If you had a $1000, which flute?

eedbjp · Post by **eedbjp** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 3:58 am

Rather than search the archives, I wanted to see the current opinion on this. If you had a $1000, which new flute would you go with? (And the wait times too) I have only tried a Skip Healy, which is excellent, and has no wait time, but I was curious about Cotter, Hamilton,McGee etc. I'm looking for some volume, am an intermediate player with fairly large hands. Thanks for your time. Brianmuir

Gordon · Post by **Gordon** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 6:02 am

All of the makes you mention are superb flutes. Since I'm a different player than you, anatomically and stylistically, it's ultimately impossible to say which will best suit you. And there's a good chance they all would, if you could try them all.
Check out their websites (Cotter doesn't have one, I don't think) and decide if you like their look, description, etc., and when you've narrowed it down, talk or email the maker(s) and discuss what you're looking for.
None of these flutes will be a bad choice. Of the ones you listed (and there are many more you didn't) McGee has the longest wait and is probably the priciest, but he will make the most customized one for you personally, so everything's a trade-off.
For a thousand bucks, you can get pretty much any of the best makers. Order one, and if you want to change a year or two down the road, you will have the same or more money to play with after you sell it. Or you won't.
Gordon

beowulf573 · Post by **beowulf573** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 6:10 am

Don't forget Dave Copley.

The best thing to do is track down folks who have one of the flutes you are interested and give them a test run. That's not always easy to do if you, like me, live in a town without a large number of flute players. A good way to try out flutes is to go to one of the largish workshops and/or festivals and meet folks and try out difference flutes.

Obviously, that's not always possible.

Go through the archives of this forum, there's been several discussions about different makers over the years. The archives of the woodenflute mailing list is great resource too, but unfortunately it's offline for the forseeable future.

My limited experience tells me that any flute you buy from one of more well known makers will be a high quality instrument, what you need to discover is your personal perferences and what flutes match them.

Good luck!

Eddie

Eldarion · Post by **Eldarion** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 8:18 am

What I would normally tell people who are looking to buy a flute is for the first time is, listen to as many flute players as possible. The Wooden Flute Obsession CD might be a good place to start. Spend lots of time listening and identifying various playing styles. Then list a group of players whose styles appeal to you. Or whose styles you feel inclined to play like (eg. huffy puffy Sligo style, smoothly rhythmic Roscommon style, punchy Northern style, Molloy/piper style, etc)

Then what you do next is to find out what flutes these people in your list are playing. If you find a common trend in their choice of flutes (eg. if 3 out of 5 people in your list play XYZ flutes), it may be a rough indicator that XYZ flute is well-suited for this general style of playing. Then what you do next is get the flute and work on it - with the awareness that it is fully capable of aiding you in achieving your prefered style.

Whistlin'Dixie · Post by **Whistlin'Dixie** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 2:39 pm

Eldarion wrote:Then list a group of players whose styles appeal to you. Or whose styles you feel inclined to play like (eg. huffy puffy Sligo style, smoothly rhythmic Roscommon style, punchy Northern style, Molloy/piper style, etc)

Then what you do next is to find out what flutes these people in your list are playing. If you find a common trend in their choice of flutes (eg. if 3 out of 5 people in your list play XYZ flutes), it may be a rough indicator that XYZ flute is well-suited for this general style of playing..

I think that is very good advice, and a bit different than what is usually offered to someone who is looking for a flute. So, lets get out a few examples of the players who exemplify the various styles, please......

I have been listening to the WFO CD lately with a particular attention to players whose style I especially admire and want to emulate ~ That CD is so awesome, I've probably played it a million times, can't wait for WFO 2....

Sorry about changing the topic of your thread. My vote goes out to Copley, Hamilton, Burns (of which I have an old one, and I like it a lot!!) The only other flute I've tried was a Dave Williams, and I'd have to say I like the flutes I own much more, however, don't think it's really fair to judge a flute just by a quick run-thru in the shop!

Mary

Blackbeer · Post by **Blackbeer** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 5:55 pm

Well I think I would buy a Leharft and with the 400 bucks I have left over I would seek out an 8 key old German flute. But I already did all that and guess what. I was right.......................

Tom

BillG · Post by **BillG** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 6:21 pm

Well - - I had a thousand dollars and I bought a Healy -- after I had an Ormiston. Soon after I also bought a Copley. Comments: The Healy may have the best low D of the three and it does not need cork grease as it has silver tenons. There is only a partial tuning slide - silver about a quarter of the way and wood the rest with plenty of room to "tune" if needed. It plays great when I'm on and is frustrating when not on. Hard to keep a tune going as it is lighter than the other two. Its me who needs to work on it and not the flute with the problems.

Copley is easier to play fast tunes on as it is a bit heavier and stays in place with MY embouchure - YMMV. The Copley has a tuning slide and needs grease on the corked tenons - three of them - with a long foot joint. I have a problem eliminating "hiss" in the lower octave - again, ME and not the flute.

The Ormiston has a short foot joint and responds easier and faster than the above two. It - or I - have a tendancy to overblow and go sharp in the second octave do to the ease of play. It has a crisper as opposed to mellow sound. The short foot leaves only two tenons to be greased - if greasing is a problem and I find I like not having to do that but it is not my major reason for rating a flute. I just wrote to George Ormiston regarding ordering a long foot joint to make a comparison. The long foot contributes to mellowness, according to his site.

Which do I prefer? Can't make up my mind! I play all three routilnely attempting to make that decision. The Healey causes more frustration due my inability to cover the holes correctly all of the time and my inability to maintain a "perfect" embouchure. The Healy requires a critical embouchure control more than the other two. The Copley plays consistantly in two octaves and I don't have the embouchure control problem BUT do have the "hiss" problem not noticed on the Healy and not as much on the Ormiston. WHY? Not a clue!

Don't know if this helps or confuses the issues but its .02 worth.

BillG

madfifer9 · Post by **madfifer9** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 12:36 am

I had a thousand dollars. I bought an Ormiston. It has good volume compared to other flutes I've played, and I like to play aggressively in a "punchy" style and it seems to work well for that too. I think it's worth a test drive, at least.

I can't comment on wait times, cos I bought mine at a shop. Instant gratification with a markup.

madfifer9

pdunn · Post by **pdunn** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 8:31 am

Hi,
If I had a thousand bucks cash I'd go with instant gratification. See what's happening in the used market. Suddenly five or six great flutes will go up for sale at once or at other times nothing. I saved money for a few years and checked woodenflute.com and the wooden flute exchange daily and bought a used Lehart 6 key for 750 (after six or so years on a lousy flute). Be quick and don't hesitate. I once lost a playing original Boosey for sale for five hundred bucks because I hesitated. I don't like waiting (uilleann pipe waiting fatigue syndrome). The down side you may pay a bit more, but you can turn around and sell it at the same price and lose nothing. on the other hand if you wait for three years and don't get the flute you want, you've lost three years of playing time.
Take Care
(Are you playing now?, How long?, What Flute?)