I’m thinking of taking the plunge and ordering a polymer flute. I’m debating between the Dixon or the M & E. I would be interrested in your opinions. Is the price difference worth it for the M & E? How about ease of playing. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Mary
An M&E flute can be very good, but it’s a bit bulky (heavy, not so tapered on the outside) and the finishing is horrible. I had to sand every hole with my dremel tool to get it to be decent. If you don’t want to take that chance, go with the Dixon 3-piece. The Dixon requires a slightly more focused embouchure (with your lips) than a properly finished M&E, but one can get used to that in a short time. So, I think you should go for the Dixon 3-piece. It has a beautiful tone and plays fairly easily.
Jessie
Wow, you’d think finish wouldn’t even be a concern with the extra bucks they want. Anyone else have thoughts. So far I’m leaning to the Dixon.
Mary
Thanks Jessie
Mary,
I haven’t played the Dixon 3pc., so I can’t comment on that one. I do however have an M&E and I agree with Jessie: It’s heavy and rather large. Mine also has very rough tone holes, which I found extremely dissapointing considering the price.
OTH, it is very easy to play - not nearly as nice as my Copley, but certainly easier than my Healy or the cheap Dixon whistle/flute combo.
Jessie,
Do you remember exactly what Dremel bit you used to smooth the inside of the tone holes? I’d like to do the same to my M&E, but don’t want to tear it up by using the wrong bit…
Loren
I have jewelry sanding bits for my dremel tool. It’s very important to use a sanding bit and not a grinding one, or you’ll change the size and shape of the holes. And I would recommend fine sanding as opposed to coarse. My bits are less than a quarter of an inch in diamter and come to a point.
Jessie
I’d not recommend sanding bits at all.
The key to making polymer shine is white rouge. The key to taking the unfinished stuff from the inside of the holes are felt bits. Anything abrasive (even felt if it’s on there too long) will change the shape of the hole.
Use a SOFT cone-shaped felt-tipped bit (they’re white and come in hard, too, so be careful!), spin it onto some white rouge, then take it to the hole carefully and slowly, not lingering into any spot for too long. Remember, it’s plastic, so it will become maleable with high temperature spinning on it.
just out of curiosity…have you thought about a Seery delrin flute? I’ve not played one, but his whistles are super nice. The finish was beautiful at any rate, and the tone was quite ‘flutey’ in nature. Just a thought.
B~
My recommendation? Before you commit to anything, check out the archives on the woodenflute mailing list at
http://archive.woodenflute.com/woodenflute-archives
No fancy search facilities I’m afraid so you will have to be a little patient. On the other hand there is much to be gained from the expertise on that list. Last year, when I was considering a synthetic flute I read through lots of discussions on the merits of the various flutes (and ended up buying a Seery).
Cheers,
Jens
While Tom Doorley of Danu plays magic on a Seery flute, I have found every one I’ve played to be cloudy in tone and EXTREMELY heavy to pick up.
David…do you have any experience with jewelry making or jewelry sanding? I referred to fine sanding bits. They are actually polishing bits…it’s true - you can polish a surface without adding a foreign substance.
Jessie
Well the Dixon is on order from the Whistleshop and a pair of whistles to boot, damn this WhOA. Thanks much guys.
Wow, the Seery is even heavier than the M&E?!? Yikes-a-hootie!!
Yeah, Loren, Delrin is extremely heavy. The Seery flute also has a thick outer bore and a thin inner bore.
Jessie
I’m buying a use M&E. Haven’t got it yet, but I’ll tell you what I think when I get it. I won’t be able to compare it with a Dixon or Seery, though, since I never tried them.
Hello…how do you think the Dixon would compare to an Olwell bamboo, in terms of ease of play and sound/tone quality ?
Jessie:
Yes, plenty with jewelry-gauge bits/wheels as many of the rings/keys are sterling after all!
I still prefer the felt and rouge for the delrin work. Again, the key is to remove what’s there and work the surface gently…and the rouge-impregnated wheeels, etc all have silicone as the abrasive. Again, it’s plastic and I’m not at all comfortable putting any abrasive to it unless my intent is to manipulate the hole size and shape. it can be done, but I wascertainly directing it to an untrained hand. If it’s a trained hand, then go for it, but I still believe you’d prefer the result from the felt and rouge. Takes a tad longer, but there’s certainly much more room for any error, I think
Dixon 3-piece vs. Olwell bamboo:
The Olwell bamboo Low D flute is impressive for what it is and amazing for the price. It smells, however, like burnt bamboo, something that will never go away. The tone can be very rich except for the lowest note (at least on the one I have). It’s slightly naturally tapered, but close to cylindrical, so it doesn’t have the strength of tone that a conical bore flute would have. Still, for $72, it’s amazing.
The Dixon 3-piece tunable is tapered, so it has strength of tone. It can travel a lot more easily that a one-piece flute of any material, and especially since it’s plastic. I recommend it.
Jessie
On 2001-10-04 13:48, JessieK wrote:
Yeah, Loren, Delrin is extremely heavy. The Seery flute also has a thick outer bore and a thin inner bore.
Really? The Seery I have is neither particularly heavy nor wide. The word on woodenflute is that the Seery has a more comfortable (thinner) outer bore than the M&E.
Before anyone thinks I am merely being hard on the M&E to defend my own Seery, I should point out that the concensus on woodenflute is that the M&E is much easier for a beginner than a Seery. I am still struggling with the tone on the Seery, so I believe that! However, having heard my teacher play that same Seery, I am definitely sticking with it, 'cause I know what it’s capable of. Tom Doorley is not the only person to make nice sounds on a Seery.
Cheers,
Jens
[ This Message was edited by: Jens_Hoppe on 2001-10-05 09:55 ]
I agree that the Seery has a thinner outside bore than the M&E, but the Seery also has a much thinner inner bore than the M&E, meaning the wall is thicker on the Seery. Also, Delrin is much more dense (and heavier) than the plastic that Michael Cronnolly uses on the M&E.
Jessie
I guess my thought with going for polymer instead of bamboo was durability. I wanted something that would require little maintenance and could double as a personal defense weapon. Flutes are allowed on planes, aren’t they? Just teasing. I didn’t want something that I had to worry over what with cracking and such. My order is scheduled to arrive on Tues.
Jessie, I thought it was me… the Olwell cane D is the flute I’m learning to play on and I just can’t get a clear decent sound from the bottom d. Would like to hear from others who have this flute… thanks