Chiff and Fipple Forums

I know it's a stretch, but no harm in asking....

Anyone happen to have a Lesouëf 6-key that you'd be interested in moving on? Ideally in mopane to avoid CITES issues, but blackwood would be great too, assuming it could be shipped to the US.

Contact via PM or email buttons below.

Thanks and best wishes.

Steve

To my (very pleasant) surprise, found one.

Thanks and best wishes.

Steve

I've been thinking on ordering one of her flutes for awhile now...how do you find the flute? Easy to fill? Any embouchure i nsert? Response? Quiet or loud? Can it be pushed? Bottom D? Mopane or blackwood? If mopane, any comparison to blackwood? Sorry for all the questions...no pressure...lol

Can't respond until it arrives and I have a chance to play it. In my imagination, however, it sets me across the table from that Molloy guy. [looking for the correct smilie]

Best wishes.

Steve

Solen's flutes are easy to play and have excellent tone.
It seems, in fact I know, that Aoife Granville enjoy them a lot : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pnc0GybRWkc . It's a keyless but she also plays a six keyed that sounds very good too.

My first flute was a Solen Lesouef in mopane. I enjoyed it immensely, before trading it out for an antique Firth, Pond & Co keyed flute. The price was good and Solen is dependable and easy to work with.

Although I'm only three years into my flute journey, based on my experience with these two flutes, I would say that the Lesouef was much easier to get tone and volume. The FP&C embouchure requires a LOT more focus.

That doesn't mean the FP&C is worse than the Lesouef, I get wonderful tone out of it, but it took me a long time to get quality an consistency. I do think I'm a better player for having worked harder.

Hi Steve,
Pls update us with your Solen Lesouef
I'm new with irish flute, but already felt in love with its sound I heard in YouTube (Aife Grandville). In the video she was playing in a church, which I guess helped the sound a lot, but anyway I expect great things from this flute!
Is it already with you? Curious...

I've been slow with my "review" of this flute because 1) it's new to me and I'm still getting used to it and 2) it's my first real foray into a contemporary keyed flute.

It's beautifully constructed with lovely keywork as can be seen on Ms. Lesouef's website. (It's a nicely laid out web site with very good photography with Aiofe Granville doing a demo and she's one of my favorites.) The instrument seems a bit slimmer than others I've played and the right hand finger holes are slightly different sizes and locations than what I'm used to. Combine that with working around keys and blocks and I've been slow to adapt—but it's coming. The flute I have is without the embouchure insert or the wide-rings option. In an email, Ms. Lesoeuf suggests that the insert "has a bit more definition but loses [a bit of] the warm tone...though the difference is tiny." She presently makes an unlined head, although she indicates that she is experimenting with a lined head with a different cut embouchure that might be an option in the future. Personally, I prefer both the sound of an unlined head and that I worry less about cracking as I live in New England near the ocean so it's very humid in summer and very dry when the central heating goes on in the winter.

It's very easy to sound and the embouchure seems subtle in that it's possible to get either a buzzy/reedy sound or a softer/rounder sound. On the days that I get a well-focused embouchure, the thing just sings—and with good volume. Again, I'm adapting.... It has a very solid bottom D, even on a bad embouchure day.

My flute is mopane. I really wanted that on the chance the CITES restrictions might affect future sales or shipment. Ms. LeSoeuf's web site gives her opinion on the difference between blackwood and mopane as "There is a subtle différence but new flutists might not hear it. I find that Mopane Irish flutes have a rounder/reedier tone but Blackwood is a little more direct."

Bottom line is that I'm delighted to have had the chance to get one in the wood that I really wanted without the waiting period (currently quoted as about 20 months for a keyed flute). It's beautiful to look at, fun to play, and (on a good day) makes me sound better than I am—although Aoife Granville has nothing to worry about.

Hope this helps with decisions for others.

Best wishes.

Steve

I ordered a 6-key Lesouef in Blackwood, coming mid-2022. There was a 100 Eur deposit for it, but I'm fine with the wait because I need time to save. I also have a 6 key Lehart coming in October, so that should give me a good start, and a good flute for comparison when hers arrives.

Steve Bliven wrote:
It's beautifully constructed with lovely keywork as can be seen on Ms. Lesouef's website.

I have to say, if these flutes play half as well as they look, they must be fantastic. Really nice.

FIY, Solen Lesouëf told me that she was no longer making 8 key flutes because it takes a lot of time and her waiting list is too long (about 22 months as of Jan. 2020 ). Too bad for me, but good for her

gwuilleann wrote:FIY, Solen Lesouëf told me that she was no longer making 8 key flutes because it takes a lot of time and her waiting list is too long (about 22 months as of Jan. 2020 ). Too bad for me, but good for her

Waiting list is 32 months for a 6 keyed flute now unfortunately