Chiff and Fipple Forums

My upper lip comes down in kind of a V shape right in the middle. A boehm teacher I had once said I would never go a good flutist because of that! J.

I read somewhere that piccolos were popular for playing Irish at one time. Are they difficult to play? How much louder are they than a whistle? Would one dominate a session? J.

Hi Janet. I've had to play the flute to the side of my mouth, since my upper lip comes down in the middle, and that section flaps in the wind (so to speak), if I play centered. Also, if I play centered, the airstream becomes divided, and that's not very productive to a good tone. Someone said that a...

I'm looking for this book, t'is hard to find! Out of print, not to be had. Just wondering if someone knows where one can be found? I know he'll have a new one out sometime soon, but I'd like to see the old one. Thanks! John.

His price is 800 Euros now, j.

Oops, 800 NZ, which is only $530.35.

I've been playing it about 4 months now. I did play the Boehm flute for about 1.5yrs quite a long time ago. I'm sure my developing embochure is a large part of it! It's frustrating, tried to play a few tunes at a session, someone kept telling me to pull out the head! It was out as far as the maker r...

The flute I have is a Byrne and it's a Ruddel. I saw Tom Aebi's website. He offers a flute model that is more for Irish trad. He says that he makes the first two octaves more in tune and doesn't try to make the third octave in tune, like in an original Ruddel. The original makes more comprimises to ...

The flute I'm playing is quite a bit sharper from low G and up. I'm still working on my embochure too though. It just seems like it takes a lot of effort to blow the flute "in tune". I was wondering about what other people's experiences with this are? What flutes require less adjustment? T...

Another tuning question! I was wondering what makers have the closest tuning, that is, the right hand and left hand are closest in tune? I'm aware of the inherent tuning problems of the simple system flute. I'd like to know if a maker has gotten around that. Thanks! J.

Does Martin make all the flutes on the New Zealand website? I think he only makes the "traditional" model, which is done in Ireland, and the other ones are made by the person in New Zealand. J.

If you hold your nose closed and blow gently, it will equalize pressure too-an old diving trick! J.

Just wondered if any of the other Byrne owners can get a G# from the lower register? Half-holing doen's work, it just kills the sound! The higher G# works OK. Thanks, John.

I noticed this recentlly also. But instead of a pop, the volume of my flute was lower. I thought it was my playing, until I tried clearing my ears-then it was a nice volume again! J.

I recieved an e-mail from Martin recently. It's kind of confusing. He doesn't make a yew flute, and said he would not recommend it. He has a partner in Australia who makes all the other flutes. He makes the traditional model in Ireland from blackwood. Hope that helps! j.

I've got the same flute, rosewood, three-piece, no slide or rings. Got it for $200. It was made in the 80's. Didn't know they were worth so much! J.