Need feedback/reviews of Terry McGee keyed timber flutes

[jim stone]

I guess one wants to be careful, as we can do
makers harm and certainly not make their day.
Also I don't think my negative observations
are particularly reliable, not knowing much
about flutes. Maybe the flute I can't
play is a great flute. Also the fear that a problem
which is a blip will be taken for the rule.
Actually have trouble knowing what
to make of negative comments.

[CeltiCaite]

OOPS , I goofed in my last post. I haven't quite got the hang of quoting from posts yet, and I was trying to keep in mind what Rama posted, and forget what I wanted to say!

I think I know where s/he (?) was going with it. But after all, a maker should be confident in his own product. We know what his opinion of his work is, what I'm looking for is how people who have played his flutes and compared them to others think about them.
Also, I'm not trying to start a war. I thought this might be a good place for honest dialogue. I would hope that if the makers of these instruments were aware of a common complaint or flaw in their instruments from the hoi polloi who plunk down big bucks and actively play their instruments, they would take a look at the problem and thus improve....

[jim stone]

We've had wars over this sort of thing, I'm afraid.
Many people are fiercely loyal to a flute, and sometimes
to the maker himself.

[skh]

I would hope that if the makers of these instruments were aware of a common complaint or flaw in their instruments from the hoi polloi who plunk down big bucks and actively play their instruments, they would take a look at the problem and thus improve....

I have never heard from a maker who doesn't. I think most of this feedback goes directly from the player to the maker, and from what I've heard on this board, most (if not all) makers will try and adjust the instrument to the personal preference of the customer if he or she is not happy with the instrument after purchase. A public board is probably not the right place for this discussion, especially if the makers don't read it.

So, while I didn't start this thread, I wouldn't be interested in hearing which maker is bad or perfect, but rather for which kind of player, for which style of playing his(*) flutes are well or not so well suited, and one way to find that out is to ask people what they look for in a flute, and if they found it in model A from maker B. I don't know how this question would start a war, but lesser incidents have caused them, I know.

cheers,

Sonja


(*) Are there really no female flute makers?

[jim stone]

I do think flute makers are reading this board.
It isn't that one must never say anything negative,
only that care, skill and sensitivity are in order.
Inviting negative comments about Acme flutes
may not be the way to go--no blame, of course.

And, as always, negative comments need to
be carefully expressed. 'Acme flutes suck,'
is not good. 'I didn't like the embouchure
on the one Acme flute I played, however
that was in 1844 and they may well have
improved' is better.

[herbivore12]

I play a McGee R&R with the new traditional-look modern embouchure design; got it from Eilam, on this board, and am happy with it.

It is (surprisingly) loud, flexible, responsive; a very good flute. It sounds like a trad wood flute, not like a Boehm; better players than I am get a big, ballsy Irish tone out of it.

It's easy to play, and the embouchure *is* more forgiving than some others I've tried. I suppose one could either look at this as an advantage or a disadvantage. Since I'm not looking at this flute as a "beginner" flute, but as a full-blown instrument, I don't find anything wrong with it being easy to play, especially since it's capable of such a wide variety of tone colors, including the reedy Irish sound most of us are after most of the time. If you're looking at a McGee as something to play on your way to a Grinter or Olwell or Wilkes or something, maybe you'd want to play something with a slightly less forgiving embouchure. I don't know, but I expect there are as many opinions about that on this board as there are members. . .

If I have any reservations, it's only this; it's an elegant, thinnish flute, and I'm finding that a bigger, meatier flute is more comfortable for me to hold over long periods, for some reason. I may eventually pick up a different flute as well, to experiment with whether the size of the thing (in diameter) makes a big enough difference for me to consider switching to a different instrument. For now, I find my polymer more comfortable to hold, but of inferior sound quality to the McGee.

To that end, a minor hijack: Anyone know of a Rudall design that's a bit meatier than Terry's flutes? Or will I have to go to a Pratten (like Hammy's) for something with more size?

--Aaron

[jim stone]

About female flute makers, Desi Seery's daughter, before
her untimely demise, made the bodies of his flutes;
Dave Copley's wife, Marlene, makes the silver
keys.

Maybe there are some women who just do the
whole job--that I'm not aware of them means little.
There are women whistlesmiths.

If I may speculate, it seems that one of the ways
that people get into this business is that they
are trained in a hard science like metallurgy,
or they're engineers, or they are machinists.
But they have the souls of artists, they love celtic
music, and so they begin to make flutes
or whistles. Well, for whatever reasons,
women aren't so well represented in these
disciplines.

The women I've known who were craftsfolk
came into it through fine arts, as in silversmithing
and ceramics. FWIW.

[kkrell]

About female flute makers, Desi Seery's daughter, before
her untimely demise, made the bodies of his flutes;

Desi made the Delrin flutes brought into the U.S. by Frank Simpson, and the wood flutes, keyed flutes, pipes, whistles, etc.

Natasha was learning the trade, and she setup a shop in the Galway area. She was providing flutes to Custy's, and she was indeed turning the bodies for those. Desi was teaching her how to cut the headjoints, and so he was still voicing all flutes individually. Desi's son is taking over Natasha's lathe and may now be getting involved.

Kevin Krell, Seery webmaster

[glauber]

Here's a sample of whats on McGee's website :
So what's next? How about:

"The Greatest Grinter Ever" flute by Terry McGee ?
"The Olwell Corrected" flute by Terry McGee ?
"A Way Better Wilkes" flute by Terry McGee ?
"I make the best flutes in the world....and I'm humble too" ?

You can subscribe to WOODENFLUTE and ask him yourself! He told me he was working now on the Pratten Orgasmic.

How many top players play his flutes?

127, last time i counted.

g

[CeltiCaite]

Inviting negative comments about Acme flutes
may not be the way to go--no blame, of course.

And, as always, negative comments need to
be carefully expressed. 'Acme flutes suck,'
is not good. 'I didn't like the embouchure
on the one Acme flute I played, however
that was in 1844 and they may well have
improved' is better.

Jim, I have to disagree: I think inviting negative comments is absolutely appropriate in this situation. After all, we live in a world of "Caveat Emptor". If I'm going to spend several K $ on a flute from a maker half way round the world (he's in Australia, I'm in North Carolina), I certainly want to know the pros and cons from people who have played them.
But your point about tact/diplomacy is well taken. I hope we can all be civil!

[jim stone]

Just to play the devil's advocate for a bit ( [icon_devil_local.gif] ): Are there any negatives or reservations any of you have about his work?

This, for me, is asking for trouble. Requesting that the messages
be sent PM is fine. Again I'm not opposed to criticisms
being expressed onboard too, in the course of
a discussion.

[Pan]

I decided after a long time to go with a McGee flute.

There are several reasons for that.

1- No one can show me as much information about flutes as Terry does
on his site.

2- I had the opportunity to play the Euro RAF for a week.

3- As far as I know few if any makers has several old flutes in their collection AND has made a world tour to investigate play and measure old flutes.

4- I went to Michael Eskins site and listened to his flute clips and prefered the sound of his McGee before the Hammy and M&E.

The greatest thing of all was the chance to play the RAF because after that Terry and I have a common reference to center our discussion around. I chosed a different flute than the RAF, not because I didn´t like it but because I am after a slightly different sound.

I had never played a transverse flute before the RAF, but after a couple of hours I could play both octaves about as good as I play on my low whistles.
IOW Terrys flutes are relatively easy to play, don´t know if that is purely a good thing.

/Peter

[Pan]

Oh, thought I should mention that there is a woman in Australia I think, that makes "irish flutes". If my memory serves me she makes polymer flutes.

/Peter

[glauber]

How many top players play his flutes?

127, last time i counted.

Ooops! Make that 126. One just got demoted to second tier for playing Danny Boy.

[rama]

To Pan,
All of the top makers have done their research all over the world, have owned antique flutes themselves, have plenty experience and knowledge, but they have established themselves thru their own name and reputation.

To everyone,
Please everyone, order McGee flutes, that'll free up the waitng lists for the other makers.

Happy Toots,
r