Hall glass flute

Celtoid · Post by **Celtoid** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 10:47 am

I was drawn to the price, beauty and clear tone of the Hall flutes and have been working to play one for the last few months. It is my first flute (I play whistle) and I love the sound but it seems pretty difficult to play, much more so than my son's concert flute due to the raised holes. I've pretty much got the embouchure on the Hall down (most of the time) but I'm concerned that if I then want to buy a more conventional flute, will I have to relearn a whole new embouchure? Or is this a non-problem.

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 11:31 am

You will have to relearn some, because the Hall is not very conventional, but it isn't that bad. Once you learn to play one flute, it's not very hard to learn to play others.

illuminatus99 · Post by **illuminatus99** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 12:59 pm

I've found that the more I play on a flute that's hard to get a sound out of the easier it is to get a good sound out of other flutes.

Celtoid · Post by **Celtoid** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 1:55 pm

I'm saving up to get a really fine instrument, but do love the sound from the Hall because it has such a pure tone...reminds me of the notes you can get on the edge of a wine glass. Thanks for the advice Glauber and Illuminatus, I feel better about working so hard to get a good sound.

It took me at least a week just to get sound at all, and that was a year or so ago, but now its more fun to practice with...some days are just bad though (shugs shoulders).

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 5:37 pm

There are playable relatively inexpensive
options other than the hall
that you might try, too. Some pretty good inexpensive
bamboo flutes, for instance.

I haven't really worked out
on halls much, but I've found them hard to play.

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 7:06 pm

I had and played a Hall for about 7 years (honestly, it spent more time put away than being played). I do think they can have a nice tone, but they sound much more like a Boehm flute to me than an Irish/wood flute. Switching to a conical bore flute was difficult for me from the Hall, but I think it still gives you a leg up on playing the Irish flute when compared to someone who played only a whistle before. Obviously, my preference is for a traditional conical bore flute.

That said, when I played for a friend who is in town this week on my new Seery, he told me I play much better than I used to in a technical manner but he "sure missed that crystal clear tone of my old Hall flute". So you're not alone in liking their tone. Just shows that there is a flute tone for eveyone's tastes which is what makes instruments so much fun sometimes.

Eric

Celtoid · Post by **Celtoid** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 7:46 pm

I have to agree that the 'really pure tone' is not a very traditional sound even though I enjoy it's clarity. I also enjoy the feeling of getting a tune out of it in the first place. On the other hand, in a whistle, I like my old Clark just because of its chiff and overall character. Obviously I just have never held, seen nor blown into a really good traditional conical bore flute.

(whistfully looks ahead to the future acquisition of such an instrument)