(EDIT: crossposted with Mr Gumby, which is why my post has some redundancy with his.)
busterbill wrote:
most flute players, myself included tend to prefer the modern copies of the traditional flutes that have been tweaked and altered to play more easily in tune with more volume and that burrr we seem to prize in modern trad. Many of the great old flutes need constant nudging and minute adjustments while playing a tune just to play in tune with themselves...often have a sweeter character...a struggle to get to play in the way we expect modern trad to sound.
I'm a dinosaur, in that when I started playing ITM everyone played old flutes because that's what was available. (I played an original c1830 Rudall & Rose for many years, then an original c1860 Pratten model for many more.)
I've been out of the flute world for over a decade now. But in my 30+ years of playing Irish flute, having played hundreds of antique English 8-key old system flutes and modern "Irish flutes" I will say that the finest flutes I ever played were old ones, Prattens made in the 1850s and 1860s. Every note from Bottom D up into the 3rd register were clear, powerful, and in tune. The tone exemplified the traditional rich reedy sound, which by the way was in vogue with orchestral flutists in the mid-19th century.
So I can't agree with the characterisation of old flutes as out-of-tune, being difficult to play, having a sweeter tone, etc. We have to keep in mind that the new makers have been, for over a quarter-century now, endeavouring to capture that vintage sound. Perhaps some have achieved it, I'm not current on the new makers. I know the Olwells I've tried have played like the really good old flutes.
busterbill wrote:
If we go back to the historical recordings we will find flutes are often out of tune with the band they are playing in, or pretty weak with a relatively flimsy tone compared to what we all expect in a modern flute.
We have be careful about not conflating two separate issues 1) the instruments 2) the performance practices of the players.
It's happened to me many times: I've handed my flute to a good Irish player, and the first thing he does, before he plays a note, is to shove the headjoint all the way in. The guy is an excellent player, but he's playing extremely sharp. And on many old recordings you'll hear the flutes a mile sharp like that.
busterbill wrote:
Generation purists who think it is somehow an insult to the instrument to embrace the changes in sound from a Generation to a Sindt, Abell, Copeland or O'Riordan, but happily sit down in a session with an Olwell or a Grinter flute.
Personally with both flutes and whistles it's not about when an instrument was made, it's about performance. I think many other players are like that. If the best-performing whistle available to a player is a vintage Generation and the best-performing flute available to that player is a new Olwell then he's wise to play those. Another player's best-available whistle might be a new Sindt and his best-available flute might be an 1860 Pratten.
About various modern whistles making changes in sound from Generations, in my opinion what makes Sindts so good is that they capture so well the sound and performance of really good vintage Generations. The modern makers who have diverged most from that great vintage sound and performance are making things I'm not interested in playing.