Best flute options for beginners

[kkrell]

That said, all of the flutes you mention would serve you quite well. I've played or owned all but the Somers, but players on this board I trust have given the Somers good reviews.Eric

Yup. Although I prefer the Somers Rudall.

[tin tin]

One thing that the responses I've read have overlooked is that you have 18 years of Boehm flute experience. I also converted to 'Irish' flute after about 15 years of Boehm flute playing, and I was and remain (10 years later) delighted with my Copley flute. I've also been impressed with Rob Forbes' work--either one will give you years of pleasure.

[psychodonald]

I have an M&E 8 keyed Ebonite which I enjoy, it's a nice flute especially for the price I paid. Also have a Rob Forbes delrin and it's a nice flute, he incorporates a rubber O ring system on his flutes that I like. My Forbes is well made and has a nice tone ( I think he has a waiting list of several months if I'm not mistaken).

I live in an environment similar to what you have described and I own several timber flutes and have never experienced a problem with any of them. I do keep them well maintained and humidified; however, it's not a big deal taking care of them, in my opinion. In fact, I think that giving them good care inhances my interest in the flute and the music, as crazy as that might sound. I prefer the timber flutes, I like the way they feel and sound; however, if I'm out hiking or camping I will generally take the plastic flutes rather than the wood.

Also prefer keyed over non keyed. As has been stated several times, it isn't necessary to have keys to play most ITM. In my opinion, it sure makes it nice and gives you a wider range of songs to play and I have yet to figure out how to finger an Eb on the D flute. Of course, adding keys will increase the cost of your flute and I find that the addition of 6 keys is all that I will most likely ever need.

I don't know if any of this will be of any value in helping you to make a decision. At any rate, welcome to the wonderful world of the simple system flute ("Celtic", "Irish" flute) and this forum. I think you'll find folks here very helpful with just about any questions that you might have. Enjoy the journey!

[flynnieous]

Where in Australia are you? It may behoove you to get to know Terry McGee and his flutes. Even if you don't buy one of his flutes, you'll learn a lot about them.

[karl]

I'd recommend Tony Millyard. Iv'e played two of his flutes and in my opinion they are excellent. Don't take his low prices to mean low quality. I believe he should be selling them for more. You can also have keys fitted at a later date if you find you want them. His website has sound samples and links to Matt Dean playing them on youtube.

For transparency, I'm not associated with Tony in anyway, just giving my opinion on the two flutes of his I've played. I'm basing my views/comparison on flutes I've owned or still own, which are two Olewlls, Terry McGee GLP, and a Martin Doyle. All of which are excellent flutes.

[megapop]

The way things go around here is that if this thread has legs and enough members sign in to share their thoughts you will in the end have a rather complete list of all the polymer flute makers out there. And we are well on our way already.

... and way beyond. People already start suggesting flute makers who don't even make poly flutes, and / or flutes that can by no means be considered within the OP's price range.

@seonag: If it's the M&E that took your fancy in the first place, I'd say go for it! There will always be other options to consider.

[dow]

[crawling up out of the dark to voice an opinion]

Here's what I did. When I started out, I couldn't afford much, AND I wasn't sure that I REALLY wanted to pursue the disease... err... instrument. So I bought a D flute from Doug Tipple. PVC, well made, a little long in the stretch, but you'll need to adjust to that if you're moving from boehm flutes anyway. Then after I played that for a year or so, I ordered a keyless flute from Terry McGee. Lovely man, fantastic flutes. While I was waiting on that to be made, I bought a mopane Casey Burns folk flute second hand off of a chiffer here. Also a great flute, and definitely worth the money. Nowadays, I play an antique William Hall & Son cocus that was resurrected by Jon Cornia. Couldn't be happier. Over the years I've played a couple of delrin flutes, and the ones I played were fine. I guess what I'm really after is that NONE of the flutes I have owned were particularly expensive. The most I paid for one was the one from Terry, and it was one of his less expensive models. Keys? Yes, the Hall flute has them, and I love them, but honestly, I don't use them much. As was mentioned before most Irish tunes can be played without keys, and most keyless flutes will crossfinger just fine with the notable exception of Eb, which Just Won't Work for me, regardless of the flute.

We all have some kind of climatic issues with our flutes if we play wood. If you go with Delrin, then you can laugh at the rest of us. However, for me, playing a wooden flute is worth the occasional irritation of a tight or loose tenon. Keep them oiled and you shouldn't have any problems.

Welcome to the ITM world. Find yourself a flute and go after it. An interesting thing that I've observed is that after all the bragging is done over this maker or that maker, we all tend to sound pretty much like ourselves regardless of which maker's flute we're playing, once we've warmed up to the flute in question.

[/opinion voiced. crawling back into the dark where I belong]

[psychodonald]

Well said Dow.

[seonag]

Well... it turns out that I've decided to go with the M&E flute after all.
I think it seems like the lowest maintenance option that still sounds decent - the clincher was that it has no cork or thread in the joints (just polymer) and I think for a total beginner, that seems less threatening than anything requiring care.
I feel stretched for time at the moment, so easy and stress-free means I'm more likely to use it.
I really just want something that I can get quickly, and that I can leave on the desk to pick up and play whenever I feel like, without worrying about maintenance to speak of (or whether the kids will damage it, etc). The M&E sounds like a good option from those points of view.
Once I have a clear idea of whether I like the flute and what features I want, I'll start saving for a better flute (possibly with keys, possibly timber - the options seem to be endless, but hopefully I'll have more idea of what I'm looking for by then).
I think half the battle was making any kind of decision (it was starting to look like I was going to order nothing just because of indecision ), so now I'm ready to order it I'm hugely excited!!
Thanks again so much for all the advice - it was very much appreciated! (And wish me luck!)

[Jayhawk]

I think you will be happy.

[Caspermilktoast]

I came from 15 years on the Bohem flute as well. I ended up buying a blackwood flute from Tony Millyard but I did play an M&E before I decided on it. The M&E is a really great flue and I would have kept it if it was made of wood. I just like the thought of wood, im not against delrin.

One thing I will stress to you is you really have to blow different into an Irish flute. I knew this going in but didn't fully implement it, so I was getting frustrated. You have to blow more downward. For me it involved dropping the flute a bit to the cleft in my chin. Just giving you a heads up so you don't get frustrated like I did.

Enjoy

[seonag]

Thanks Caspermilktoast, I didn't know that... I'll have to experiment a bit.

The M&E arrived a day or two ago and I'm really happy with it as a starting instrument. I had a good strong sound from it straight away, and can play some tunes, although it's taking quite a bit to adjust to covering all the holes properly, etc.
It's a lot of fun, I think I'm going to love the Irish flute.

[Jayhawk]

Excellent! Welcome to the archaic dark side of the flute world!

[sligofluter]

Congratulations, I´m absolutly in love with my polimer keyless M&E.

Is a great instrument, not hard to play and with high volume and perfect tone. And the best, it is cheap

Enjoy it.

[Peter Duggan]

Keep them oiled and you shouldn't have any problems.

Not the whole story when you need to keep them adequately hydrated as well and neither oiling nor hydration in isolation is likely to give your flute everything it needs. Oil to protect the bore surface (and outside too if you like), but hydrate to keep the wood at stable dimensions...