity and edge that I just couldn’t get with the German flute, and I did want the flute to have more power when I needed it.
I seemingly always feel the need for a new instrument. Initially I was getting different flutes to see what style I liked. Now I’m getting different keys. After that, hopefully I’ll be sated.
I think the reason to get a new flute is that you want one. Don’t listen to the people who say “You NEED a ____ if you want to play _____ music,” or, “Yes, that’s a good beginner’s flute, but you need a big-kid flute now.” The flute that’s right for you is the one you enjoy playing.
I was recently speaking with a fiddle player, and the subject of bows came up. (I guess fiddle bows can be pretty expensive) The person had tried many bows, then bought the one she liked to play the best. It was not the “most expensive” of the bows available, the bow selected was the one that was the most ‘enjoyable’ to play, giving the most pleasing sound to that particular player.
“After all, I am the one who has to listen to it all the time”.
I thought that was a nice sentiment.
I certainly agree with what Brad said earlier, but another thing to keep in mind is that you will almost always sound better on the flute that you are used to playing. Recently, I was with a bunch of other flute players and we were doing the flute swap thing. Between the four of us we had a Rudall Rose, a Hamilton, a LeHart, and an Olwell. We were going through all the permutations of playing a set on the different flutes. What was interesting was that when we all went back to playing our own flutes, we all sounded better on them than any of the other flutes that we had just played, even though they are all lovely instruments. It’s just that we knew the flutes better and we knew how to get what we wanted out of them.
This is sort of a round about way to answering your question. Having a more demanding flute may actually improve your tone over time. A flute that is less forgiving will require your embouchure to become more focused and improve. That doesn’t mean that you should get rid of your current flute. All I’m suggesting is that your tone didn’t change much when you played a couple of tunes on the Olwell because it was too short of a time to really get used to the flute. I would guess that if you were practicing regularly with it that over time your tone would improve.
Personally, I think that a good player will get a nice tone out of almost any flute and that buying a bunch of different flutes isn’t all that useful. At the same time, playing a flute that requires you to improve is a good thing. It’s sort of like working out and adding more weight. You can certainly stay fit lifting the same weight all the time, but if you add more you will get stronger.
When the instrument you’re playing limits your ability to express the music, then it’s time to upgrade.
Thinking back on my classical flute days (playing Boehm flute), I played a student model for five years, then a more intermediate level flute for 8 years, and then a ‘conservatory’ model. Developing the tone and technique to max out a flute can be a slow process.
Wise counsel, all of you. Okay, so I’m just going to have to accept the slower learning curve! Seems like, since I already know all the tunes and the fingering, the rest should just follow. If I can hear it, I should be able to play it, right?
So for now I’ll keep working with what I have (which is pretty wonderful, after all). And think about keys sometime in the future, either retrofitted ones or something else.
The trouble is that if you wait till your instrument actually
limits your abilities, to order a better flute, it will take well
over a year to get it. A year and a half is a long while to
have your abilities limited.
So the game is to estimate where you will be in a year and
a half. Order in advance what you don’t yet need but probably will.
Also there is the risk that, in the interim, you will decide
that you don’t want what you ordered–you ordered a Pratten
and you realize you really want a Rudall, say.
So it’s prudent (hee! hee!) to now order very good flutes,
the best, in various varieties on the expectation that you
will need at least one of them by the time it reaches you.
One good thing about the best flutes is that you can
recover your money. If you can bring yourself
to sell em.
Flutes aren’t money lost; just money in a different
form–at least very good ones.
exactly. dont feel bad if you havent outgrown your flute yet, jennie. and dont worry if you never do. i dont have a conical yet, but i play boehm. mine isnt too expensive, only about $1,800 or something. but let me tell you, this past august, i tried out many flutes that were upwards to $5,500, and it wasn’t until i got to a hand finished (or hand made, i cant remember) flute that a flute was better. there was one that was nice, that was $4,500, but it wasnt worth $2,000 more. now, for classical music, all the other flutes played cleaner and nicer in the 3rd octave. so yeah, if i was serious into classical, any other flute i had tried would do me better. but for irish, none of them had a strong lower octave except that hand*'ed $5,500, and the one that was $4,500. so basically, only one flute would have been worth my money for irish music, but somehow i cant see myself ever buying a silver flute in the next ten years. i know that when i get a chance to try out flutes in the 7-10,000 range, they will be amazing. but, for that price i can get the two concertinas i have on order, a Jon C. and a Copley.
interesting enough though, i tried an olwell at a session the night before i tried out all the expensive flutes, and it played clearer, and easier in the first and second octaves. i expected its bottom octave to be better, but not the second. it was like it played itself. technically, olwell is not a big name compared to any of the silver flutes i tried, but it played better, so “better” flute is relative.
what everyone else is saying is true as well, that you will always sound the best on your own flute, but you dont need to change until you want to.
i guess i got lucky and found a flute that fits me. it sounds like you have as well.
Seriously, if people were all able to play what they hear, with all the nuances, the world would have an awful lot more great flute players. If I were able, even once, to play The Fairy Queen the way Chris Norman plays it, I will have accomplished my greatest, or at least, most unrealistic goal in life, and God can strike me down right then and there.
The previous few posts have made some very good points. One reason I still have a few D flutes coming is that I ordered them some time ago. Oh, and that I want a flute in bocote, but other than that, the Olwell boxwood does me just fine.
its like perpetual christmas! i was thinking of ordering an olwell, and time it to come when my carroll concertina is ready in 3 years, but then if i stagger it more, it’ll be more fun. plus two amazing instruments coming in at one time is a bit of an overkill.
Yeah, I guess that came out sounding rather assuming. It’s just that as a reasonably nimble-fingered whistle player who can learn the tunes quickly, why shouldn’t I be an immediate success with flute? Just as I thought that since I got A’s in college, I should be an instant master teacher once I hit the classroom. I’m a naive optimist. But I’m in this for the long haul, and I’ll keep working at it.
Meanwhile I sure appreciate all the encouragement to acquire more flutes, beautiful and expensive ones. We all come here to support our habit, don’t we? To be affirmed?
Hello, my name is Jennie, and I’m into Irish traditional music…
Your feelings of frustration and confusion are similar to my own at your point in flute life. It’s the primary reason I started my site. This isn’t meant to be a CP, I’m just trying to say I know how you feel.
Now, some words of comfort. The more flutes I play the more I feel that I could be really happy with about any really well-made flute. It’s true that they all have nuances of difference but as I progress as a player I find that I can make about any good flute do about anything I want it to do.
You will never “outgrow” your Burns. Someday you may want something different but you won’t likely “need” something better. John Skelton plays a Burns and another huge flute demi-god has one on order (I ain’t sayin’ who, so don’t ask!)
I get to play awesome flutes every day…every “big shot” flute you’ve ever heard of…none of them is “better” than my boxwood Burns Rudall. But, each of them is different.
When you want to try something different try something different. You don’t have to wait until you’re “worthy” or “ready” (whatever that means). If you’re happy be happy. If you want to try something else go for it.
Doc’s got many good points there-especially that with just about any good flute, you can make beautiful music, given that your skills are developing, and be happy. There are so many great flutes out there to be had that it’s pretty hard to go wrong with a maker that has been recommended before on the board. Just minor differences from flute to flute-but your preferences will develop over time, and it will lead you in a certain direction-a tone you are after, the type of wood you prefer, ergonomic holes, unlined heads-the choices become easier after you have listened to and tried other flutes. But there’s certainly no hurry-if you really enjoy your present flute, and it seems you do, then hold on to it as a benchmark to judge others by.
Sometimes you aren’t really upgrading, but refining and discovering what you like in flutes as you go along, trying different ones. I recently have found that I seem to prefer Blackwood for a wooden flute overall. I still like the diversity of having more than one flute-lined heads, unlined heads, small hole, big hole flutes, etc, etc.! It seems I still enjoy the differences between the Pratten and the Rudall, and having the choice.
And the world just wouldn’t be the same without polymer flutes-that is one type I could suggest to anyone who doesn’t have one-you leave them out ready to be picked up and played at any time as the mood strikes-and no worries-it can’t crack, and you can take it anywhere, anytime! It might not be an upgrade , but it’s certainly a luxury.
If I may express a different view from some expressed
in preceding posts,
I have a Byrne Rudall and an Olwell Pratten,
I can play them both pretty well, I think,
but I cannot make them do the same thing; not close.
Maybe it’s because I’m not sufficiently advanced,
but I don’t think there are only minor differences
between them.
Also I think it is possible to go wrong with some of
the flutes that have been recommended on this board.
Yes, I think John Skelton plays a Burns Bb, as does
Grey Larson–I believe Matt Molloy has one too.
But I’m in this for the long haul, and I’ll keep working at it.
