Top Makers

[talasiga]

......order wisely .......

Interesting idea .....

[cocusflute]

I feel that an Olwell flute would be wasted on someone like me who has never played an Irish flute ever.

Very bad thinking. Unwise.
It is precisely the beginner who needs the great flute the most. It would not be wasted on you.
With a great flute your learning curve will be steeper. You will play more often. You won't be frustrated. You will get better faster and be happier with the time spent on your beautiful instrument.
You don't have to be Andre Agassi to appreciate a good racket, or A.J Foyt to appreciate a great car.
If you have the money then go for it. You'll never feel bad about buying it. And if you don't play it as much as you thought why then you can sell it for nearly what you paid for it or perhaps even make a buck.
As far as making a wait list longer for a really good player, that's crappy elitism of the worst kind. Only a snob would say that.

On the other issue, Top Makers, Wylde was a flute maker in the employ of Rudall & Rose. If you count his flutes as Rudalls (which they most assuredly are) then the Rudall flute is the top-most top-maker on the WFO series.

My first flute was a $50 French baroque flute from a junk shop. I struggled with it for a year. Then I went to Ireland and in 1989 I bought a used Rudall Carte. I was astounded by the difference. It was then that I began playing.

[talasiga]

But also, never spin a top
that doesn't really
turn you on .....

[Rob Sharer]

I think it was Goethe who put the "master" question in these terms:

Wer ist Meister? Der was ersann.
Wer ist Geselle? Der was kann.
Wer ist Lehrling? Jedermann.

In translation, it goes (roughly):

Who's a master? He who innovates.
Who's a journeyman? He who knows a trade.
Who's an apprentice? Everyone.

It loses its resonance in my lousy translation, but the sense I take from it (and the sense the phrase is used to convey amongst the handworking crowd in Germany) is that the term master should be reserved for a craftsman who has begun to be creative with his work, either through scientific innovation, artistry, or both. You can be very good at what you do and still be a journeyman. Any of us can be a learner.

Meister is a strong word in Germany, and I think master (or "top") should likewise only refer to those at the absolute summit of their craft. In today's world, that's pretty much the makers on the short list already posted on this topic. I will say that my own opinion would have Olwell, Wilkes, and Murray as the true (and living) masters of the flute-maker's craft.

Rob

[sbhikes]

I can understand the argument that a beginner would do well to have a top-makers' flute at the outset, but at this point in my "career" I would have to buy one not knowing what I'm looking for. I don't even know if I want keys or keyless yet. So far, I want keyless, but what if I get locked out of too many tunes at the session (the session I'm not yet qualified to play in and won't be for years)?

Also, I have parrots and if one of them ruined my priceless flute I would be quite upset. I may end up being a polymer flutist, against all my hatred of plastic.

Also, I might meet other players someday and who knows? Maybe one of them will have an old top-maker flute in their closet they'd sell me super cheap.

(sbhikes: Santa Barbara Hikes. That's my web site and my other hobby.)

[jim stone]

I can understand the argument that a beginner would do well to have a top-makers' flute at the outset, but at this point in my "career" I would have to buy one not knowing what I'm looking for. I don't even know if I want keys or keyless yet. So far, I want keyless, but what if I get locked out of too many tunes at the session (the session I'm not yet qualified to play in and won't be for years)?

Also, I have parrots and if one of them ruined my priceless flute I would be quite upset. I may end up being a polymer flutist, against all my hatred of plastic.

Also, I might meet other players someday and who knows? Maybe one of them will have an old top-maker flute in their closet they'd sell me super cheap.

(sbhikes: Santa Barbara Hikes. That's my web site and my other hobby.)

Realistically you can get a keyless flute from a maker who retrofits
keys. The prospect of getting locked out of too many tunes
at sessions because you don't have keys is pretty remote anyway.
It sounds as though you do have an idea what you're looking
for--a flute you can one day play in sessions. Unless you have
tiny hands an Olwell Pratten or Nicholson will do fine. It is very
hard to go wrong with one of these. If you really don't want the
flute when you get it, sell it. Make some money.

As to what if you meet another player with the super cheap super
flute, well, what ifs can paralyze us, can't they? Suppose you do.
It's unlikely, frankly. And when such things appear they go
very fast. But if you do, either you cancel your initial order,
which you can often do without cost, or you take the loss or
you receive a great flute later and sell one (or more likely,
keep both). You know, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Probabilities matter.

As to parrots, what do they do to flutes? Wouldn't they do it
to the supercheap flute you manage to find in someone's
closet? Is there no way to protect flutes from parrots?

Your call, obviously, but if you love playing flute, there's something
to be said for ordering soon. If you're trying to narrow down
to something, there's a lot of info on these boards and some
of us can be of help. It's hard to see its ending badly for you.

[michael_coleman]

Noy? Can't believe he wasn't mentioned.

[Terry McGee]

Q: How many Irish flute players does it take to change a light bulb?

A: It doesn't matter how many Irish players you assemble, that light bulb is never going to get changed. They all prefer to sit around in the dark and argue what brand of light bulbs Matt Malloy uses!

The survey of flute types used in WFO tracks might have the appearance of being scientific, but a moment's thought will show it's actually highly misleading. For it to be a survey, every one of the performers would have to have had equal opportunity to try out flutes from every one of the makers listed (and, ideally, those who are not listed). That of course didn't happen and isn't going to happen. If you look at the results of the survey, you see what you'd expect - that the makers who head the list are simply the most well-known and longest established in the most populous markets for Irish flutes and Irish flute players. It would say something really bad about their flutes if they were not there!

But the really misleading thing about this discussion is that it assumes that the best flute for you, the everyday amateur fluteplayer, is one that has proved satisfactory to a bunch of top rate professional players. Why would you assume that? Such players put in hours every day, and are "genetically predisposed to flute" (or they'd be playing something else). And they don't have your mouth.

Now, I've sold hundreds of flutes to players who previously played flutes by Sam, Patrick, George & John, Michael, etc, etc. And the testimonial letters are so thankful I sometimes feel like Mother Teresa! So clearly I'm the top of the top makers, eh? Heh heh, I wouldn't claim that! It's just that, for these particular players - including professional, gigging, sessioning and home-players - my flutes happened to be more suited to them, just as I'm sure some of Sam's, Patrick's etc are more suited to others.

So, let's stop worrying about what might suit people who we are not, and put our efforts into finding out what actually suit us!

Terry

[Denny]

you sir are a noob

you display absolutely no understanding of the traditions of C&F




(sorry Terri)

[Blackbeer]

Where did you get that thing Denny?
Thanks Terry maybe its old age but ubserdity (?) is much less entertaining then it used to be.

Take care;

Tom

[Denny]

Firefox extension "Smiley Xtra"

[Blackbeer]

I like it thanks

[Berti66]

there is no point recommending X maker's flute, as that are opinions of OTHER players, your mileage may vary.
the point is that you can get to sound good on whatever flute you get as long as it is a maker with a reputation (no Pakistani) and play the crap out of it.

try as many as you can lay your hands on, and go with what your heart tells you.

berti
still a beginner though, 3 years but did exactly that, just my 2cents

[hans]

Thanks Terry for pointing out that a WFO flute survey will not objectively say much. It simply shows what are the popular flutes of popular ITM flute players. In fact only what flutes those players used for recording. They may well prefer other flutes for other occasions.

I am not following your argument about anyone being "genetically predisposed to flute". Yes, some flutes may be harder to play for someone who puts in less work, and yes mouth (and teeth and jaw) varies from person to person. To get an individually fitted flute head made would be great. And you do a great job of offering a variety of flute heads with different embouchure cuts. But I don't think that there is a real divide between "amateur" and "pro" wooden flutes. There are some flutes I may call "student" flutes, which are made simpler and are less expensive because of that, like Casey Burns "folk flute" and Ralph Sweet's flutes.

Anyway, the topic is about "top makers". Perhaps the best we can do is to say that the term itself is misleading and really we can't say who are the best flute makers today. And just go with Berti and only mention "reputable" flute makers. This group is much bigger than the top five or top twenty "popular amongst recording artists" flute makers. There are many more craftsmen who have mastered the art of flute making.

As to your last point: I advise anyone considering ordering a flute to be made to ask the maker to send her/him a trial flute, to get a feel for it.
It is common practise amongst reputable recorder makers to send a prospective customer several recorders for choice. Now recorders may differ more than flutes from piece to piece. But flutes differ enormously from head to head, so ideally I want to try out several head designs first.
Makers could make choice much easier by offering this service.

[nitterwhiskers]

It's Osram right Terry?