Loudest keyless flutes (or largest bores)

[Flexismart]

I have two Hammies - a 6 key and a custom short foot. Love them both.
They can be powerful and sweet, and they do require some getting used to.

I was in Philly when Conal's flute cracked into pieces. It was a workshop at the Irish Club somewhere around 2005-ish. He asked everyone to see their flute so he'd have an instrument for the concert that night. I don't remember who's he used, but he still had that typical sound he creates.

After that I think he found other makers flutes to play. Like many players, he probably has a drawer full of them.

[paddler]

Does anyone know what kind of flute Conal O Grada plays? I can't imagine he has a hard time being heard at a session...

I read somewhere that he used to play an antique flute by R&R but with a Fentum head, and now plays a Hammy Hamilton flute which was made in 2011.

[an seanduine]

I think you can get a look at Ó Grada´s early kit in this older video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrVpGbekbR4
Be patient, at about 34 seconds the cameraman figures out the focus. Loudness, volume, for a flute player is as much on the player as the instrument. But volume really doesn´t translate into musicality, or taste, and doesn´t always contribute to a rewarding session. One of my peeves is getting stuck with some @r$3Hol3 blasting in my ear, getting more and more out of tune.

Bob

[tradlad123]

I think you can get a look at Ó Grada´s early kit in this older video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrVpGbekbR4
Be patient, at about 34 seconds the cameraman figures out the focus. Loudness, volume, for a flute player is as much on the player as the instrument. But volume really doesn´t translate into musicality, or taste, and doesn´t always contribute to a rewarding session. One of my peeves is getting stuck with some @r$3Hol3 blasting in my ear, getting more and more out of tune.

Bob

I completely agree. Also wrote earlier that I'm not looking for a flute to become the loudest person in a session. Given my skills, I would probably hate that session myself . More as an instrument that gives me a high level to get to eventually

[jim stone]

We've mentioned several flutes that can be pushed to the limit and that take you a long ways--in my case farther than I can go. Some may be somewhat louder than others, but all are loud enough. Unless you want to break windows.

[tradlad123]

We've mentioned several flutes that can be pushed to the limit and that take you a long ways--in my case farther than I can go. Some may be somewhat louder than others, but all are loud enough. Unless you want to break windows.

Indeed, thanks all for that
Flute that breaks the window.... would make for a nice title to go with The wind that shakes the barley

[Flutern]

Seeking opinions/suggestions on the loudest keyless flutes one can find with maybe a year wait max (may or may not have large bores, not sure).

Just to satiate my own curiosity, out of all the qualities that one might look for in a flute (tone, responsiveness, ergonomics, resonance, air requirement, etc.), why is loudness at the top of your list? I'm genuinely curious

[ChrisCracknell]

Loudness is really a property of the player I think, given a flute that is not going to be overpowered by having a lot of air pushed through it. That means most flutes with larger holes and competently made can be pretty loud in the right hands.

I got a lot of noise out of my Windward keyless Pratten and continue to do so from its' keyed successor. I have a two part Burns Folk flute which can also be pretty loud and I have a McGee GLP which can carry quite well, but cannot be pushed as hard as the others. That does not make it a worse flute, just that it genuinely is a quieter flute. For that it has other advantages. (Ease of play, responsiveness, light weight, easy hole spacing.) And I can usually manage to hear myself in most sessions on any of them. The exception being some Cruinniu sessions, where I sometimes genuinely couldn't tell whether my flute was making any noise - totally swamped by lots of other flutes right next to me. I've never had that problem in any mixed instrument session though.

[Terry McGee]

Heh heh, I feel a bit of a dill joining in this conversation so late. Agreeing with others above, loudest is usually taken as a Prattens model, due to its big bore. And I happen to have a brand new keyless Prattens sitting on the desk beside me. I've added it to my Flutes Available Now page: http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/Avail-flutes.htm

[tstermitz]

Flute that breaks the window.... would make for a nice title to go with The wind that shakes the barley

I think that tune is called "Roaring Jelly".

[kintailpipes]

My Skip Healy flute packs some serious volume.

[jim stone]

I think Skip's flutes are underrated.

[kkrell]

My Skip Healy flute packs some serious volume.

There's one currently for sale on eBay.

[gorjuswrex]

I add my 2 peneth to this . Not worth too much, I've played a good few flutes and can get plenty from a flute. (many years playing!!)

I only had a brief go on this flute. It would be nice to hear from anyone with more familiarity on them. A Martin Doyle one of the ones with the foot that flares out on the foot like a bell on a trumpet. It was hard for me to play it without being way too loud. It did seem very unusual. It was very easy to play it very loud. I soon put it down in a minute or two as I found it difficult to do anything much but loud. I expect given the right situation I could have found out what else was possible on it. BTW on my own flute and most flutes I can have a range of 'voices' or tones and volumes. It did seem extraordinary from the volume point of view. I'm not wanting to critique the flute as I know Martin is a great maker, but I did not like the tone and I found it too loud. Having said that I had not tried to see what could be got from it. The owner only seems to play whistle when I see him.

[treeshark]

Martin Doyle one of the ones with the foot that flares out on the foot like a bell on a trumpet

Yes I have had one of Martin's flutes for ages, you have to approach them with a Norniron power diddle intent...