Anybody have a David Angus "folk flute"? What do you think?

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Anybody have a David Angus "folk flute"? What do you think?

Post by Sedi »

I am in the market for my first "proper" flute (meaning keyless conical bore). I was thinking about either an M&E, a Walt Sweet "Shannon" (my favourite so far) or maybe another delrin/plastic model. Then I stumbled across the folk flute from David Angus (who is better known for his fifes). They sell at prices almost too good to be true. Particularly the one in purpleheart wood with steel ferrules for 175 pounds has caught my attention. Does anybody have one of his folk flutes and what do you think? The search didn't reveal much, apart from praise for his fifes.
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Re: Anybody have a David Angus "folk flute"? What do you thi

Post by fatmac »

Probably not much use to you, but I have one of his aluminium low D flutes, which is quite good for its price.
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Re: Anybody have a David Angus "folk flute"? What do you thi

Post by Sedi »

Thanks anyway. Good to know.
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Re: Anybody have a David Angus "folk flute"? What do you thi

Post by PB+J »

Sedi wrote:I am in the market for my first "proper" flute (meaning keyless conical bore). I was thinking about either an M&E, a Walt Sweet "Shannon" (my favourite so far) or maybe another delrin/plastic model. Then I stumbled across the folk flute from David Angus (who is better known for his fifes). They sell at prices almost too good to be true. Particularly the one in purpleheart wood with steel ferrules for 175 pounds has caught my attention. Does anybody have one of his folk flutes and what do you think? The search didn't reveal much, apart from praise for his fifes.

That's a very low price. I'm skeptical. I doubt he's making them in house for that price. But on the other hand once you have the tooling it seems like basic flute production could be easily automated.

I have a Shannon, and an M&E. They're good but not great. I got a lot of pleasure out of the M&E especially. The shannon is small and light, and easy to blow. It lives in my car for moments when I'm waiting for my daughter to come out of ballet class.Both of them have kind of a "veiled" quality. It might be that they are smaller holed flutes. They just aren't as much fun or rewarding to play as the more expensive Ellis pratten.

My takeaway from my limited experience is that the flute is a simple object, but the more expensive flutes have been worth it
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Re: Anybody have a David Angus "folk flute"? What do you thi

Post by Sedi »

Thanks! The Shannon is still my favourite so far from all the opinions I read online. Slightly "veiled" sound seems good for me. I made a couple flutes myself and some sound pretty good but one in particular I made is almost too loud for practice at home. It has large holes and a large embouchure. A true monster.
Considering where the Angus flutes are made. He claims "hand made in his workshop". I think such a claim would come with certain legal consequences if it weren't true. Other makers who don't want to admit that their stuff is not hand-made often write stuff like "hand finished" (aka mass-produced and mouthpiece and tube put together by hand). Hmmm. Still undecided....
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Re: Anybody have a David Angus "folk flute"? What do you thi

Post by Casey Burns »

Heavier is not necessarily better. His flutes weigh 175 pounds. My Folk Flutes are more expensive but I have been making them longer and they weigh in at 12 ounces.

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Re: Anybody have a David Angus "folk flute"? What do you thi

Post by fatmac »

Casey Burns wrote:........weigh 175 pounds.
Wow!!!! Must need a crane to lift & play it...... :D


(Sorry, couldn't resist.)
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Re: Anybody have a David Angus "folk flute"? What do you thi

Post by Sedi »

So it means I can combine my work-out with my flute playing? Amazing! I just placed my order :D . Will report once it gets here, although I am not even remotely a good enough player to properly judge the instrument especially without any comparison.
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Re: Anybody have a David Angus "folk flute"? What do you thi

Post by LeahAZ »

I bought his off ebay when I was first starting. I was told to get a different instrument and I got an M&E. I'd definitely recommend M&E.
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Re: Anybody have a David Angus "folk flute"? What do you thi

Post by Sedi »

I've read mixed reviews about M&E. And I already placed my order. Let's wait and see. I have read good things about his fifes. So let's hope for the best. If it doesn't play better than any of the flutes I made myself, I will send it back.
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Re: Anybody have a David Angus "folk flute"? What do you thi

Post by Sedi »

So the flute arrived today. It is a really beautiful instrument. I already can't put it down, even though I should be working. It is way too early to "review" it but the craftsmanship is excellent. The combination of steel rings with the purpleheart wood is a sight to behold. I already got that "honking" low D a couple of times but I am still getting used to it. It might take a few weeks of playing it before I can give a proper judgment and I am just a beginner on the flute. But a few things I already noticed: the stretch is minimal, the holes are rather small but it is still loud. It is very comfortable to play. So far zero strain on the fingers (and mine are constantly strained from the work I do which involves typing for hours each day). Very responsive because of those small holes. The 2nd octave really sings. Tuning slight is nice and tight. I had to pull it out quite a bit however. Maybe Mr Angus is accouting for players who slightly cover the embouchure hole while playing, which flattens the pitch. Something I don't do, because of the classical training I had on the boehm flute as a kid. That's just the first impressions from playing it for maybe an hour. So far, I don't think it was a waste of money.
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Re: Anybody have a David Angus "folk flute"? What do you thi

Post by PB+J »

Sedi wrote:So the flute arrived today. It is a really beautiful instrument. I already can't put it down, even though I should be working. It is way too early to "review" it but the craftsmanship is excellent. The combination of steel rings with the purpleheart wood is a sight to behold. I already got that "honking" low D a couple of times but I am still getting used to it. It might take a few weeks of playing it before I can give a proper judgment and I am just a beginner on the flute. But a few things I already noticed: the stretch is minimal, the holes are rather small but it is still loud. It is very comfortable to play. So far zero strain on the fingers (and mine are constantly strained from the work I do which involves typing for hours each day). Very responsive because of those small holes. The 2nd octave really sings. Tuning slight is nice and tight. I had to pull it out quite a bit however. Maybe Mr Angus is accouting for players who slightly cover the embouchure hole while playing, which flattens the pitch. Something I don't do, because of the classical training I had on the boehm flute as a kid. That's just the first impressions from playing it for maybe an hour. So far, I don't think it was a waste of money.

Great! glad it worked out as you hoped
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Re: Anybody have a David Angus "folk flute"? What do you thi

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Thanks :) . Indeed it did.
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Re: Anybody have a David Angus "folk flute"? What do you thi

Post by kkrell »

Sedi wrote:Tuning slight [sic] is nice and tight. I had to pull it out quite a bit however.
Making the flute longer by pulling out the slide FLATTENS the pitch.
Maybe Mr Angus is accouting [sic] for players who slightly cover the embouchure hole while playing, which flattens the pitch. Something I don't do, because of the classical training I had on the boehm flute as a kid.
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Re: Anybody have a David Angus "folk flute"? What do you thi

Post by Sedi »

If you slightly cover the embouchure hole, you need to tune the flute sharper, ergo push the tuning slide (better now? Did you fear that people might think YOU put the mistake in my quote? Because that is the only reason for a [sic] in a quote and it is only necessary in a scientific work to mark that it was not the author who made the mistake but the mistake was already in the original that was quoted) slightly in. I had to PULL IT OUT because of my embouchure which SHARPENS the note, therefore I had to FLATTEN it. Since the slide is further out than I have seen on other flutes, I assumed that it might be to make it possible to push it in, in case you played with an embouchure which slightly covers the hole. But in my case, the flute would be way too sharp with the tuning slide set at around 3 cm or something, like I have seen on most wooden flutes.
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