Hi, I am an 18 year old student who lives in Norway. Last summer I heard the low d flute for the first time in my life, and since then I have wanted to learn to play the low d flute. I do not have any experience with flutes, but I have played guitar for several years. I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good, all though not to expensive flute, for me. I have already found a site that sells lots of flutes, and if someone could pinpoint me in the right direction, I would be very happy.
The only thing I remember that the street musician told me, was that the flute had a polymer body. It made a more woodier sound according to him. Hope that someone can help me
I second what Silly said. Get the Dixon three piece pictured, or if you want the least expensive option get a Tipple or perhaps a Billy Miller bamboo (both are less than $100).
I own a Dixon as well as a Tipple.
I dearly love my tipple with the wedge. . .BUT
the man said he fell in love with the sound of a conic delrin flute, possible a Seery, mebbe an M&E, possibly a Copley, or even a Dixon.
My Tipple is a honkin’ stokin’ flute, but does not have the same tonal qualities as Low ‘D’
conic.
Thanks for the help everyone. The flute actually looks very similar to the flute a saw and heard. Just wondering about one more thing. What is the difference between a whistle and a flute?
As for my name. A MiniTrotsky is a nickname I got a long time ago. At school we were learning about the Russian revolution, and the teacher was asking a lot of questions. Since my mom and dad are very interested in politics I had picked up a few facts. My teacher was a big fan of Trotsky, and since I could answer a lot of his questions about Trotsky, my teacher and the other pupils named me MiniTrotsky. And yes, we are very afraid of MiniStalin.
There is some misunderstanding about the difference between flutes and whistles. Whistles are a group of flute-like instruments where the sound is produced by blowing through a fixed fipple or blowhole. Examples of whistles are penny whistles, recorders, and Native American flutes. One advantage of whistles is that they are easy to play, in that a tone can be produced by merely blowing in the mouthpiece. A serious disadvantage of whistles is that it is difficult for the player to modify the quality of the tone produced, which is often an airy, thin tone. Of course, if the whistle maker is expert, the sound produced can be quite acceptable, but in my opinion, not as good as the flute tone. Flutes, on the other hand, are generally side-blown (transverse) instruments. With flutes there is no fixed fipple but only an opening where a column of air from the mouth is split, with part of the column of air diving down into the flute to set up a standing wave that produces the tone. The quality of the tone is controlled by the shape and angle of the blowhole and by the embouchure, the position of the player’s mouth and lips. Once this simple technique is mastered, flutes are capable of producing a wide range of nuances and subtleties of tone that are impossible with a whistle. The transverse flute allows the performer a greater potential in terms of sound dynamics and expressiveness.
I didn’t mean to imply that mastery was a easy, but flute playing is easy for one who has mastered the process. Just watch a video of a good player. It looks effortless, like the flute is playing itself.
I can vouch for my Dixon conical 3-piece, great option for the price. Doesn’t look or sound too out of place in a session, packs up very small, and you never need to sell it (there’s always an occasion when you need a flute for hiking and camping). However, you can’t beat Tipple for price - if my last trip to Norway is anything to go by, no more than the price of a round of beers!
I’ve only tried a couple of Tipples belonging to other people so I can’t make an informed comparison. My gut feeling is I prefer the Dixon conical (conical not cylindrical) but it’s a bit more expensive.
Then again, if you prefer a 100 year old blackwood 8 key flute, there might be one over on the instrument exchange… (plug) (but you might want polymer with your climate)
Oh, yes, in addition to what I mentioned in my pm, I can recommend the German flute Mark is selling - good value for money. I overhauled it for him (but don’t have any financial interest in him selling it) and it is a very good flute of its kind.
lol. also my nickname at school as it happens (probably more to do with the Citizen Smith jacket, now lost in the mists of time as a cultural reference point). I did work with a descendant of Trotsky who was in the South African Communist Party though.
Thank you so much for the help everyone. Really looking forward to begin practicing. Who knows, maybe this MiniTrotsky will be able to play a few tunes in some months
I own a Dixon as well as a Tipple.
(but you might want polymer with your climate)