Hi guys&gals,
After a long wait I finally received my eight keyed Grinter flute. I have been playing it since the Trad festival in Ennis where I received it from Michael. Allthough I am still getting used to it and have been playing it in; I must say that it is a very responsive flute. It can go very from sweet towards a more expressive tone and be very noticable. In short it can stand its ground in any playing condition. It takes getting used to it but when playing it for about ten minutes this flute grows on ya. I hope it will develope into my main instrument and am looking forward to compare it with some older makes of Michael. That will be probably in april. This is a grand flute (in my opinion) and I am very chuffed with it. I play also a Watson which I will keep because of its distinct sound and behaviour and you really can’t compare these two. So both will have there place with me. Are there other experiences with recent bought Grinters? I would appreciate other opinions. Take care,
Ronnie
A friend has a newly made Grinter flute (keyless). It’s one of the loudest and responsive flutes I’ve played. I had the opportunity to compare it with an older Grinter (fully keyed). The older had a deeper sound but not as penetrating, and was less responsive. The new one had a lighter feeling (not in terms of weight). I think I liked the new one better, but both were grand flutes.
I never owned a Grinter, so my experience is limited to a few minutes of playing them at session…
Murray are great flutes and I think to compare them would be difficult, I guess it depends on what sound you like most. I heared many of them but never played one.
As i said, i am just curious, since i have a Murray and a friend of mine a Grinter. I would just like to hear other peoples findings/comparisons as well.
Don’t want to say my own, in case that would affect anything
(you know how it is sometimes, someone says something you perhaps haven’t noticed before and then that skews your spontaneous thoughts about it.)
EDIT: I am not on to some quality “competition”, just differences if any found.
Nice one, man. Congrats! Good pic, too. How long did you wait for that bad boy? I’ve never played one of Mike’s flutes, but I have one of his low whistles. Awesome!!
Now this is a flute discussion I like! Loved your insightful review, Ronnie. Good luck with your new flute. Far better players than I have told me it takes a long time of steady playing to get used to flutes like yours, but it’s worth it. Congratulations!
P.S. I don’t know anything about Grinters but how other players sound on them so I’ll go away now, but I have an Olwell and a Murray which I keep for the same reasons you keep your Watson. They’re chalk and cheese but they’re both brilliant.
Hi Cathy!
Flutes like yours should stay where they are and that is with a caring owner. As much as I like the Grinter, I would never part with the Watson, its another flute in fact with an unlined head it sounds more woody and is a Watson. I also have the same opinion about Murray, they are great flutes and its nice to hear other opinions without critising or looking down on any builder. I think the ones allready named are great flute builders; I have met Patrick Olwell in Belgium but having to wait many years and really wanting to own an eight keyed flute made me decide for Grinter flute. Best regards.
Yes I’ve played quite a few Murrays, great flutes (Sam is making a new headjoint for my old flute now) and very different from the Grinters I’ve played. I’ve never had the opportunity to compare them side by side though.
I think that Murray flutes require a more specific approach, and are somewhat more open sounding, very resonating and about as loud (= a lot). I find them the most recognisable flutes, their sound is very unique (even if they are generally different flute to flute)
Both are terrific flutes, definitely two of the best makers around.
(I actually like them more than Olwell Prattens, but this is because I prefer the bores to be smaller)
This with hesitation, since it is more about me than flutes. I had once a somewhat older Grinter.
It had lots of volume and played well and was very well made, and I felt I was playing a classical instrument that belonged
in an orchestra. I couldn’t make it sound dirty, though of course someone more skillful surely can
and I might well have been able to if I stuck with it. Also it was heavy, the silver channels in the
blocks, the keys, etc, all added up for me. I think these are terrific flutes but perhaps not for me.
As we know, there is are considerable difference tween different Rudall models, and I do find that
I personally am gravitating more toward the sound of smaller holed, narrower bored Rudalls than what
I recall of the Grinter.
Yes, I played a Watson briefly at a session in Tucson and liked it a lot. Would have liked to spend more time
with it. Adequate volume for a session, a nice feel in the hands, and an interesting sound.
Here is my favorite rudall clone, the Bryan Byrne, which has a narrower bore than the Murray which has
a narrower bore than the Grinter. The Byrne has medium holes, though Bryan is now (I think) making
a smaller holed Rudall, chiefly. Anyhow maybe you can sort of hear a sound I like in these flutes.
Here is a Murray, which I am probably not playing in the hard, driving way that Murrays are supposed to be
played. It has a more open sound than the Bryne. Also, unlike the Byrne, my Murray doesn’t have a lined
head, so I think it sounds more woody. There are Murrays with lined heads, however. This performance
FWIW.
Not sure if that’s the 1996 cocus 8 key that I have, which was one of the pair Kevin had originally?
It does take some practice to keep the lower A and B under control, like the Rudall, but it’s definitely my flute of choice for most occasions. More forgiving than the Rudall anyway. I measured it up against the newer Grinter model and it’s shorter by the same margin that I would extend the slide (mine was the same length with my slide at playing point as Aoife Granville’s was with her slide in).
Ronnie - please excuse my manners, or lack thereof.. I totally forgot to congratulate you on your lovely looking (and, i am sure lovely sounding) Grinter!
Is your G. Watson also keyed btw?
@Moritz: thanks and nice to meet here. It takes getting used to but its a grand flute. Next to the Watson my main weapon of choice. Heavier but more responsive and more tunable than the Watson (in my humble opinion. @Mark: I’ll let you try this one out, it takes perhaps less effort than the one Kevind owns, have to get aquainted with it. Plays perhaps a bit more straight forward than yours but is also a Grinter flute in terms of playability. Isn’t perhaps as loud as yours. @Mr.Blackwood: think nothing of it, its just fun to swap expérience and behaviour of flutes which sound so different in different hands
