Delrin flutes: Copley Vs Somers Vs M&E: Which one to choose?

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Copley Vs Somers Vs M&E: Wich one should I buy?

Copley keyless
7
41%
Garry somers keyless
8
47%
M&E keyless
2
12%
 
Total votes: 17

pmcallis
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Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: Delrin flutes: Copley Vs Somers Vs M&E: Which one to cho

Post by pmcallis »

I've tried them all and Garry Somers flutes are cannons! I've got his pratten model and two more players at our session purchased his pratten model too. We all agree Garry makes great flutes at an unbeatable price. Now that Garry has returned to Ireland, I hope that he hasn't lost his "magical" South American flute making powers. :thumbsup:
Paul
Ben Cohen
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Tell us something.: Howdy Chiff & Fipple - I just acquired a great Vincenzo Di Mauro delrin flute, and am joining to post a positive review

Re: Delrin flutes: Copley Vs Somers Vs M&E: Which one to choose?

Post by Ben Cohen »

A TALE OF TWO AMAZING DELRIN FLUTES - Baubet and Di Mauro

Hello forum - this is my first post on Chiff & Fipple. I am posting to tell of my great experience in purchasing similar spec'd fully-keyed delrin flutes from Francois Baubet and Vincenzo Di Mauro, and this seems like the best thread for praising flutemakers who use delrin.

I have a wonderful Rudall-style 5-key flute by Terry McGee: no C key; C thumb hole instead and Bb key in lieu of the C key. (I like this arrangement better than the traditional 6-key setup.) Terry's flute is of course fantastic, but it's a wooden instrument. I wanted the same instrument in delrin, but Terry is no longer accepting new orders and in any event I learned that he prefers wood over delrin when making an instrument with this many keys - not because delrin is a lesser material, but because it's harder than wood and therefore more challenging to work with.

So I emailed inquiries to every delrin flute maker I could find, and received great responses from Francois Baubet and Vincenzo di Mauro - both were willing to build a 5-key delrin flute to my specs, at a great price. My plan was to keep the instrument that I preferred and sell the other.

I have now been playing both flutes for several months, and I can't bear to part with either instrument. They are both absolutely fantastic. Gorgeous workmanship, spot-on intonation, powerful players - right up there with my McGee flute - but in delrin. I initially had a preference as between the two based on the key work - one flute had a more uniformly light key action, and I prefer a light action (not everyone does). But after doing some very careful filing of certain key springs on both instruments (something not everyone will be comfortable doing), I've been able to get the key action on both instruments exactly where I like it. (I also made a slight modification to the Bb touch on one of the flutes so it would stay a bit further away from my right index finger.)

I am deliberately not identifying which instrument I initially preferred, or otherwise discussing specifics like price, because both flutes are just too good to justify expressing preference. I will only say that both flutes are superb instruments and incredible values. I cannot recommend these makers highly enough.
siri
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Tell us something.: I am a Boehm flute and recorder player of many years and recently got hooked on practising the tin and low whistle. Currently waiting for my first Irish flute to arrive.

Re: Delrin flutes: Copley Vs Somers Vs M&E: Which one to choose?

Post by siri »

Hi, as this post came up again, I thought I'd briefly chip in as I bought an M&E flute earlier this year. I am new to the Irish Flute, but been playing the Boehm flute for over 20 years on and off, so I am familiar with some basics. As I haven't been able to try out any other flutes apart from my M&E I can't offer any comparison, nor is it my intention of advertise the flute. Just wanted to briefly comment on my experience as a first time irish flute player starting on an M&E

When I was deciding on which flute to buy this forum was super helpful as with all the Covid restrictions in place it's really difficult to get and try out instruments at the moment. I decided to buy an M&E mainly because of its availability and affordability. I have been playing it a lot over the past two months, and even though it took me a while to adjust to holding it (I found, thanks to advice from this forum, that I need to adjust my grip compared to how I hold the Boehm). I love playing the M&E, and for the past two months I have been playing it almost every day. From what others have said, it is quite heavy (but I only have my Yamaha Boehm to compare it to), but with everything, I think you'll get the hang of it with constant practice. What I like, too, is that it is not overly loud. It can be played loudly, but my Boehm is far louder but for the time being this is an advantage to me as I mainly get to practice at night, and so far none of the neighbours has been complaining (one even told me my practice inspired him to take up playing the guitar).

As others have said, my advice is just get started somewhere and see where it is going to take you. If you're new to a particular instrument, you'll need some time to find out what suits you, so for me, I am very much ok with my M&E for now, but I am already thinking about next year or so when, if I manage to keep up practicing, I might have a look into buying another flute but I feel that for the time being, there's a lot more to be learned and explored with this particular instrument.
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