I have a Grinter and a Byrne Rudall, both lovely
flutes. The Grinter, one of the older ones made
before the flute was altered to make it louder,
is nonetheless a powerful instrument. The
Byrne is somewhat more focused, though this
may reflect the fact that I’ve played it so much.
I wonder if anyone who has played 19th century
Rudalls, the originals, can say how they
compare with the contemporary models
based on them?Tuning, volume, quality
of sound, efficiency of keys?
I hear them on CDs, of course, but heaven knows
what one is hearing on a CD.
IMO, when you find an original Rudall that has no “issues,” nothing beats it. They are rare finds, though. But when you do, you realize just how different they really are.
I had a chance to try a working Ruddall Carte. As it had no lip plate, and me with my blackwood allergy, I just tried the bottom D. I nearly started crying. Easy, sonorous yet focused, strong, and beautiful. Never experienced anything like it, before.
The D’s have the “bark” that everyone wants.
The clarity of the tone is unparralled…perhaps because of the aged wood?
But the single best thing of a great “perfect” Rudall is the precision of the upper 2nd and third registers. Up to the highest G, it’s incredible.
But there are many things, too, such as tone hole size (i prefer large, but they are difficult to find so perfect) and embochure cut (some are a little too “steep” and require a lot more focused air, so average players don’t like them).
A great boxwood Rudall is as buttery, creamy and tantalizing as it gets.
I’ll be contraversial. I’ve played at least one if not more original R&R’s and they are quite good, but better than other flutes I’ve played that are Rudall based is really stretching it. For one thing, the tuning is off when many contemporary makers have their flutes tuned to 440 (except M&E who prides himself on modeling it directly). But to think that an original R&R is the ideal R&R for the modern flute player comes with a certain amount of dissent.
i have quite a few flutes, and i love them all.
the closest to my R&R is perhaps my keyed Noy, but none of them are as crisp playing as my R&R.
Noy made me a second head for it, and i only play my R&R with the Noy head, but each time i play it, it’s like putting on reading glasses, you think that you see clear till’ you put glasses on and all is more clear and sharp.
I play three “Rudall” flutes - a genuine 1850’s R&R, a Wylde R&R from about the same period, and a Peter Noy modern Rudall Style. All are 8 key, small - medium size holes, in good playing condition.
From time to time I get all three out at the same time and try to decide which I like better . The Rudall probably has the most beautiful tone, a bit fuller with more depth. The Noy is lovely but the Wylde is lovely too, but perhaps a bit darker.
But the real truth is, that they all sound remarkably similar because the common factor is me!
As an officially average player, I can confirm this, my Rudall is much more fussy as to how I focus my blowing compared to my other flutes. It also is happier with less air, I have trouble keeping it in tune if I blow too hard.
All good practice though, and it does sound very sweet when you hit it just right. I find it nicer for classical rather than ITM, but that maybe because I haven’t got the hang of playing it at full throttle yet.
I’m playing the Atwill body with the Bryan Byrne head joint,
which adds considerable volume. This has a lovely sound, its delicate and focused.
The Bryan Byrne flute itself is wonderful. It has a lovely reedy
sound, was pretty good volume.
I haven’t played the Grinter enough yet. Will be doing something about that this summer.
It’s a powerful flute. The maker has made it more powerful recently, there’s a new, louder model
out. Heaven knows why somebody would want to louder version of one of these!
It has a more open, more refined sound than the Byrne. So far I have the feeling
when I play it that I’m really playing a classical instrument and that I should really be playing
Beethoven.
I was talking to Mike Rafferty at our St. Louis Celtic festival and asked him if he
generally prefers Prattens. He was playing a Pratten keyless. He said, to my surprise in fact,
that he really likes the Grinter, he had recently played one with eight keys and thought it
very good for his music. So obviously there’s something here that I haven’t yet discovered.
