Chiff and Fipple Forums

Nico, At this point, we have discussed quite a few alternatives for you. Everybody has pointed out their favorites. Honestly, from one beginner to another, I can give you one solid piece of advice. Start with the Tipple. It's cheap (like whistle cheap). You can get the holes cut for ergonomic comfor...

The Rob Forbes delrin fits solidly in your price range and is a solid contender also.

Bah! Looks great, but if you keep changing it, I'm never gonna get to buy it...hehe.

All I can say about the weather here is that my Brass Monkey will never forgive me for leaving it outside.

On lighter news, I'm still playing music and I still have absolutely no talent at it. Top THAT!

Now if Apple would only get around to approving it...yeesh.

I understand it's a 4CD set, but it's a bit pricey once you convert that to USD.

Great idea! I had no idea the concertina layout was so all over the place. It's not linear like a harmonica... Here's something I've wondered since using a touchscreen phone: does muscle memory catch up to the lack of tactile feedback? i.e., Have you ever been able to play without looking? It is li...

Brilliant as I think the song is, I do have one question. WHAT is the matter with a half naked girl dancing? Seriously....we need MORE OF THAT.

For the Delrins (I have a wood allergy)..I've had both old and new style M&E, Seery Pratten and I'm currently playing a Rob Forbes Pratten. Of the three, I like the Forbes best from personal experience. I think the M&E was the easiest to get tone from, but weighed a ton. The Seery was solid ...

Note the Chris McNeilly Pratten Sillydill is playing (five flutes for sale, below). 525 dollars, a very good price. YOu can hear it on the recording. YOu might ask him more about it, as it seems to fit your needs (Pratten, cuts through, fully lined...) He'll certainly tell you what you need to know...

I like the Seydel Paddy G. The case is nice and tight, thus not tearing out any of my facial hairs. I like the Lee Oskar that I use also, but the Seydel is easier on my face. I do agree with Steve that they are a little expensive, given that they cost about 1/2 again as much as a Lee Oskar and last ...

As opposed to Steve S., I tongue-block most of the time. I can effectively pucker-block, but I feel more comfortable and natural using the tongue block. That said, both methods open a plethora of opportunities for ornamentation and it's ideal to know both. Of course, I'm nowhere near the quality of ...

Good Luck Daiv! I hope you get a good stable of students.

Steve, I'd like to introduce you to ABC and all the wonderful applications out there that play the tune for you (so you can hear what it basically sounds like). Concertina.Net has the Tune-O-Tron and thesession.org has the tunebook (with gif and midi for each tune). Look em up, listen to them and pl...

He's not talking about reading music. He's talking about learning to play by ear. It's a HUGE boost in your ability to learn tunes.