Cotter flutes?

[Cathy Wilde]

Hey, Matt! Good to "see" you again! .... And yes indeed, yours is the Cotter that haunts my dreams. I feel so unfaithful to my beloved little banana flute! (Good thing it's off repairland soon; I've been saving my pennies.)

Thanks for letting us know about the pricing, too -- Cotters, like Murrays, seem to be among the "mystery flutes" around here, so I'm grateful for any information on them. (even if it does "feed the fire", so to speak )

As much as it's only supposed to be about the player, and a person should be happy with what they have, yada yada yada, there's something about those great flutes that .... well .... <sigh>

Ooops, there I go again! Anyway, hope all's swell with you.

Best,

Cat, Your Cotter Coveter.

[emmdee]

[quote="I currently have a 6-key E-flat flute on order with him".

Matt, I might just be as thick as a brick sandwich, but what possible use would any human being have for a 6 keyed Eb flute? Okay, so the accidentals on a D allow playing in Amaj and F, for example, but my tiny mind can scarcely contemplate the tune key possibilities of a fully keyed Eb!. Do you play a lot of of sessions where Eb flute, whistle, box, etc is the norm, and just play it like it's a "normal" D session, or what?

m.d. (puzzled)

[glinjack]

There are a lot of large embouchures giving their opinion here with regards
to Cotter flutes, you will hear all kinds of storys here about flute makers and how this maker is this and thiis other one is that etc,
There is one sure way to find out for yourself which makers flute is for you,
and that is to order a flute and play it and see if you like it, dont depend on what you hear from some other large embouchure, there are some great flute makers around today and Eamonn Cotter is one of those, all these makers have a trial period with their flutes and if the flute does'nt suit you you can return it and get refunded.

[pixyy]

[quote="I currently have a 6-key E-flat flute on order with him".

Matt, I might just be as thick as a brick sandwich, but what possible use would any human being have for a 6 keyed Eb flute? Okay, so the accidentals on a D allow playing in Amaj and F, for example, but my tiny mind can scarcely contemplate the tune key possibilities of a fully keyed Eb!. Do you play a lot of of sessions where Eb flute, whistle, box, etc is the norm, and just play it like it's a "normal" D session, or what?

m.d. (puzzled)

An 8-key Eb would be even cooler. Going down to D with the first foot key you would be able to play tunes in like D and G using every possible key on the flute

[Jonathan]

An 8-key Eb would be even cooler. Going down to D with the first foot key you would be able to play tunes in like D and G using every possible key on the flute

Depends on your definition of the word "able."

[Cathy Wilde]

There are a lot of large embouchures giving their opinion here with regards
to Cotter flutes, you will hear all kinds of storys here about flute makers and how this maker is this and thiis other one is that etc,
There is one sure way to find out for yourself which makers flute is for you,
and that is to order a flute and play it and see if you like it, dont depend on what you hear from some other large embouchure, there are some great flute makers around today and Eamonn Cotter is one of those, all these makers have a trial period with their flutes and if the flute does'nt suit you you can return it and get refunded.

"Large embouchures." I like that. And since you've tossed in an opinion too, I guess that means .... welcome to the Large Embouchure club, glinjack

[Loren]

There are a lot of large embouchures giving their opinion here with regards
to Cotter flutes, you will hear all kinds of storys here about flute makers and how this maker is this and thiis other one is that etc,
There is one sure way to find out for yourself which makers flute is for you,
and that is to order a flute and play it and see if you like it, dont depend on what you hear from some other large embouchure, there are some great flute makers around today and Eamonn Cotter is one of those, all these makers have a trial period with their flutes and if the flute does'nt suit you you can return it and get refunded.

"Large embouchures." I like that. And since you've tossed in an opinion too, I guess that means .... welcome to the Large Embouchure club, glinjack

"Hey, shut 'yer large embouchre there Cat!"

Heh heh, I like it.

[Cathy Wilde]

Personally, I prefer the term "generous."

[MattL]

emdee:
Yes, I plan to use the E-flat just like a "normal" D flute except everything is a half-step higher. I like E-flat flutes - they're fun - and I'm not inclined to ever purchase a flute that dosn't have at least 6-keys. It's too inconvenient to NOT have the keys there when I want them.

glinjack:
You are quite right. I normally don't post on these forums because of all the "large embouchures" here. In this case, however, I wanted to weigh in because I really think Eamonn's flutes are something special.

Matt Loranger
Chicago, USA

[johnkerr]

John,

Just out of curiosity, which of the two keys do you use more?

The long F. The fiddlers I play with tend to hang out in Dm a lot more than they do in A. Also, in my years as a keyless flute player I got fairly good at the half-hole G#, but could never get the half-hole F natural at all. So even though I have keys, a lot of times I still half-hole G# - especially in fast passages since half-holing is a one finger move while using the key takes two fingers (e.g. going from G# to A or vice versa). But I always use one of the keys for F natural.

But this is just me. As they say on the internet, YMMV.

[chas]

Also, in my years as a keyless flute player I got fairly good at the half-hole G#, but could never get the half-hole F natural at all.

Hmm; I'm just the opposite. Even on my small-holed Olwell, the E hole is pretty big, and half-holing it isn't difficult for me. OTOH, I've never been able to half-hole G#, although on most of my flutes, it's in-tune, if weak, with cross-fingering. I suppose having a large-holed flute would make a great difference in being able to half-hole a G#.

[Dave Parkhurst]

Cat is a cutie-pie!
heh heh heh

[Brazenkane]

I owned the flute Harry played (the Cotter Eb) on his debut and sophmore records. I bought it from someone who bought it off Harry. Your man sent it to me in a small box. The box was pierced, and the flute case and middle seciton was destroyed in shipping. I sent it to Eamonn, 1 year later I got a new mid section and foot (6 keys). So, all that was left of harry's former flute was the headjoint. Recenlty Eamonn, sent me a new head joint.

I've spent a lot of time w/ Eamonn's flute. For me it didn't play right outa the box. DON'T MISINTERPRET! My embochure was NOt acccustomed to the flute, as I play an Olwell D and his flutes play differently. The new headjoint is different than the one Harry used. Perhaps more evolved (his own words) ...either way he's cut many more since that Eb he made for Harry years back. In addition, the blocks are now low, i.e. even w/ the body for peopl who play w/piper finger positioning.

From my perspective, a Cotter flute is not a beginner flute in the regards that is not going to roll out the red carpet as soon as the head joint hits the beginner's gob. Nor will any top quality flute for that matter...truely. A well made instrument is for someone who wants to spend the time to learn it! That takes patience, perceverance, and persistence.

there are those lucky enough with $$ to blow (no pun) and get into the "name brands" etc. It's "all good" as they say .... learning about it, getting comfortable with the jargon, buying selling if you can afford to blablabal.

However, there is and will never be IMHO a substitue for hard work, continuous studying the mountains of [/i]source material (music from the historical players), and years on the instrument. Buying the brands and getting caught up in reveiws and the internet etc. is no substitue for the sweat. Sorry to get on a soap box, but I believe it never hurts to reiterate this when discussing makers and the "what should I get?" question.

Always bear in mind that the historical players got what was available and made earth and soul moving music. Mckenna, Tubridy, Jim McGowan, Tansey... they coulda played on a Sweetone and sounded amazing.

btw- Eamonn did tell me that Peadar O'Loughlin is playing his Eb. I'd say that name is pretty important in Irish music history.

[Brazenkane]

I owned the flute Harry played (the Cotter Eb) on his debut and sophmore records. I bought it from someone who bought it off Harry. Your man sent it to me in a small box. The box was pierced, and the flute case and middle seciton was destroyed in shipping. I sent it to Eamonn, 1 year later I got a new mid section and foot (6 keys). So, all that was left of harry's former flute was the headjoint. Recenlty Eamonn, sent me a new head joint.

I've spent a lot of time w/ Eamonn's flute. For me it didn't play right outa the box. DON'T MISINTERPRET! My embochure was NOt acccustomed to the flute, as I play an Olwell D and his flutes play differently. The new headjoint is different than the one Harry used. Perhaps more evolved (his own words) ...either way he's cut many more since that Eb he made for Harry years back.

From my perspective, a Cotter flute is not a beginner flute in the regards that is not going to roll out the red carpet as soon as the head joint hits the beginner's gob. Nor will any top quality flute for that matter...truely. A well made instrument is for someone who wants to spend the time to learn it! That takes patience, perceverance, and persistence.

there are those lucky enough with $$ to blow (no pun) and get into the "name brands" etc. It's "all good" as they say .... learning about it, getting comfortable with the jargon, buying selling if you can afford to blablabal.

However, there is and will never be IMHO a substitue for hard work, continuous studying the mountains of [/i]source material (music from the historical players), and years on the instrument. Buying the brands and getting caught up in reveiws and the internet etc. is no substitue for the sweat. Sorry to get on a soap box, but I believe it never hurts to reiterate this when discussing makers and the "what should I get?" question.

Always bear in mind that the historical players got what was available and made earth and soul moving music. Mckenna, Tubridy, Jim McGowan, Tansey... they coulda played on a Sweetone and sounded amazing.

btw- Eamonn did tell me that Peadar O'Loughlin is playing his Eb. I'd say that name is pretty important in Irish music history.

[Wormdiet]

[quote="I currently have a 6-key E-flat flute on order with him".

Matt, I might just be as thick as a brick sandwich, but what possible use would any human being have for a 6 keyed Eb flute? Okay, so the accidentals on a D allow playing in Amaj and F, for example, but my tiny mind can scarcely contemplate the tune key possibilities of a fully keyed Eb!. Do you play a lot of of sessions where Eb flute, whistle, box, etc is the norm, and just play it like it's a "normal" D session, or what?

m.d. (puzzled)

I don't know why this did not occur to me to mention sooner, but an Eb is the ideal flute to play alongside Highland pipes. Eb gives you Bb mixolydian and a bottom seventh - the range of GHB. Phil Smillie of the Tannahill Weavers plays one with a bunch of keys on it. I speculate that he got it keyed for the same reason the rest of us do - for more flexibility and the ability to play funky tunes.