Baroque style flute for jazz, etc

Irish Flute
1

This is from Clive Catterall’s website. I find it
intriguing, though I note that the third octave seems
not to be avialable. Opinions?

The “Ordinary” Flute

Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as well as producing keyed flutes for the wealthy amateurs, a much larger number of one-key flutes were made and sold. These instruments were used to play music in a variety of different styles and allow a more personal and flexible sound to be produced. The one-key instrument allows the pitch of notes to be bent, major alteration to the tone, and wide glissandi between notes. To work with only one key a baroque fingering system is used along with a small embouchure.

The flute is based on an eighteenth century instrument, with modifications to the embouchure and to the footjoint. The embouchure has been updated to make it easier to play, and to produce less hiss, according to the normal practice in modern headjoint design. The foot joint bore has been extensively modified to brighten the bottom end of the low register in order to improve the clarity and projection of these notes.

I think that at the moment this is my favourite flute. I use it for playing everything from baroque sonatas to Irish Traditional music. I have rescaled the bore to increase the power in the low register, at the expense of reducing the range to two octaves and a tone. This is fine for most Baroque music and for traditional music as well.

I have recently made further significant changes to the cut of the embouchure on this instrument design. The flutes already had a clear and focused tone, and the new cut allows a greater dynamic range and more easy intonation control. Flutes produced since 1st Jan 2003 have this embouchure as standard.



http://www.flutes.fsbusiness.co.uk/ORDNRY4.jpg

I normally make this instrument in boxwood, either stained or unstained, and with silver rings around each socket. The tenons and sockets are thread wrapped and greased, a method I favour over using cork, as it is easier for the player to repair and adjust as needed. For information about rethreading tenons see the section on flute maintenance.

The key is handmade from sterling silver, with a brass pivot wire, and either a tempered steel or forged brass spring.

This instrument is normally only made at a’=440Hz (modern pitch) and costs 730 pounds sterling.

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2

I’ve had an ongoing, friendly, email relationship with Clive for years, and this flute, in particular, has always intrigued me.
Unfortunately, I have never met or spoken to a person familiar with his flutes, and the cost for this flute is prohibitive on a merely experimental assessment level (from a buyers perspective). Being an (albeit) interesting hybrid, and from lesser-know maker at that, its resale-at-cost is not assured. My interest in his flutes, however, sent me further down the slippery-slope of actual baroque flute ownership, and eventually I just bought a great baroque flute, at low pitch, which I suppose I could play jazz on just as easily, if that was my wish.
Gordon

3

Very reasonable. the pictures on his site are attractive,
and one can drool from afar. Thanks

4

My instincts tell me it’s a very good flute, but my brain tells me that you need to go higher than 3rd octave D to play most Baroque music. :slight_smile: Hey, i go to that page a lot to drool too. I’d buy it if i had the extra cash. Oh, the long gone days of the strong Dollar and weak Euro… :sniffle:

5

Yes, it’s odd. One of the attractions of the baroque flute,
as I understand it, is an accessible third octave,
which is here traded for a stronger sound.
One wonders…