"All is fine until she picks up her C/F"

Irish Flute
1

I think that’s a nice book title if I ever need to write off my frustrations.

(Although I’m not really frustrated here. Also, there’s no real question in this thread; just trying to make conversation.)

I play my flute in a group centered around a G/C diatonic button accordion. This is kind of perfect as the sound is generally warm, and the key of G goes pretty well with a regular D flute – in fact, I always have to get used to those few tunes that are not in “cross harp”.

But every now and then she picks up her C/F, or her C-only Cajun box, and everything changes. Sometimes it’s for the better of the music, but mostly not for the flute.

I never really liked C tunes on a flute, not even on my Boehm. The melody always seems to get scrambled over two octaves, with way too much of it in the upper: fingers get braided and ears get raided. (Although simple melodies in C never seem to go below the base C, I guess this is different for the more complex ones.) So there’s that, and the obvious problem that I have to learn each tune in two positions, just for the semi-random occasion that she picks up her C/F.

So I’m thinking of getting myself a nice G from Billy Miller to play “cross flute” in C.

While I’m ordering, maybe I should try his D as well.

High D, low D or both? Mmm. I could make my own high D from PVC if I get around it.

Now what if she’ll buy that cheap A/D box that I saw advertized? Mmm. Billy doesn’t sell any E’s out-of-the-box.

I wonder whether they’ll throw in flats at the Irish session again tonight. Maybe I should get an F. And a C.

That would be low C. I already made my own PVC high C. Looks awful, though.

Maybe he can get me a nice roll-out flute bag for the lot of them.

Should be a shame, though, if later on I want to order another one. What about a Bb “fife”?

And a low Bb?

Too bad I didn’t work this out when the Euro was still up. Could’ve gotten myself a free flute, there.

Then again, this stuff kind of tends to add up. So this is how a whistle player feels…

2

Get thee a tweaked C Blackbird whistle. Be happy.

3

Doug Tipple makes an E flute. I have one and I love it. They play a lot of A tunes at my session.

4

G flutes are great for playing in C.
I have a Sweetheart rosewood
and a bleazey boxwood.

Yes, an E instrument is of help if
folks are playing in A.

Also an A flute (sweetheart, for instance)
gives a nice alternative on D tunes.

As you can get excellent higher pitched flutes
for not much money, it’s a good idea, IMO.

Also playing higher flutes improves embouchure.

Just to add that if you are playing flute with other instruments,
some tuning ability can come in handy.

5

I thought for sure that C/F meant Chiff/Fipple. Yes, that’s when the trouble begins.

6

I like Cathy W’s suggestion. Simple, economical, tunable, fun. The “be happy” part, especially. I have a Reyburn C/D set; the C is great when folks what to do a song in that key. And even if that’s about the only time I play it with others, it’s a terrific sounding instrument on its own.

7

But I wants mah flute!! (Translation: don’t have the breath control for a whistle.)

Nah, not really. I actually have some whistles laying around, including a C, and I have a self-made high C flute, but I never really need to use those with the G/C, and as it doesn’t translate directly in case of a switch to the C/F, somehow I never get to pick them up. (I once made a G flute as well, but the PVC pipe was too small in diameter, so no success there.)

Then again, at yesterday’s session the guitarists threw a lot of different keys at me again, often having to transpose a known melody two or three notes up (or down) on the fly – and I managed quite OK for the circumstances. At least it helps me practicing the keys of my keyed flute. And when they really went down into the flat-lands, the Bb whistle I recently took over from my mother was also a good help.

The thing is that once you start thinking you need a flute in another key, you end up needing all of 'em. I do like the idea of experimenting with flutes in the range where one would normally expect a whistle, though, just to see what it does to the character of the music.

(Didn’t think about C/F reading as “Chiff ‘n’ Fipple”, but you’re right…)

8

Yeah, that was my first take, too. And then I looked again at “All is fine until she picks up her C/F” and wondered since when had we gone retro and started killing trees and burdening the postal system.

Copies would be tastefully fanned out on my coffee table if I had one. “Oh…I see you read Chiff & Fipple.” “Why, yes. Yes, I do. Care to see the latest?”

9

Aha, gotcha. Nonetheless … I bought the whole Billy Miller shebang from someone here on the board, and while it’s fun to play flutes in 9 different keys, it’s my whistles that go to the session. Maybe I’m just lame, but I really need tunability when playing with others.

If I was going to buy anything next, I’d be after a low G or F whistle as my high G whistle (which has been put into work for one tune in the last 2 years) is just too small to play (not to mention shrill).

10

There are reasonably inexpensive tunable flutes in G (alto) and A.
E.G. the Tipple. Also Sweetheart flutes in these keys do
well in ensembles, in my experience anyhow. Also
we can ‘blow’ flutes in tune. I prefer these flutes
to bamboo flutes in ensembles, precisely because
of the tuning ability. I play a bamboo Olwell A
on the street and it rocks, but sometimes it
won’t work so well in groups.

I personally find tunable flutes in these keys more
expressive and controllable than whistles. And
sometimes cheaper too. E.G. a sweetheart rosewood
A is cheaper than a Burke A. And a Tipple A is less than
either.