Hi,
I’m kind of a newbie when it comes to playing the Irish wooden flute…But after playing for a while I now want to buy a “new” one…
I got recommended to buy a 6-keyed one from Sam Murray…but as that flute is quite expensive and the waiting list quite long…I´m looking for something else meanwhile…Any recommendations?..6-keyed or keyless…new or used…doesn’t really matter…
Thx in advance
I can recommend Maurice Reviol and Jon C. (do a search here in the forums) regarding keyless flutes. I played flutes from both makers, and they’re great.
I have an eight-keyed Reviol on order since I tried one of his keyed flutes in last year’s fall when I just fell in love with them. Doc Jones (irishflutestore.com) has two six-keyed Reviol flutes in stock, one new and one used.
Maurice makes a large-holed Rudall-type flute, and Jon makes various styles of flutes.
There are two flutes by Jon touring (one of them or even both in Europe), you might want to subscribe to the tour. 
casey burnsmakesa goodirihflutefor beginners, it costs 295.00. he hasavery good reputation for his flutes. http://www.caseyburnsflutes.com/ff.php
TWC you seem to have lost your thumbs…Casey’s Folk Flute is a bargain.
There are many good flutes, it is hard to narrow it down much without some idea of budget.
For the money, nothing beats a Tipple. Now if you want to spend 3 to 4 times as much there are a lot of alternatives.
I am a beginner on flute. I have a Casey Burns Folk Flute and love it. I am playing it much better than I ever expected in such a short time (since Thanksgiving). I also have an Olwell G bambo flute That I like as well.
Ron
Actually Sam blows away some of the competition with regards to both his waiting list and his price. I ordered a 6-key lefty and got it within 9 months (not a short wait but nothing compared to a Wilkes or an Olwell)
Sam is also hundreds of dollars cheaper than many other high-end makers.
You should probably do a search on Murray flutes here to get a better sense of people’s experiences. Mine was on the whole very positive, but he is hard to get a hold of and does not communicate as one might expect for a ‘salesman.’ Very nice guy and makes a good flute though.
What do you have at the moment?
There are keyless, 4-key, 6-key, 8-key, and more-key, flutes, and there really are considerable differences between them.
A 6-key flute can do a lot, indeed, just about anything a musician could care to do. A keyless flute, however, is more restricted.
Then again, the more keys a flute has, the more troubles one could encounter.
I recommend the keyless flute, for starters.
OOPS!!
How could I forget?
Famously, there is also the one-key flute.
Forgive me, please.
I too am a newbie and I also like my Casey Burns Folk Flute very much.
Hi,
I’m sort of a newbie too. I’ve only been playing flute for about 3 years, but about 1 1/2 ago I picked up a Marcus Hernon flute and really like it a lot. I’ve played a number of different wood flutes owned by friends and at festivals, and this one really works well for me, has a great variable tone, and is relatively easy to play. A lot of this is subjective, so I would encourage you to try out a number of different flutes (if you can) before you jump in and spend a bunch of money. Check out Doc Jones’ website for used flutes (http://irishflutestore.com/). He is a great guy to work w/and is VERY helpful.
Good hunting!!
Well if you’re thinking of playing Irish traditional music then a best buy would be a Sam Murray keyless flute. You’d get a quality instrument. The price is reasonable, and you’d have absolutely no problem selling the flute should you despair, or feel the need to change over to a flute with keys. Also living in Denmark it’s only a cheap flight to Ireland, should you need to visit. Do you have any contact with the Irish flute players in Copenhagen, Tim, Jeroen, Jens at all?