Unidentified Bamboo Flutes

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Blayne Chastain
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Unidentified Bamboo Flutes

Post by Blayne Chastain »

Any idea on the make of these flutes? They belonged to Denny. The F I suspect is an Olwell but no makers mark that I can find - and I've looked very closely under light.

The high D (has the thread wrapped ends) I'm not sure.

Both have excellent intonation. The cut of the embouchure on the F also makes me think it's an Olwell. I remember seeing in an old post of Denny's that he owned an Olwell bamboo...

F

Image

High D

Image

Thanks!
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monkey587
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Re: Unidentified Bamboo Flutes

Post by monkey587 »

If the F isn't an Olwell, my guess would be Woodsong. The fingerhole offsets might be a clue. I had a few woodsong bamboo flutes before I took up Irish, and they were nice instruments. No marking other than the key (on the closed end, I believe)

http://woodsonginstruments.com/flute.php

I had an Olwell Bb for a while. I am pretty sure it had his name stamped on it, but I could be wrong as it's been several years since I had it.
William Bajzek
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gariwerd
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Re: Unidentified Bamboo Flutes

Post by gariwerd »

I bought an Olwell A bamboo on ebay with no stamp. I sent pics to Pat and he said it was almost certainly one of his and he advised he had made a number of bamboo flutes years ago without his stamp. The pic certainly looks like my Olwell.
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gariwerd
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Re: Unidentified Bamboo Flutes

Post by gariwerd »

The pic of the F I mean. Don't know about that yellow tape on the other one.
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Re: Unidentified Bamboo Flutes

Post by Blayne Chastain »

Thanks for the help guys.
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Re: Unidentified Bamboo Flutes

Post by plunk111 »

@Blayne: the F looks exactly like a woodsong flute that I bought at a Renaissance festival about 5 - 6 years ago. I DO mean EXACTLY! The one I bought (after trying about 10 of them) had the same curve that I see in yours. I sold it to a Chiffer after I found out that I seem to have a slight bamboo allergy - at least that's what I assume it was. As I recall, it played VERY well and was really good on pitch. The story I got from the maker at the time was that he was the one that got Patrick Olwell started making bamboo flutes in the first place - not sure about the accuracy, but that is what he told me.

Pat
Pat Plunkett, Wheeling, WV
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Re: Unidentified Bamboo Flutes

Post by monkey587 »

This isn't conclusive but in searching Denny's posts for "bamboo," I see that he had some William Miller bamboos. No mention of Woodsong.

search.php?keywords=bamboo&terms=all&au ... mit=Search
William Bajzek
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Re: Unidentified Bamboo Flutes

Post by Blayne Chastain »

Pat - I bet your right on the Woodsong guess.

William - Yep, just listed the Millers here:

http://www.irishflutestore.com/catalogs ... /?q=miller
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