I've been considering using my Tax refund to get a wooden flute. I own several of the silver and bamboo variety but would like to expand into the Irish flute realm. Do you have any suggestions for Maker and Material? They would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Erik
Flute dreams.
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Loren
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Erik,
Bang for the Buck, I don't see any way you could beat one of Dave Copley's Blackwood flutes. Current cost is $585. I've played several flutes costing twice as much including a Grinter as well as the Skip Healy Ironwood I own. In regards to sound quality, the Copley is right up there with the best you can buy and is as easy to play as they come.
You just can't go wrong with a Copley for a first flute.
Loren
Bang for the Buck, I don't see any way you could beat one of Dave Copley's Blackwood flutes. Current cost is $585. I've played several flutes costing twice as much including a Grinter as well as the Skip Healy Ironwood I own. In regards to sound quality, the Copley is right up there with the best you can buy and is as easy to play as they come.
You just can't go wrong with a Copley for a first flute.
Loren
Hi Erik,
I tried several different flutes before finding one that I was really satisfied with. I was finally was able to get one from George Ormiston. It plays beautifully and is very well in tune, and it looks great! The one I got had 4 keys. I just got it back from George where he added the C and long F keys. He is great to work with! His web site is http://www.ormistonflutes.fsnet.co.uk/index.htm
Good luck.
Chris Roberts
I tried several different flutes before finding one that I was really satisfied with. I was finally was able to get one from George Ormiston. It plays beautifully and is very well in tune, and it looks great! The one I got had 4 keys. I just got it back from George where he added the C and long F keys. He is great to work with! His web site is http://www.ormistonflutes.fsnet.co.uk/index.htm
Good luck.
Chris Roberts
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ChrisLaughlin
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ErikT
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Thanks everyone... you're fast. Were you just sitting there waiting for my question 
(of course, more opinions are still welcome).
I'll check out your recommendations.
Erik
p.s. (wrong forum, I know) Loren, I tried your Low C (?) when I was at Colin's place. You must have long arms and big hands.
And Chris, I like my High D, too.
(of course, more opinions are still welcome).
I'll check out your recommendations.
Erik
p.s. (wrong forum, I know) Loren, I tried your Low C (?) when I was at Colin's place. You must have long arms and big hands.
And Chris, I like my High D, too.Erik,
What price range and how long are you willing to wait? I'd start with a keyless flute.
If you want one soon, why not get a plastic Seery or M&E? I've heard very good things about them, plus you can have one in a month or two. About 300 USA dollars.
Terry McGee makes fantastic flutes, but the word is out and his waiting list is something like two years. His waiting list is going to get a lot longer soon.
Skip Healy makes great flutes and you can often get one quickly. They are a bit tougher for the inexperienced to play, but they have a powerful, rich, warm tone when you get the hang of it. He also offers them in Cooktown Ironwood, which is much prettier than Blackwood, and possibly less likely to crack. You'd have to hear one to decide, but Ironwood also is wonderful tonally.
If you do get on Olwell's waiting list, consider getting a Cocus wood flute. It takes slightly more care than Blackwood, but is possibly the best sounding timber, better than Blackwood, at least according to people who have a Cocus flute. Heh, heh. It was the wood of choice for flutes before it became rare and *very* expensive.
What price range and how long are you willing to wait? I'd start with a keyless flute.
If you want one soon, why not get a plastic Seery or M&E? I've heard very good things about them, plus you can have one in a month or two. About 300 USA dollars.
Terry McGee makes fantastic flutes, but the word is out and his waiting list is something like two years. His waiting list is going to get a lot longer soon.
Skip Healy makes great flutes and you can often get one quickly. They are a bit tougher for the inexperienced to play, but they have a powerful, rich, warm tone when you get the hang of it. He also offers them in Cooktown Ironwood, which is much prettier than Blackwood, and possibly less likely to crack. You'd have to hear one to decide, but Ironwood also is wonderful tonally.
If you do get on Olwell's waiting list, consider getting a Cocus wood flute. It takes slightly more care than Blackwood, but is possibly the best sounding timber, better than Blackwood, at least according to people who have a Cocus flute. Heh, heh. It was the wood of choice for flutes before it became rare and *very* expensive.
Asking advice on this forum about what flute you should buy on this Forum may turn out to be akin to asking Count Dracula who runs the best bed and breakfast in Transylvania.
I can't speak from experience about Copley, except to say he is a new maker whose price is relatively low and who has gotten good reviews on the Forum, (including one from JessieK, as I recall).
You can't go down to your local (or even Big City) music store and check out a few Irish Flutes...or even one Irish Flute. That's why most of us have not had the opportunity to see, much less play, many different makes of Irish Flute, so we tend to be prejudiced, pro or con, the ones we are familiar with.
Expect to pay $800-1200 for a new keyless Irish Flute from a well-regarded maker.
You will have to put up with a waiting period of anywhere from a week or two (f you are lucky!) to a year or more to get a keyless flute from a well-known established maker. (I wouldn't advise getting a keyed flute to start with, since you don't need them to play Irish flute and whistle tunes, and you can always have them added later to make the instrument fully chromatic if you wish. The alternative to buying a new flute (and eliminating waiting!) could be to find one for sale on the Used Flute section of Brad Hurley's Irish Flute website, or on E-Bay.
Hurley's site, (which is listed on the Links section of Chiff & Fipple,)also contains the e-mail and snail mail addresses of Irish Flute makers along with a little info. on each.
I would recommend that you refer to the website of Terry McGee,Australia's best known Irish flute maker, which is chock full
of information about Irish Flutes in general as well as those McGee makes. Most Irish flute makers make only one model, but Terry offers a wide variety, all based on ( or improved variations of) classic antique models which he owns.
I strongly advise you to look through all interesting sections in Hurley's website before you buy anything. Compared to wooden Irish flutes, metal Boehm-style flutes are almost clone-like! But, as you know, that is far from the case, and I would say there may be a relatively larger range of varience, from the sublime to the pedestrian among wooden Irish flutes from various makers.
An alternative you might consider is to get one of Michael Cronnolly's "M&E" flutes, which is machined from PVC and will cost you about $300. They are the best inexpensive Irish Flutes I know of, and they will serve you well while you are learning to become an Irish Flute expert like everybody else on this forum! You can also then continue to play your flute while you are waiting(and waiting, and waiting!) from some renowned flute maker to get around to filling your order. And when you finally get your beau ideal (assuming it arrives before rheumatoid arthritis does a number on your hands), you can always sell the M&E, since it is indestructable .... or keep it as a spare to on camping trips, in swimming pools, or during traffic grid lock!
Welcome to our happy world! And rots of ruck!!
Mal
I can't speak from experience about Copley, except to say he is a new maker whose price is relatively low and who has gotten good reviews on the Forum, (including one from JessieK, as I recall).
You can't go down to your local (or even Big City) music store and check out a few Irish Flutes...or even one Irish Flute. That's why most of us have not had the opportunity to see, much less play, many different makes of Irish Flute, so we tend to be prejudiced, pro or con, the ones we are familiar with.
Expect to pay $800-1200 for a new keyless Irish Flute from a well-regarded maker.
You will have to put up with a waiting period of anywhere from a week or two (f you are lucky!) to a year or more to get a keyless flute from a well-known established maker. (I wouldn't advise getting a keyed flute to start with, since you don't need them to play Irish flute and whistle tunes, and you can always have them added later to make the instrument fully chromatic if you wish. The alternative to buying a new flute (and eliminating waiting!) could be to find one for sale on the Used Flute section of Brad Hurley's Irish Flute website, or on E-Bay.
Hurley's site, (which is listed on the Links section of Chiff & Fipple,)also contains the e-mail and snail mail addresses of Irish Flute makers along with a little info. on each.
I would recommend that you refer to the website of Terry McGee,Australia's best known Irish flute maker, which is chock full
of information about Irish Flutes in general as well as those McGee makes. Most Irish flute makers make only one model, but Terry offers a wide variety, all based on ( or improved variations of) classic antique models which he owns.
I strongly advise you to look through all interesting sections in Hurley's website before you buy anything. Compared to wooden Irish flutes, metal Boehm-style flutes are almost clone-like! But, as you know, that is far from the case, and I would say there may be a relatively larger range of varience, from the sublime to the pedestrian among wooden Irish flutes from various makers.
An alternative you might consider is to get one of Michael Cronnolly's "M&E" flutes, which is machined from PVC and will cost you about $300. They are the best inexpensive Irish Flutes I know of, and they will serve you well while you are learning to become an Irish Flute expert like everybody else on this forum! You can also then continue to play your flute while you are waiting(and waiting, and waiting!) from some renowned flute maker to get around to filling your order. And when you finally get your beau ideal (assuming it arrives before rheumatoid arthritis does a number on your hands), you can always sell the M&E, since it is indestructable .... or keep it as a spare to on camping trips, in swimming pools, or during traffic grid lock!
Welcome to our happy world! And rots of ruck!!
Mal
Erik,
Hmmm, 300 to 500 dollar range. If you can stretch it up to 600 you could get the Copley. Everyone who has one says they're great, as good as the best.
In your range the Seery & M&E are looking good and they are at the bottom end.
A very interesting looking flute that lists for 300 also is a R&R copy by John Rutzen. http://gofree.indigo.ie/~jrutzen/index.htm
I'm very interested in finding out more about this one. The head & tuning barrel are made of delrin, and the body is blackwood. His tuning slide incorporates an o'ring, which is a neat idea, I think. Anyone ever play one of these?
Mark Hoza is in your range too, but I've never seen one. He works moostly in Cooktown Ironwood, which I like.
Hmmm, 300 to 500 dollar range. If you can stretch it up to 600 you could get the Copley. Everyone who has one says they're great, as good as the best.
In your range the Seery & M&E are looking good and they are at the bottom end.
A very interesting looking flute that lists for 300 also is a R&R copy by John Rutzen. http://gofree.indigo.ie/~jrutzen/index.htm
I'm very interested in finding out more about this one. The head & tuning barrel are made of delrin, and the body is blackwood. His tuning slide incorporates an o'ring, which is a neat idea, I think. Anyone ever play one of these?
Mark Hoza is in your range too, but I've never seen one. He works moostly in Cooktown Ironwood, which I like.
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Loren
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Make a new plan, Stan
You don't need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don't need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free - Location: Loren has left the building.
Erik,
Yes, I spoke with Colin yesterday (for three hours as usual) and he told me you had a nice visit. I've been eagerly awaiting the Low C for a while now and I'm very excited. No, I don't have particularly long arms, and my hands are fairly small, so it may be a challenge for me, we'll see.....
Chris, glad to hear you like the Overton Soprano D. Colin is sending mine along with the new Low C so I'm going to be smiling for awhile. Belated welcome to the Copley Flute Lover's Association by the way
Yes, I spoke with Colin yesterday (for three hours as usual) and he told me you had a nice visit. I've been eagerly awaiting the Low C for a while now and I'm very excited. No, I don't have particularly long arms, and my hands are fairly small, so it may be a challenge for me, we'll see.....
Chris, glad to hear you like the Overton Soprano D. Colin is sending mine along with the new Low C so I'm going to be smiling for awhile. Belated welcome to the Copley Flute Lover's Association by the way
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Loren
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Make a new plan, Stan
You don't need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don't need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free - Location: Loren has left the building.
Erik,
Oh yes, I forgot: I did try one of Mark Hoza's flutes, it was made from Ironwood and was 2piece with no tuning slide. Nice flute but didn't sound as good as Copley, Healy, and Grinter. The Hoza was not as easy to play as the Copley and Grinter, but was easier (for me anyway) than the Healy.
If you can't go over $500 then it sounds like an M&E or Seery (as many have suggested) is the way to go. OTH, if there is anyway you can make it to the $585 a Copley will cost, you'll have a top quality Blackwood flute that you'll never need to upgrade.
Have fun deciding!
Loren
Oh yes, I forgot: I did try one of Mark Hoza's flutes, it was made from Ironwood and was 2piece with no tuning slide. Nice flute but didn't sound as good as Copley, Healy, and Grinter. The Hoza was not as easy to play as the Copley and Grinter, but was easier (for me anyway) than the Healy.
If you can't go over $500 then it sounds like an M&E or Seery (as many have suggested) is the way to go. OTH, if there is anyway you can make it to the $585 a Copley will cost, you'll have a top quality Blackwood flute that you'll never need to upgrade.
Have fun deciding!
Loren
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rich
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Skip Healy makes a keyless two-piece flute that looks like a great starter flute, which is inexpensive relative to his "pro" three-piece ones. It's got a cork tenon instead of a tuning slide and a slightly smaller embouchure, and is rosewood instead of blackwood, but it's $500 instead of $1000.
http://www.skiphealy.com/econKeyless.html
That said, Seery and M&E are a great starting point too, and all three of those are bound to retain much of their value when you move up to a "pro" instrument, or if you decide the flute's not for you. Tony Dixon makes a decent PVC flute, too -- his three-piece machined ones, not the whistle/flute combo.
<ul>-Rich</ul>
http://www.skiphealy.com/econKeyless.html
That said, Seery and M&E are a great starting point too, and all three of those are bound to retain much of their value when you move up to a "pro" instrument, or if you decide the flute's not for you. Tony Dixon makes a decent PVC flute, too -- his three-piece machined ones, not the whistle/flute combo.
<ul>-Rich</ul>