advice (again)

tt327 · Post by **tt327** » Mon Jul 15, 2002 5:55 pm

Hi all:

Okay, maybe I was too broad in my original plea. Maybe I should just narrow it down to: McGee, Hamilton, or Copley?

Thanks

Tim

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Mon Jul 15, 2002 6:23 pm

I'm sure you can't go wrong with any of them. If you still live in NYC you should hit some sessions and see if you can try a few of the various brands out.

You might also try contacting the flute makers in question to see if they could give you the name or address of someone close to you who has one of their flutes and who would be willing to let you have a go on it.

Personally, I prefer to buy American made instruments - you know, support our home economy and such - when I can't have them all that is

I think there are several other advantages as well, not the least of which is shorter turn around time if you need to send the instrument back for any reason.

I also have some concerns about buying wooden flutes that have been seasoned and turned in high humidity locals, I worry they are more likely to crack in (our mostly) drier conditions....but what do I know.

Loren

[ This Message was edited by: Loren on 2002-07-15 20:26 ]

MurphyStout · Post by **MurphyStout** » Tue Jul 16, 2002 1:15 am

I recommend Hammy Hamilton's flutes. He makes a great flutes. Great tone, easy to take into the second octave, and very loud. Hammy has been making flutes a long time and has a real academic backround in the irish flutes and he is also great flute player himself. His flutes are also a great bargain, keyless blackwood is about 600 US dollars. And the waiting list is only six months long. Hammy is also a pleasure to deal with and will probably respond within a day to any questions you might have. And if you don't take my word for it, Hammy's flutes were personally recommended to me by none other than Matt Molloy himself. Check out his website for more info. http://homepage.tinet.ie/~hammie/index.html
Hope this helps
Jack Murphy
p.s. tell him Jack Murphy sent ya.

[ This Message was edited by: MurphyStout on 2002-07-16 03:32 ]

tt327 · Post by **tt327** » Tue Jul 16, 2002 7:40 am

Hi all:

Thanks for your advice. I've talked to Dave Copley who h sapromised to contcat with a flute near me. And I've signed up for the McGee roving ambassador flute. I know somebody with a Grinter, and somebody else with an older Murray. So things are moving!

Thanks

Tim

Mark_J · Post by **Mark_J** » Tue Jul 16, 2002 9:04 am

On 2002-07-16 03:15, MurphyStout wrote:
. . .His flutes are also a great bargain, keyless blackwood is about 600 US dollars. . .

The plumment of the USD had caused Hammy's stable price of $635 euros to cost $556 last October and slide up to $641 now through the work of exchange rates. Americans have white collar crooks at home to thank for that.

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Tue Jul 16, 2002 9:32 am

Tim,

How long did they say it would be before you got the Roving McGee?

Loren

tt327 · Post by **tt327** » Tue Jul 16, 2002 9:50 am

Hi Loren:

No word back yet; I just sent the email a few days ago.

Tim

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Tue Jul 16, 2002 10:01 am

Please let us know when you find out, should be interesting.

I'm due to get the flute in a few weeks, and I can't wait now that I'm finally starting to get a better grip on the Olwell - had a major breakthrough yesterday: I think I finally found the right combination of embouchure shape and lip postion, relative to the flute, that's needed to get that really hard edged sound and booming volume out of the Olwell Pratten. Seems this flute likes being much higher on the lip than my previous sticks, very interesting....

Of course I might just pick the flute up today and be right back to my usual lameness

we'll see soon enough.

Loren

DanD · Post by **DanD** » Tue Jul 16, 2002 10:04 am

I sent my request for the RAF in on June 11th, and rec'd a reply on June 25th, so be patient

. At that point, there were approx. 55 people ahead of me. I don't expect to see it for a couple years, given that each person has it for a week, plus travel time, plus periodic maintainence, etc. OTOH, I'm not likely to see another McGee here in Peoria

[ This Message was edited by: DanD on 2002-07-16 12:05 ]

eaiman · Post by **eaiman** » Wed Jul 17, 2002 10:00 am

I purchased a flute just over a year ago from Dave Copley. I attended a Celtic music camp last year and this year (Swannanoa Gathering) and had my flute teachers play and comment on my flute. All said it was a good flute for beginners (they all played more expensive keyless or keyed flutes). Dave has been extremely helpful in several ways--including making minor adjustments at no costs. The flute is easy to play reliably (i.e., comfortable spacing of finger holes). I recommend his flutes highly.

tt327 · Post by **tt327** » Wed Jul 17, 2002 11:26 am

Hmm. Okay, if the Copley is a "good flute for beginners," what's the difference between it and a good flute for more advanced players? Or is this just very subjective?

Mike Rafferty, from whom I've been taking weekly lessons for almost a year, pronounced my M&E a "good flute" when he tried it. Whatever that means!

Are some makers thought of as makers of beginner flutes and others makers of advanced flutes?

In the interest of full disclosure: I think I have recently advanced from "beginner" to "intermediate" on my M&E. That is, I can get a decent sound most of the time on all the notes, though it's hard to maintain throughout a long tune or set. Intonation is now in control in both registers.

Getting there!

Thanks to everybody for past and future advice.

Tim

CraigMc · Post by **CraigMc** » Fri Jul 19, 2002 12:49 pm

I don't know if I would call the Copley a beginners flute. If being easy to play and fill means it's a beginners flute than I guess so is an Olwell according to Matt Molloy.

I mean, I have an Olwell flute. My daughter is playing it. It's very easy to fill and play. I keep saying I'm not going to play this now for another 10 years. I feel I still have the power to crank out on the Boosey. I reckon when my wind goes, Patrick's flutes are so easy to fill, to blow. Twice as easy as the one I play now. He has it down to a fine art.

I don't think Copley nor Olwell would think of their flutes as "beginner flutes". Have you heard some of the clips on Copley's site? Those players are playing their Copleys with allot of skill.

But for sure some flutes are easier to play than others. Smaller holes and easier to fill would be nicer for a beginner but that dosn't mean when your skill increases that you will necessarily find more enjoyment out of playing a harder to play flute. My Copley is my main flute. It's loud, fun to play, has awesome expression and is beautiful. II like the simple traditional look of the Copley. When I pick up another flute It may be a Olwell or a Noy but when I do, it's for the sake of varitiy and to try something different not because I have advanced to a particular level.

my 2 cents,

Craig

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Fri Jul 19, 2002 1:21 pm

Yes, the Copley is a good beginner's flute because it is very easy to play (Fill, finger, and lip), but it's quite capable of taking you virtually as far as you'd want to go over the long haul too - This seems to me to be the big advantage of the Copley over most other wooden flutes, at least for those just getting started. No other flute I've played was so easy, yet so capable at the same time.

As far as Molloy's comments are concerned, you've got to put them in perspective: Those comments were made by a top player at the top of his game, a guy who's been playing a very tough Pratten for years, so virtually anything will seem fairly easy to him.

I can tell you for a fact that the Olwell Pratten is NOT nearly as easy to play as the Copley, at least not for someone without strong embouchure and good wind (breathing technique and lung power), two things we less experienced players are generally lacking.

Both flutes are fantastic, but they're differnt beasts IMO. In the end, having played a good few of the most talked about flutes available, I'd still recommend the Copley as a first choice to any friend of mine who wanted to take up flute playing - it's just so damned easy to play that it's FUN right off the bat, which is a huge plus in my book. YMMV.

Loren

tt327 · Post by **tt327** » Fri Jul 19, 2002 3:29 pm

Thanks Loren and Craig. Those were helpful posts.

Part of the confusion for me is that I've been playing various instruments for most of my life but the flute for only a year (the whistle for 12 years before that, though). So I know what kind of sound I like and want to be able to make, but don't yet know how to make it, or if a particular flute I am trying could make that sound if I were a more experienced player. So on that score, the flexibility of the Copley as Loren describes it sounds very appealing.

I'm hoping to try one in a couple of weeks so we'll see.

Thanks, everybody.

Tim