feedback on M&E and seery flutes

[drummerboy]

hey guys,

I am in the market to purchase a flute ethier from m&e or seery. Im trying to get an idea on which one people seem to be most satisfied with. I am not a total novice but am not totaly up to speed on most of my music so I would like to here what you guys think!

[JessieK]

Check past threads on this board...we have discussed these flutes about a million times.

Jessie

[Loren]

I wish we had more reviews of the new M&E R&R copy....anyone else (aside from Mike E.) out there have one yet?

Loren

[eskin]

Hi y'all,

I have the first one in the Rudall design, as far as I know, two other people have ordered one up in L.A. after playing mine.

Cheers,

Michael

[CraigMc]

Do a search because the discussion was prettly active and maybe everyone is burned out. Search for M&E, Seery, and you might also look at the messages on the Dixon 3 piece polymer flute. The new Rudall M&E sounds intriguing and adds a little gas to the M&E vs Seery debate, which up till now has been a stalemate in my opinion.

I just ordered the Dixon because the messages were encouraging and I have a another 4 month waite on a Copley Blackwood I have on order. I look forward to the Dixon, it will be my first 3 piece flute.

[jomac]

I have an older M&E and have tried a Seery. I like them both. My comparison is:

M&E: More optimized for lower octave.
Seery: More balanced across the lower and upper octave.
Note: It took some work, but I have learned to easily get the upper octave on the M&E. I'd imagine with the Seery, I would have put in the same amount of effort learning to honk the lower octave. (It's easy on the M&E).

Volume: Probably close to equal. Some say the Seery is louder, others say the M&E. So it's probably a wash. They're both really loud.

M&E: Uses less air.
Seery: Uses more air.

M&E: Small finger holes
Seery: Large finger holes.

M&E: Joint between right and left hand
Seery: Right & Left hand holes on same piece.

M&E: Flat low D. (He did it on purpose, so you can honk it hard without going sharp). Perfect Cnat using oxx ooo.
Seery: Flat C# (on the one I tried).

Appearance: The Seery is a better looking flute. Understand that I say that while totally loving the way my M&E plays. But the Seery will be mistaken for a blackwood flute unless carefully inspected. My M&E would never be mistaken for a wood flute.

Hope this helps; I'd imagine it's a bit dated: I hear that Seery has done some work on intonation, and I know Mike Cronolly has changed hole and embouchure sizes from the way mine is even before he came out with his new R&R copy.

[Jens_Hoppe]

Just one comment on Jomac's comparison:

Seery: Right & Left hand holes on same piece.

As I understand it, Seery now makes his flutes in all sorts of X-piece designs; check the picture on the http://www.csagraphics.com/seery.htm website.


Jens

[jomac]

One more comment: The M$E is massive. This never bothered me, after I got my hands used to playing flute in the first place, but I have large powerful hands (used to play acoustic bass). I actually like the mass of the M&E because I like to pound pretty hard with my fingers. The rhythmic pulse has to come largely from the fingers on the Irish flute, and when I play I almost feel as if I'm drumming on the flute with my fingers. Now when I do this on a whistle, for example, I really have to tone this down, otherwise the whistle is jumping all over the place, banging my teeth and bruising my lips. With the massive M&E, I can drum as hard as I like, and it doesn't budge.

Your mileage may vary.

Joe

[eskin]

The Rudall M&E isn't nearly as massive... there's a pretty big difference in the shape of the main body, its smaller in diameter. Of course, the Delrin is heavy, but it feels very well balanced in my hands.

[drummerboy]

Thanks for all the good info. I ordered my seery yesterday.

[clark]

Just for information purposes. I ordered a Seery (through Shanna Quey) and found the intonation not suited to my style... the C# annoyed me particularly. While I could blow the thing into tune it took more umph than I was used to... Well, Desi took the flute back and gave me one that fits my playing and doesn't need to be blown like a tornado to be in tune (including the C#). I would suggest letting Desi know what you want... he may be able to give it to you. By the way, I didn't deal with Desi directly. Steve Power at Shanna Quay facilitated all this for me. It pays to do business with people who care about customer service!

Clark

[jomac]

I know you already bought the Seery, but I'll tell you a couple more things I like about the M&E, as well as another thing I don't.

In addition to the nice intonation on Cnat, you can get a pretty good lower octave G# with xx0 xxx and on the 2nd octave G# with xx0 x0x. It's a little sharp but just barely. x0x xxx gives a pretty good Bb as well on the lower octave, I haven't been able to get a good Bb in the 2nd octave. oxo ooo gives a good Cnat in the 2nd octave with practice - it's a little difficult to nail at first, but I can do it now easily.

Also, I can play with 2 different sounds: by hardly covering the embouchure hole with my lower lip and rotating the flute to compensate for intonation, I can get a really reedy, harsh sound, and on the upper octave I can control it to get just a little bit of the lower octave as well; a rough-and-ready sort of sound I really like. And by covering more of the embouchure hole and compensating intonation by rotating the flute out, I can get a much sweeter, purer tone.

One thing I don't like about my M&E: It's (nearly) impossible to half-hole to get a D#/Eb, or a lower octave Fnat. I can half-hole to get a 2nd octave Fnat with no problem. Half-holing to get Cnat, Bb, and G# works well as well.

Joe

[clark]

You can use the fingerings above on the Seery as well... and ditto on the Eb, forget half holing that.

Clark