A short profile of flute maker George Ormiston.
damm 4 years in waiting for the wood to cure, nice i guess that would be a sign of a good maker, patience,
Absolutely, and this is how every maker of wooden musical instruments deals with wood. Every guitar maker, every fiddle maker too. Wood takes a while to dry and learn that it’s now destined for a different life, and no longer part of a growing tree.
There are methods that attempt to speed up the process, but it’s always a sure bet if you’re working with a maker who uses the Old School process of just stacking and waiting, under controlled conditions.
imagine just starting out, the wait , a good 4 years before
I counted five:
0. Blank from sawmill
- Round with pilot bore
- First piece
- Almost finished shape
- Finished shape
- Drill holes etc.
That’s why God invented Delrin…
Well, it mightn’t have been God. Possibly DuPont. God might not have been so keen on homopolymers…
Seriously, knocking up a few flutes in Delrin (acetyl homopolymer PolyOxyMethylene POM) will let you hone your skills (and your tools) while the wood dries…
Nothing should put you off flute making. Simply the best fun…
And in regard to George being Scotland’s Last Flutemaker, I sincerely hope not! Perhaps her Latest Flute Maker?
C’mon young Scots, there’s work to be done. Those fiddle players have too easy a run for too long!
It’s an interesting question that, if you were challenged to come up with a design for an ideal Scottish Flute, would you settle on an Irish flute? What would you be aiming for?
nice sounding flutes too, you too terry
Now that’s an interesting question. I play a few Scottish tunes and I’ve listened to a lot of Scottish and Cape Breton trad. Mostly the fiddle variety and not so much the pipes, thanks to my fiddler Significant Other who is into that music a bit more than I am.
Some of the distinctive characteristics like a “Scottish snap” in strathspeys and the scratchy bow attack on fiddle aren’t easy to easy to duplicate on an instrument with a relatively soft attack like the flute. You can do it with great technique (see link below), but it’s the main thing I have trouble with, when playing these tunes.
Regarding type of flute, I can’t think of anything other than a 19th Century conical bore “Irish flute” that could do a better job. These flutes facilitate a harder, dirtier sound than the Boehm flute, and the best of them are already optimized for volume. It’s still largely down to player technique, I think. Check out this Calum Steward clip. He’s taking it to an extreme with variations after he gets rolling, but this sure sounds Scottish to me. It’s the note attack that does it:
That man has just insane skills. I’m a huge fan.
I had thought to post the “Tullochgorum” clip as well, but you got there before me. Sad thing is that Calum has more or less given up the flute entirely to concentrate on the uilleann pipes.
That is sad indeed.
Same basic type but with at least four keys. My Copley special meets the spec for me!
I could be wrong, as the video isn´t very clear, but Calum´s instrument appears to be one of his cylindrical flutes with a French Tuning Headjoint.
Bob
What would a “Scottish” flute need ? A great big f##**n’ G# key 
Came across this by accident while looking for books on flute history:
Just recently published. A bit pricey for me at the moment, but I have heard good reports. Elizabeth was a guest speaker and performer at one of our Edinburgh “FluteFlings” a few years back. She knows her stuff.
Ooh, I want that! Wonder whether it’ll ever come down much? (Many specialist books just don’t.)
Only thing to note re. ‘Scottish flute’ discussion here is that its subject matter predates the kind of (19th-century-inspired) flutes we’re probably discussing. Unless anyone’s ‘ideal Scottish flute’ is actually an earlier type?
How to play Scottish trad on a wooden flute is something that I’ve spent a bit of time thinking on over the years, chatting to other flute players and trying to get to grips with. Personally I’m not sure that the flute itself is the biggest factor - as long as it is a responsive and agile over the full 2 octaves. Preferable (but by no means necessary) is a fully keyed - if you want to be able to play the full repertoire of Scottish trad in their original keys, including the fiddle tunes in A, F, Bb, Gm etc, then you have to get used to clattering the silver. To me the bigger factor is the human element - developing technique that will allow you as a flute player to play the music in a style that reflects the tradition. To find ways to emulate (or perhaps that should be echo) fiddle, piping and singing that give Scottish trad its unique sound and feel. For those more used to the more fluid and rolling Irish styles of music and playing, the more jagged, mountainous terrain of pipe marches and Strathspeys can be challenging. I kinda agree with Conical Bore that the attack is one thing you need to address. And that is down to articulation - by which ever method you choose and is required by the tune. For me it’s a mix of tonguing, breath control and fingered ornamentation. And after that by just letting go and getting stuck into the spirit of a tune – particularly the wilder Strathspeys which, if you choose to explore the latent energy contained within them, are to my ears, on the punk edge of trad.
There are not that many wooden flautists seriously playing trad Scottish ……… so was disappointed to hear that Calum Stewart was drawing back from flute to concentrate on the pipes. I spoke with him last year when he was here for a gig about his playing. His view was there was nothing intrinsically different to playing Scottish tunes on the flute –to him it’s all just about good technique. That and really listening to other instruments (particularly the fiddle) and trying to capture the essence of what they are doing by being creative with what the flute is able to do.
Would be really interested in hearing other people’s experiences and thoughts on playing Strathspeys. What do you find are the main challenges? How do you get round the difficulties? Any favourites?