Chiff and Fipple Forums

Conical bore wrote:

Fildafluter wrote:

Terry McGee wrote:I've placed a mention on The Session. Are there other places we should let people know?

Thank you Terry. The mostly non-Irish membership will appreciate the notice when any have an order with Mike (RIP).

But I keep off of it as I heard that the site has a reputation of abusing natives who annoy the owner Jeremy Keith. Quite the 'bully' I understand.

I haven't had that experience on thesession.org. It's true that the flavor of the site has changed in recent years, due mainly to Jeremy's heavier

.

Well a long time ago I was warned about yer man with the short fuse. So I never did get involved with the thing. My sourcing of session data is all on the native grapevine, not on the internet, although that might work for off folks into the art.

Too, again pre-warned about the stuff on this session site, any odd tunes that need notes are got at http://abcnotation.com/learn.

Reports of hacking and personal abuse is what i heard about it; although, as you say the culprits are now all quieted down. But a bad name among the natives is hard to lose! As the saying goes you can take the man out of the bog, but you cannot take the bog out of the man. Or in the eloquent words of Winston Churchill speaking of a woman with a bad reputation.' once a whatever, always a whatever'.

A website genius maybe, but a good host most certainly not.

I'll get me hat.

I never met Mike Grinter and have never owned one of his flutes, but I have played a good few belonging to friends and acquaintances and they have been consistently superb, a joy to play and also beautiful. I saw Kevin Crawford's early reaction post on Facebook early on Wednesday morning. There are now many fine tributes to Michael on his Facebook page and on their own from many top echelon fluters who play or have owned his products. It's worth visiting: his profile : https://www.facebook.com/michael.grinte ... 9199308802

His untimely death is a sad loss to the flute world.

A few years I met Mr Grinter at a festival. He tried out the Glen Watson flute I had at the time. He liked it but commented that it had a "different overtone structure" than his own flutes. The Grinters definitely feel different, but I didnt know how to express that until he made that comment. Mr Grinter's own personal flute was so leaky, I couldn't get more than a breathy squeak out of it on that occasion.

jemtheflute wrote: Facebook early on Wednesday morning. There are now many fine tributes to Michael on his Facebook page and on their own from many top echelon fluters who play or have owned his products. It's worth visiting: his profile : https://www.facebook.com/michael.grinte ... 9199308802

His untimely death is a sad loss to the flute world.

Indeed his facebook page is now filling up with well deserved tributes of folks from all over the globe! But those begun a day after he passed, Wednesday, we had posted it here on Tuesday around 6.00 PM US CST. I am guessing that the FB tributes are all from remote with no local connection?

Best regards.

Fildafluter wrote:...his facebook page is now filling up with well deserved tributes of folks from all over the globe! But those begun a day after he passed, Wednesday, we had posted it here on Tuesday around 6.00 PM US CST. I am guessing that the FB tributes are all from remote with no local connection?

I don't really think this is at all important and I don't really get your point. It takes time, even on the Internet, for folk to receive news and spread it and to find words to say and time to post. And then time zones affect interactions and perceptions.

For example, I read Kevin Crawford's post on Facebook soon after I woke on Wednesday 5th morning, probably about 07:00 GMT (01:00 CST). Kevin's post is marked as having been made at 06:39 GMT (00:39 CST) on the 5th, so it was fresh when I saw it. That was the first I knew of it. Michael's terrible accident was at 18:25 AEDT (which equals 07:25 GMT or 01:25 CST) on Tues 4th. So yes, I only read of it 24 hours after it happened. Your OP to this thread is marked as being made at 02:30 GMT on Weds 5th, which would be 20:30 CST on the 4th for you 13:30 AEDT on the 5th in Oz, 19 hours after the accident). I was asleep then. That's how it goes.

I'm sure tributes will continue to be posted by folk from around the world as well as local to Michael's home.(Locals don't necessarily hear news forthwith either!)

RIP Mr. Grinter; I've never played one of his flutes, but would very much like to.

"A website genius maybe, but a good host most certainly not."

How do you know that if you don't go there? I've been on that board a long time, like a lot of people here, and personally I have never seen Jeremy mess with anyone that didn't richly deserve it. If there are people telling you different, I would assume they are offenders and got rapped on the knuckles. It is after all his website.

It's quieter than it was, but I don't miss some of those people who made it 'interesting'. I think Jeremy is a generous host. You should try it before you make up your mind.

Adrian W. wrote:RIP Mr. Grinter; I've never played one of his flutes, but would very much like to.

"A website genius maybe, but a good host most certainly not."

How do you know that if you don't go there?

It's quieter than it was,

Simple, I listen to my own group gossip, that's how.

Again so sorry that a talented man such as Mike Grinter dies before his best years are over RIP.

Fildafluter wrote:
Simple, I listen to my own group gossip, that's how.

.

Your loss.

My condolences to Mike Grinter's family and friends. A tragic loss for them, and even for flute players in the Irish traditional community, and recorder players in the baroque music. It's obvious that Mike Grinter was both respected, and well thought of, both as a person and a craftsman.

I doubt anyone sees a road accident coming. It's something that just happens, suddenly, and people's lives, and those near to them, are disrupted and changed. A friend, uilleann pipe- and flute maker, Dave Williams was killed in a lone car accident one evening in October, 2004. I couldn't believe it when I first heard the news.

There's a flute player in the town where I live, Markus Tullberg, with a keyed Grinter that sounds good. I haven't played it. In Tocane Saint Apre at the Irish gathering there, I met a French man in a session with an eight keyed Grinter flute. I though it was a Rudall & Rose at first glance, and he asked if I wanted to try it. I had a blow and it was a nice flute, but I didn't play long enough to get tuned into the flute. I was glad to get back to my Rudall that I was used to playing, although I'm sure the Grinter was a fine flute.

"How do you know that if you don't go there? I've been on that board a long time, like a lot of people here, and personally I have never seen Jeremy mess with anyone that didn't richly deserve it. If there are people telling you different, I would assume they are offenders and got rapped on the knuckles. It is after all his website." A.W.

Yes, I agree with you Adrian. I visit thesession.org often.

My Condolences to Mike's friends and family. I still remember the first Grinter that I saw - it belonged to an Australian flute player here and I remember it as a very good flute. Back in the days when I had not played many good flutes, it stood head and shoulders above almost all the other flutes I had tried up till then.

(P.S. this isn't really the right thread for a thesession.org bashing...)

ChrisCracknell wrote:My Condolences to Mike's friends and family. I still remember the first Grinter that I saw - it belonged to an Australian flute player here and I remember it as a very good flute. Back in the days when I had not played many good flutes, it stood head and shoulders above almost all the other flutes I had tried up till then.

(P.S. this isn't really the right thread for a thesession.org bashing...)

Fully agree with ChrisCracknell—this thread began with the notice of the passing of someone I've never met but, according to the testimonials, was a good man and an outstanding flute maker.

This doesn't seem to be the time or place for arguing issues related to thesession.org, pro or con. If that is something worthy of discussion, start another thread and let Mr. Grinter's memorial rest in peace.

Best wishes.

Steve

Steve Bliven wrote:

ChrisCracknell wrote:My Condolences to Mike's friends and family. I still remember the first Grinter that I saw - it belonged to an Australian flute player here and I remember it as a very good flute. Back in the days when I had not played many good flutes, it stood head and shoulders above almost all the other flutes I had tried up till then.

(P.S. this isn't really the right thread for a thesession.org bashing...)

Fully agree with ChrisCracknell—this thread began with the notice of the passing of someone I've never met but, according to the testimonials, was a good man and an outstanding flute maker.

This doesn't seem to be the time or place for arguing issues related to thesession.org, pro or con. If that is something worthy of discussion, start another thread and let Mr. Grinter's memorial rest in peace.

Best wishes.

Steve

Yup, I agree, I apologize for getting drawn into that at the expense of Mike Grinter.

I first met Mike (over the phone) in the early 90's. I was searching for a good R&R flute at the time. I had an old R&R but it was beat up. Somebody (who was more into classical and early music) told me they knew of this guy in Australia who is making them - 8 keyed no less. So, I took a leap of faith and ordered one. After receiving his flute, everywhere I went people took a keen interest in this flute. "Who made it?" was the common question. Fluteplayers and flutemakers alike all seem to be drawn to it. He was not as well known at that time. But as we know, that would quickly change.
I remember one night after playing his flute, I guess I was having a moment of intense appreciation and a bit awestruck at being fortunate to play such a wonderful instrument, I was prompted to call Mike just to express my gratitude. I said to him that one day I hope to meet him in person so I could thank him in person.
Well, shortly afterwards, Mike called and I met him after he delivered Kevin C.'s flute in Ireland. He stayed with me for a couple of days before heading back to Australia. It was so cool that he did that. I was fortunate my wish came true and I got to talk and spend some time with him. He was a great guy, a great instrument maker, and a terrible loss to our community.
I now realize what a treasure it is to have so many flutemakers living among us today. To all the flutemakers out there - I salute you!

I was really sad to hear about Mike Grinter's death. The first time I encountered one of his instruments was during a lesson with
Kevin Crawford. Kevin made his Grinter flute sound fantastic. It inspired me enough to want to search one out for myself.

When I finally got my own Grinter I was not disappointed. On balance, and for my preferences, it remains the best flute that I have
ever played, and I have an embarrassingly large collection of flutes from modern and historic makers. As an aspiring flute maker
myself, if I ever succeed in making a flute even half as good as that I'll feel very happy.

Being a life-long dedicated cyclist myself, the circumstances of his death also hit home pretty hard. I have lost other friends in
similar circumstances. Live is fleeting and we should strive to use the time we have wisely. It seems to me that Mike did just that.
A part of him will live on in my mind every time I play this fabulous flute he made.

rama wrote: I now realize what a treasure it is to have so many flutemakers living among us today. To all the flutemakers out there - I salute you!

And, on behalf of myself and my flute-making fellows, I return the compliments! Thank you, rama.

But, interestingly, this cuts both ways. The death of someone you know, especially when they're in the same line of business or have some other parallel to your own life, is surely a time for reflection. I found myself the other day keying a 6-key and reflecting on Mike and some of the nice things people have been saying. Keying a flute is a quiet activity compared to many other tasks. No big noisy machines, no dust extraction, just quietly sitting at the bench, measuring, filing, testing, polishing, sneaking ever closer to a good fit, but careful always not to go too far and ending up with a loose fit. And thinking, always thinking.

And after a while I noticed what I was thinking. How very lucky is the Irish flute maker. To be able to sit there or stand there and make something you really enjoy for someone who you hope will enjoy it too. And thinking that I hope Mike experienced and enjoyed that feeling too.

People love music, and making music for others is a joy. But making musical instruments for others to make music with is a further joy. Look at the old musical instruments in museums all around the world and you'll see a statement of how important they are in our lives. I'm always taken by the Balafons in museums with African collections. Marimba-family instruments made with bars of rough collected wood, acoustically supported with gourd resonators, and the lot lashed together with sticks and twine plaited from grass. Here's the kind of thing:



Our modern flutes are a bit more polished, but I hope the love we pour into our instruments is as much as is evident in the making of this one.

So, as I said, it cuts both ways. We flute-makers salute you all for making our lives possible. Thank you.