NB: I am by no means a flute expert by virtue of playing experience nor by experience with flutes. I primarily play an Olwell D in bamboo and that will be the basis for much of the review.
The flute was made by William Miller of Windwood Flutes (website unavailable). I heard of William here on C&F via his posts on a thread about bamboo flutemaking. I emailed him and asked about Eb and F flutes. He said he had Eb’s that were what he called good-players meaning played well up to the 3rd octave but not a big sound. He said he was working on a batch of honkers and emailed when they were done. After a PayPal transaction I had the flute 3 days later. He’s making some F-flutes in his next batch.
Visual Presentation: This flute has a rough-n-ready look to it. It doesn’t have the highly polished finish of the Olwell and the bore isn’t quite as smooth. The tone holes and embouchure are cleanly finished though not bevelled like Olwell’s. There is also a bit of a bow to this piece of bamboo and you can see all of the natural speckles and colors of the bamboo. As you can see in the pic there’s a nice, simple motif added. It came with a nice, drawstring bag made of a tapestry-like fabric.
The tone holes are ergonomically offset much smaller than the Olwell’s though I don’t know if it’s design or a function of the pitch. The embouchure is offset too and is oval shaped whereas the Olwell’s is more of a rounded rectangle. Addendum: I need to add that the embouchure is also a bit larger. It wasn’t a problem for me but others may frown on it.
So it doesn’t have the professional look of the Olwell but goes for a more natural look… like a piece of bamboo.
Tone and Playabilty: I thought the Eb bell note would decieve me but it popped out loud and clear without much effort. It plays up to 3rd octave Eb very easily and cleanly. I tried the 3rd octave fingerings up to A. It made musical sounds but whether they were in tune is beyond my knowledge though it didn’t take a lot of effort to play them.
Volume is strong and the bottom Eb has a hard edge to it like you would want out of a hard D though you play it softer if you want. I tried some of the octave drills mentioned in another thread which worked well. The second octave Eb barks nicely too so the flute lives up to it’s honker moniker.
The flute responds well to glottals, cuts, taps, triplets, and cranns… as good as the Olwell anyways. No embouchure contortions are needed. I just use the same, semi-relaxed embouchure I use on my Olwell with good results.
I tried playing a couple slow airs along with some Highland piping recordings. This was successful considering Highland pipes are around 10 cents sharp of Bb. So it wasn’t bang on but I think it would work well with Bb smallpipes or Lowland pipes since they tend to be closer to true Bb.
As far as tone and playability are concerned I consider this flute up to par with my Olwell.
Customer Service: William is very prompt and cordial. He does the Ren-Fest circuit so he is often away from his workshop for weeks at a time. He just left for the Florida Rennaissance Festival on the 25th but made sure he got my flute out before then. I had a good experience with the purchase and would gladly do it again.
Summary: This is a great flute. I feel it is well worth the US$55. If you are looking for a great bamboo flute and like or don’t mind the au natural finish, William’s flutes are a good option. If a professional finish is a priority you may want to hold out for an Olwell. I think if William did a professional finish like Pat Olwell, there’d be some serious competition.
Cheers,
Aaron
P.S. For those who love the smell of bamboo I found William’s flute to have a more pungent and less sweet smell than my Olwell. I would compare it like an Indian curry versus a Thai curry.
(Edited to include addendum under Visual Presentation section)
…now I want one of these.