I thought I would give myself some time to get used to the flute before I weighed in with my thoughts. To be honest, this is more a vote of confidence than a review due to the fact that I’m new to flutes, and have no comparative experience with other makers. What I can tell you is that this thing performs a helluva lot better than my $8, out of tune bamboo masterpiece. I feel like a 16 year old kid taking driving lessons on a Bentley.
I ordered a keyless blackwood in D, (3pc). Firstly, the fit and finish, & overall workmanship is top notch. This flute has an elegant, graceful look to it. It’s also nice to be able to roll the tone holes away from my body and make my left wrist a little straighter while leaving the embouchure hole in the same position. The tone I get from this flute seems very clean while having a dark, reedy edge to it. The flute responds sensitively to any changes I make in my embouchure, and I’m finally being able to get control over the volume and tone of each note, as opposed to just blasting my way into the second octave. At the moment, I’m not able to get past the third octave D, and am not sure if it is normal to do so (I get a lot of harmonics). I am having trouble controlling the quality of the third octave D itself, but this is me and not the flute who’s having trouble. That’s the good thing about this flute, -It will sound just as good as I am capable of making it sound- and when I make those little breakthroughs from time to time, I feel that the quality of this instrument has made the way smoother. Also worthy of note is the fact that you will not find better people to deal with than Skip Healy, and John Harvey. I had to send an earlier flute back because of a problem that occurred in shipping, and they went out of their way to make things right.
Overall I am happy that I chose to get a real good instrument sooner instead of making my way through a succession of lesser instruments. My learning curve has been a lot better with this flute than with my last. I have to mention, however, that I’m not saying that cheaper flutes are necessarily going to be worse. As a matter of fact, I’ve gotten better on my cheap bamboo flute since the Healy arrived. I look forward to getting a decently made bamboo flute sometime soon. One that is in tune and made with care will probably be my next quest. If any of you own or have owned Healy flutes, I would be interested in hearing how they compare with other makes.
Wow. I cannot believe that 145 people have read your post and no one has replied. So…
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW FLUTE!
I have been playing Healy flutes for 2 years now. First a keyless, and about 9 months ago I “stepped up” to a keyed model.
My only other Irish flute was a no-name model that was given as a gift. I don’t play that one, as finger spacing is just enough to be uncomfortable.
I like Skip’s flutes. They are a perfect fit for my hands, the tone is fantastic and they are beautiful to look at.
I have found flutes that I am comfortable holding and love playing. I’ll stick with Healy flutes!
Peach
I’ve heard that the waiting list isn’t at all long. True?
These flutes aren’t talked about much, it
would be nice to hear from more folks who
play them.
Skip’s usually got flutes on hand. He even makes Cooktown ironwood models . . . ver’ nahsss.
The reason you don’t hear about his flutes very much, I’ll hazard, is that they have sort of tended to engender a cultish following, but they’re radically different from “mainstream” Irish flutes. VERY different cut of the embouchure, and the flutes are built like police batons. THICK walls. Some folks LOVE them, some HATE them. Kinda like bagpipes. Or stick shifts.
And to beat a dead horse, no “sound clip” comparison will ever do justice to the difference. They sound like good flutes, which they are; but they are really quite different from your run-of-the-mill (or exceptional, for that matter) nach Pratten/Rudall/Hawkes, etc. from the player’s perspective.
My opinion, of course.
Stuart
Hi!
I had to chime in here as well. I’ve been playing a Healy for almost 4 years now and I absolutely love it. I am a classical symphony flutist by day and an Irish player by night (so to speak) and I couldn’t be happier with what I’m able to get out of the Healy. I play in the 3rd octave all the time, I’ve recorded notes up to the third octave A and have played above that in concert but I can also crank out the lower register and cut through a session din. Anyway, this flute is also capable of lovely nuance and variety of tone colors in slow soft stuff as well, by far the biggest dynamic range I’ve found on a wooden flute. Skip and John are great to work with. I bought my flute keyless and had them added later, in a custom arrangement that Skip is now marketing as the open C model. If you want you can hear sound samples of my Healy @ http://mithril.flyingfrogmusic.com/multimedia.php. And I have a new holiday CD full of great stuff on the Healy that will be released around Nov. 12 (shameless plug here!)
All the best,
Andra Bohnet
Professor of Flute
University of South Alabama, Mobile Symphony, Mithril Celtic Band, Silverwood Quartet
Nice playing Andra!
Leo
Congratulations!
I feel sure you will continue to be amazed at what the Healy can do. I have had a keyed D and a 10-hole F for 3 years now. I have also played other fine flutes such as those made by Olwell, Noy and McGee. I am really happy with my Healy.
I haven’t found anyone who ‘hates’ a Healy, only a universal agreement among good players on how well made they are and how capable they are. The Healy’s are a Pratten pattern, but all the silver tenon fittings are different from the traditional cork or wrapped thread. This gives the flute a different look and some prefer their traditional flute to look more traditional. I really only care how it sounds.
I have also heard people say that the Healy’s don’t have enough ‘resistance’ for them. The Healy embouchure is large and some people are not used to that. As you get better at focusing your air you will find plenty of resistance and a terrific range of tone colors to match. I’m sure Skip could make an easier playing flute, but why turn a Bentley into a Ford?
The 10-hole scheme on my F allows it to be chromatic without keys - great fun, but not needed for trad music. Skip also makes blackwood and pink ivory fifes in 6 and 10 hole patterns which are the best. You have no idea how much fun a fife can be until you have tried one of these.
All the Best,
Alfy
Wonderful sound clips Andra…and top notch flute playing in my humble opinion…you made what sounds like a great flute really “speak”…and your CD sounds like one I’d like to have too.. 
okay, usually i don’t ask about pricing, because the answers often involve some indignation – no offense intended here, really, but i’ve been curious about this for a while…
$3500 for a post-mounted six-key? or for a five-key with an open c? this is about $800-1200 more than pretty much all the other makers i looked at (Noy, McGee, Hammy, Gallagher, Burns, etc). Skip’s keyless prices ($1k) are pretty competitive, especially given all the silver that’s on the stick, why is the keyed model such a leap?
i don’t play Boehm system (hey i barely play simple system) so i haven’t priced professional quality Boehm flutes; i can only speculate that he’s going after that market rather than the ITM market, could that be a factor?
Handmade Boehm-system flutes run from about $6000 on up, good intermediate ones are in the $2000-$4000 range, and student ones of various grades and qualities fall below that. In that light, handmade simple system flutes are a steal.
Why Healy charges more than other makers for keyed flutes I’m not sure, but I’ll bet that one factor is Dave Skillen, who used to string keys for the Wm. S. Haynes company. I imagine his keywork is second to none in the simple system world.
I’m guessing it’s got something to do with the fact that he can get you a keyed flute in a matter of weeks instead of years…what the market will bear and all that. Impatience can be expensive.
Doc
Dave S. still works for Haynes, and does some work for us as well, in fact I just saw him today. However, I’m not certain how much work he’s doing for Skip these days.
RH, the type of post mounted keywork on Skip’s flutes is much more complicated and labor intensive than the block mounted keywork one finds on your standard “Irish” flute. This has much to do with the difference in price.
Loren
Thank you all for your thoughts. It should be interesting to compare for myself when I come across other flutes. I am wondering, however, since it was mentioned that Skip’s flutes have large embouchure holes, what effect the size would have.
Is there an advantage to this strategy?
At the least, more volume, I would reckon.
I own a Healy Flute, I also have worked for in Skip’s workshop. I’m not a spokesperson by any means, I would like to shed light on a few points though. Skip’s flutes are not much thicker walled than any other flutes on the market (today’s & yesteryears). His design could be summed up as a Boosey-Pratten with a few improvements.
Skip has re designed the toneholes to be more in tune, there’s less compensation from ones’ embrouchure. All simple system flutes have issues with the sharped C natural & flat F#, the keyless models still have a bit of this, but it’s not as pronounced as it is on a Boosey Pratten (The one I played anyway)
Skip’s foot joint don’t have two vent holes, a leftover from the low C# & C keys which are tesy at best & traditional players just ripped the damn things off, leaving two open holes on the foot-joint. The ‘vent holes’ are basically useless, some say they improve tone on the E & D by sympethetic resonance. Without the two vent holes your left with the hole in the flute itself, which is bigger. Bigger hole, bigger sound. Dig? The ‘hard D’ on a Healy flute is incredible. The lack of the vent holes is one of the Healy Flutes break from tradition, it makes it look different than any other make of flute.
Another break from his design is the sleek, minimilist look of the flute. There’s no ornamental lathework on the wood or decorative .125" silver rings. As far as the lathework, that’s Skip’s choice for the look of his flute. But the big sliver rings are there for a deliberate reason. When silver is inside of wood, you need sliver on the outside to reinforce the wood or in time the wood WILL crack. There are tenons inside of the flute & the big outer silver rings prevent cracking as the wood moves from temperature & humididty changes. The design makes a very stable flute that is less likely to crack. Skip wants his flutes to last forever, they are the legacy he wants to leave behind.
Skip’s Keywork is expensive because he contracts out people to make those keys by hand. Many other makers order cheaper premade keys & just glue pads on then install them on the flute.
As far as post vs blockmounted keys: the postmount system is more work for a silver smith, the block mounts are not to be sneered at. You need a great lathe worker to make those mounts. First you need to leave a wide ring where the key will be, then chisel off the rest so that you end up with a block mount. This is done in wood which is much less forgiving than silver. If you screw it up or it looks like a hack job the whole flute body is now firewood.
The advantage to post mount keys is related to the problems of making block mounted keys. Repairs are much easier & much cheaper. If the block moves it needs to be broken of remade then pinned back into place & there is no promise the repair will be as good as new. Think of block mounts as a head gasket on a car, except now - you’ve got eight of them.
All in all the wide bore & big toneholes make for a loud flute, a Healy Flute is a big boy, rousing honker.
Hi Everybody,
Sorry for jumping in a little late! I’ve been travelling a bit so I only just got to read this thread.
First off, thank you for the positive responses that have been listed. It is greatly appreciated. Let me try to answer a couple of the questions and explain a bit about the philosophy of the HF Co.
I have tried to design a series of instruments that are aesthetically pleasing both in appearance and sound. If it doesn’t look good, sound good, and arrive in reasonable amount of time…then why bother.
When I decided to open my own shop, I wanted to fashion it in the style of a modern flute making operation. Meaning, employing skilled artisans at various specialties (initial woodworking, keying, etc). By the way, this is how shops like Rudall & Rose and Boosey were set up and able to produce thousands of instruments. An advantage I have in the modern era is the ability to communicate with my clients online (greatly assisted by John Harvey).
Meanwhile, I take care of the finishing work (cutting tone holes, embouchure hole, tuning and testing) for all instruments as well as designing new instruments and custom orders. This ensures high quality standards at every phase of construction while speeding up the process. Unfortunately, it also brings added costs to the process.
I am very fortunate to have both Dave Skillen and Michael Greer as my stringers. Between them, they have over 50 years combined experience at crafting some of the finest orchestral flutes ever built (in my opinion). This enables me to knock years off the process of building and delivering flutes to my clients.
I can usually get a fully-keyed flute to you in about 60 days (depending on customizations and orders). Keyless flutes are usually in stock, but when they are not, then it’s about 30 days.
So, it comes down to a trade off. My prices are published. You know what your flute will cost, and you will not have to wait years to receive your instrument. You have the option to save some money when ordering a flute, but hey, “cur persolve minus”.
All the best,
Skip Healy
Very sensible. 60 days for a good new keyed flute is remarkable;
this division of labor is an interesting (and, as mentioned,
old fashioned) approach. Very nice to have makers
chime in.
I can vouch for the quality of Skip’s work also. I had a set of his fifes, a Bb and a 10-hole A body, that were outstanding. They were sold to finance a Harp for the family band and I’ve missed them.
Skip really is a great guy to work with. I’ve always wanted to try one of his flutes but have never gotten the chance. That’s what I get for living in the boondocks. :roll:
Doc