I’ve been actively abusing the flute for ten or so years… I’m still not that good. And I’ve had a a few different flutes over the years. One of Casey’s folk flutes, a Desi Seery, a couple of Michael Cronnolly’s flutes, a few sweetheart flutes and a Shannon by Walt Sweet.
Some of them played wonderfully “out of the box” so to speak. They were loud and in tune and played fairly easily… Then there are the others… Like my current M&E.
It has taken a lot of time, effort and practice to get this flute to play loud and in tune… (Mostly just the bell note… Ya gotta honk that thing to get it in tune. The rest of the tuning and intonation is wonderful.) That said…
Here is the part that made me go hmmm… I have three other flutes that are loud, strong and in tune… And are much easier to play… But… I derive so much more satisfaction from driving that M&E up to it’s potential… To make it sing out… To pull a tune out of it. At the end of a practice session, I know I worked for that tone and volume and intonation. So, I have three other flutes that by most accounts should be preferable…but the flute I reach for every time is the M&E.
Go figure… (This is not meant to be an advertisement for an M&E. It’s meant to reflect on how much more satisfaction there is when one must work for that “sound”)
Michael says on his M&E website that the low D is a wee flat. There is historical/musical flute-making context for this flatter note. I’m sure some wiser folks here can elaborate.
Personally I do think the M&E polymer Rudall & Rose is exceptional. Easy to play, very strong and reedy tone.
All the M. & E. flutes I’ve played to date have been easy to play throughout their range, but there has to be a few out there that may be a wee bit more challenging to sound off properly. As for you reaching out to play this flute above others in your collection, I find that perfectly understandable on one level. Most of the flutes my son and myself play are antiques, and have questionable tuning and intonation throughout. As a consequence you are literally working a lot harder to keep them in tune as you play. The most profoundly affected in our collection is Joseph’s 8 key Metzler copy of a Rudall & Rose ( most unlike the majority of their flutes you see out there in appearance). The tuning is all over the place. My Son, being a better musician than myself, was playing it in tune fairly quickly, while muggins here was making all manner of comical sounds for about a week or two. Eventually, concentration and patience paid off. After that fortnight I was playing this flute in tune. Oddly enough, we both agree that this flute has one the best sounds/focused tone we have ever played. For him, that’s just a matter of fact. For me that conclusion has got to be enhanced by the sense of achievement felt, once I had mastered it’s eccentricities to get there. The bigger the effort - the larger the reward!
It’s interesting to see this. I haven’t played enough simple system flutes to know the difference but it makes some sense from my orchestral flute background. The better flutes there are both harder and easier. On a modern flute a good instrument has an easier key mechanism which plays with less effort and is faster. The upper register notes render better in tune and quiet and the lower octave sounds with more volume. However, you have to make more embouchure adjustments and work a little harder at good tone production. In general, the better instruments are less forgiving.
Michael himself told me this a few years back. I neglected to ask him why. I’d love to see a separate thread on this one… Or, sans thread, a thorough posting addressing this particular “how come?”
Thank you, everybody for the responses so far. I truly appreciate the feedback.
My bet is that the low D is tuned flat so that you can rear back and really blow it (perhaps with your chin lifted a little), and get the strong low D in Irish tunes. Also it may facilitate getting an in tune second octave D.
I have a friend who owns an M&E flute, but she doesn’t play it because she can’t ever get the low D to play very loudly. Another mutual friend who plays flute put the foot joint of his Morvane flute on the M&E, and Bingo! It changed the whole tone of the flute. His take was that the larger of the two open holes in the M&E foot joint wants a bit of chimney beveling to allow the flute to vent more easily. We were tempted to get out the Dremel, but thought better, and advised her to either send it to Michael requesting this adjustment, or finding a reputable woodwind repair person. I voted to send it to Michael. We shall see. But believe me, that simple switch made the M&E a totally different instrument, and brought a huge smile of hope to its owner’s cheeks.
In reading through this thread… I think I regret mentioning my M&E. I say this because the thread seems to have become a series of comments on the merits of various M&E flutes as opposed to the merits of having a flute that really makes one work for “that sound” over one that seems to produce “that sound” without much effort.
Someday, I want to be a good flute player. But, I want to be good because the flutes I have played have made me work for it. Because they have made me learn to have breath control, to have a good (and flexible) embouchure, to have good hand positioning, to have clean ornaments… Some flutes are easy to blow, and they’re loud, and they finger easy, and the embouchure is forgiving… At at the end of the day, it’s just not as rewarding as earning it from a flute that is no easy master… A flute that sounds glorious if ya just put in your time.
I am sure I could have worded my opening post better, and for this I apologize.
jiminos wrote - “In reading through this thread… I think I regret mentioning my M&E. I say this because the thread seems to have become a series of comments on the merits of various M&E flutes as opposed to the merits of having a flute that really makes one work for “that sound” over one that seems to produce “that sound” without much effort.”
I think ScottMaurer and myself " got it. " and added comments pertinent to your line of inquiry. Sometimes others put another slightly different interpretation on your original question ( I believe this is known on this forum as DRIFT.) It may not be exactly what you had in mind, but can often be interesting and educational non the less.
jiminos also wrote -
“Someday, I want to be a good flute player. But, I want to be good because the flutes I have played have made me work for it.”
As I pointed out earlier, a good place to start on that journey is playing antique flutes.
My favourite flutes are both loud and in tune. I have a low A flute that I really struggle with to get in tune. Strangely enough from the same maker as one of my two favourite D Flutes. I have a smaller holed flute (also very fine and in tune) and I can get it loud, but it is hard work. I still prefer the ones that make it easy.
