I am anxiously awaiting my CB folk flute. I’ve searched this forum for any mention of the CB folk flute and have never heard anything bad and have never seen any for sale listings. I figure it must be a good flute if nobody parts with it.
Anybody who has one care to comment? Have you enjoyed it? Are you still playing it? Was it easy to play? Did it help you learn being ergonomic and all that? Do you think you sound nice playing it? Do you play it alone or with or for other people? Do you play only fast/ornamenty stuff or do you play music with notes so sweet you want to cry?
Today I went to a festival and listened to a man playing those Peruvian pipes (that was cool!) and some kind of wooden fipple flute. He was the star of the show and got the most applause even though the singer took front and center. I couldn’t help but hear the similarity between his style on the fipple flute and the Irish style. He played similar ornaments and the quality of the flute sound was so much like an Irish flute–woody and sweet. I can’t wait! It will be my first Irish flute.
Well congrats to you! It’s exciting to be awaiting a new instrument, especially when it’s as good a one as you have coming. I don’t have a Folk Flute, but have played one, and it was very nice. Based on that, I ended up buying a Burns ‘large-holed ergonomic standard’. All of Casey’s flutes share a similar design, and they suit me very well. I’m sure you’ll be happy with the flute, not matter what style(s) you end up playing. Enjoy!!!
I’ve had my Casey Burns FF for almost a year now and I continue to enjoy it very much. I was on the Olympic Peninsula in March and was able to take it to him in person for a little overhaul, which he did while we waited. I had the opportunity to play some of the other instruments in the shop. I fell in love with a boxwood R & R. That will be my next “big” flute. It was wonderful.
And he’s a great guy, full of talk on marine paleontology and gypsy jazz guitar, along with the issues of flute-making and playing.
I’m a hobby player, still pretty much a beginner on winds. I’m not so much into ITM as folk musics generally. When I play with others, it is usually on stringed instruments (guitar, five string banjo, some mandolin).
The Burns is easy to sound, especially in the lower range and has a deeply satisfying tone. You’ll love it.
I have a CB Folk Flute, and it’s my first flute too. I’ve been playing low and high whistle and wanted to start with flute, so I bought this beauty from Doc Jones (www.irishflutestore.com) a couple of months ago. It’s a very nice flute, the reach is very easy, even when compared with my Burke Viper Low D whistle. It smells nice and has a sweet sound. I’m just starting so I can’t really play it very well yet, still working on the embouchure; but a musician friend of mine tried it and the sound is fantastic!
I’m sure you will like it
I have one. I love it. It’s difficult to play, but no harder than any other flute I tried; the flute is just a subtle instrument. I like the ergonomic pattern, but holding the thing is still something I’m working on; it’s much less easy to hold “right” than the whistle. I play it alone and with other beginners. I play all sorts of music.
The long and the short of it is that the FF is an incredible bargain, but no easier to play than any other flute; there’s simply no substitute that I’ve found for hard work, lots of listening, and lots of practice.
Quena, perhaps? I just bought one. They’re a lot of fun, but playing it screws up my flute embouchure.
I am not sure if that was a Quena or not. I wasn’t sitting too close to the front, and it had the appearance that he was putting a fipple in his mouth, not blowing across a notch.
I looked at Quena’s online and now I want one of those, too! But I think I want to try to make one. We have timber bamboo growing in the yard. I wonder how long it takes to dry if I cut a branch. We have jacaranda, too. I had no idea it made such pretty wood.
I played a session last night and the other flute player had a CB folk flute. There were two great fiddlers, two bodhran players, whistle, and bouzouki. The folk flute sounded great. It works fine in a session. Sure it’s nice to have really fancy hand made flutes that cost thousands of dollars, but what really matters is who blows into it.
I was playing a dixon polymer flute, which also held up well. The folk flute and the dixon polymer are the two “cheaper” flutes on the market. Many question their worth and if they’ll hold up in a session. I say yes. they’re totally worth it.
The only issue for flutes like the F-F and the Dixon in sessions, really, is whether you can play 'em in tune.
I tend to play flat. Really, really, flat. I’m working to improve that, but my F-F, in my hands, plays at about A=337 with the head all the way in (and it’s me - other players seem to put it around A=443 or so). I’m working on improving my embouchure, but in the mean time I don’t play the F-F with others.
But my Jon C R & R does have a slide - and I can adjust it quite a bit sharp of A=440 if I want to. So that’s what I play out.
I like my F-F - it’s easy on the hands, sounds good, and has quite a bit of volume if you want it. But if you’ve got an embouchure like mine, you may be playing solo until you get your chops dialed in.
I hadn’t even considered playing with others when I ordered the folk flute. I figured it would be light years until that was possible. Looks like I may end up buying another flute in the future eventually, if I can progress to the level of playing with others. Meanwhile, I get to look at all the nice ones coming up for sale here on this board every so often…
You’re right but I think that’s the case with any flute. No matter how well balanced the instrument is you could still play flat. The tuning slide is nice and smooth, but the dixon and the FF are tunable. Once you’re in tune, you don’t need to be sliding that thing in and out all night.
the FF is a charming little flute and is quite pretty in a simple way. (in both looks and sound)
I’m jealous because I would really like a John C RR, myself.
