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Thompson D delrin,, big flute

Tony Millyard R&R-style 8 key flute in D.

i just got this back today after sending it off to have the keys added, so far i couldn't be happier.

Looks lovely! The foot is very "boehm-like". Nice.

Hello to all!
A few days ago I recieved two lovely flutes from Tony Millyard to try! Because I was a little confused about the Pratten/Rudall&Rose differences, he was so nice to send me one of each in mopane in my preferred configuration (L3 offset and slight modification for smaller hands).
I come from a ~20 year boehm flute background and Im so unbelievably happy to transition to the irish flute !
Im a beginner again, but while learning my first tunes I really noticed how different the two flute styles are. They both sound absolutely amazing. Im of course keeping one... but which one?? I already love them both. "The one" is going to get 6 keys from Tony and I honestly cant wait!
I thought it might be nice to have some pictures of both - hence my post
The colour of the wood is most accurate on the first picture, a warm brown but not red.
(The left one with the longer endcap is the RR, the right one the Pratten style)







and lastly the Pratten again on its bautiful flute case that Tony provides...



I hope youre all well during these times and Im looking forward to beeing a part of the irish flute community!
All the best
Thea

oh yea millyards great have one of his F flutes ,, Great sound , very warm F ,

6 key in mopane and brass from Jay Ham

Thomas Aebi 8-key in Cocus. Bought this secondhand so I'm not sure how old it is, maybe 12-15 years? My one and only for the last year and a half. Second photo is in a custom Northwind case.

This is the latest version of my alloy flute. Plays easily, has a bombastic sound and is very lightweight at 180 grams. I play it every day.

My Mopane 6 keyed flute made by Éric Juilleret


My Barna Gabos Eb bamboo flute

something a bit different: Rudall Carte cocuswood 1867 system flute.



i've been on the fence about trying one of these for ages and finally decided to give it a go, so i picked this one up earlier this week. it'll never replace my 8-key flute, but i like the cylindical flute sound for some music, and so far i think it's a great system - way better than the Boehm system. F# and C# are like simple system, Fnat is easier (and it has a short F if you want it), B-flat is like the Boehm system and the open D makes some fingerings a lot easier.

the only thing i'm not fond of is the wood, it looks kind of brown and drab... i wish they'd made them out of mopane!

Embouchure looks pretty rough, though. How's it play?

i noticed the far edge of the embouchure hole was a bit rough but so far it seems fine. i haven't tried the third octave (wouldn't know how!) but the first two octaves are good, it has a strong Boehm-like tone, rich in the first octave and with a bit of a reedy colour in the second. the second octave E can be a bit weak but that's probably my fault rather than the flute, i'm still getting used to how it plays and i'm not a great Boehm player to start with.

it came with a bit of cork shim under the high D hole to hold it closed, which i guess a previous owner had installed to make the open note C# rather than D (you can see the key is closed in the photo)... unfortunately after removing that i found the key is slightly loose in what Carte calls the B# fingering (but is definitely going to be the C fingering for me) so it's going to the shop tomorrow to see about fixing that.

edit: also it's not very clear in the photo but there's a repaired crack in the headjoint going from the barrel to under the lip plate... i'm not sure if that would affect the sound at all. the lip plate itself is fine apart from the rough edge, and the headjoint is fully lined, so i guess the crack shouldn't have much effect.

I've been on about my Tony Dixon Trad piccolo a lot lately. Though it's not a flute, per se, it is sideblown. I haven't played it yet, but will soon. My research on flutes taught me about lip plates; it looks as if my piccolo might have one molded into its head? I'll post pictures taken with benefit of daylight if desired.

Some beautiful flutes in here! I love the old style salt spoon keys.
And Sedi, that homemade flute looks great. I wish I had the tools and inclination to make one.

My Boosey Pratten

https://www.dropbox.com/s/npf0fl4v3ldb0 ... 5.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tpdd8eydhul1c ... 6.jpg?dl=0

I bought this second hand in Oct 2020.
I have been enjoying this flute. I find it easy to fill, and better than my RudallCarte and Co. which I had for 15 years or so.
( My daughter now plays that ).

Was a bit of a gamble buying a late Pratten ( circa 1892-5 ) sight unseen, but the tuning is actually really good.
Just the C# is flat, but comes up perfectly with the C-Nat key.

This Pratten has two different wood colours, ( like one I saw up-thread ).
It's a "low-end" Pratten apparently with Nickel Silver keys ( which I have padded with silicone ).

Really if this was the low end, I'd love to try one of their more swish jobs.
Sorry about the tape on the tenons, but it works.

I made the case so as not to have to extend / collapse the slide all the time, and there was no key for the original.
Pat