Flute Buying

[Flexismart]

For a flute that plays well in tune, and is made of wood within your stated price concerns, you'd probably need to take a chance on a used one. (Often, you'll find affordable antique German flutes that look marvelous but are miserable to play, or listen to, because of crazy internal tuning that makes them useless as player's instruments.) Bear in mind, when you're looking at modern flutes, you will want a tuning slide and rings, which typically increases the cost. If you don't want those features you'll save quite a bit of money, but in my experience, eventually, you'll want them. Before you decide, be sure you understand the difference between a "Rudall" build and a "Pratten" build. It makes a difference in A) Tone, B) Reach, and C) cost (more silver involved in a Rudall)

If you want a maker who is contemporary and is in your price range you should look to:

http://www.francoisbaubet.com/p/blog-page.html
Francois has Delrin flutes for Euro 350 - 400
He has videos and photographs of his flutes and is a reputable and unique maker of flutes in the Galway area.
(I have a Baubet Eb short foot flute on order at the moment.)
or
https://www.thompsonflutes.com/about
Damian Thompson who also makes flutes in Delrin in the price range you're asking about, located in the Sligo area.
and
https://www.copleyflutes.com/catalog.html
Dave Copley makes a keyless Delrin flute for about USD 450 with Sterling Silver rings but no tuning slide (which, honestly, you'll want).
Copely is located in Ohio, USA

About Delrin: The material looks very much like Blackwood but is not susceptible to humidity in the environment. Changes in humidity are the main causes of cracking. It is a bit heavier than Blackwood, but modern flute makers are aware of this and tend to make the instruments a bit thinner to keep them weighted properly. It is, indeed, a plastic compound that has several advantages, and if made by a sensitive flute maker, is virtually indistinguishable in tone from a wooden flute of identical size.

I have owned many, many traditional flutes. Of these I found Seery flutes were very heavy. McGee flutes were light and very much akin to wooden flutes, but a touch more expensive than your budget. I also play whistles, and have found that Delrin whistles, if made properly (OZ whistles) are far superior to other whistles of similar quality and build.

[an seanduine]

I would just add one little element to this discussion. Music in the Glen you currently play a silver flute, what we mis-call a Boehm Flute. There is a great deal of standardization in the ´cut´ of the embouchure, particularly with the student and intermediate silver flutes. This is not the case in the world of wooden conic flutes. So you not only have an axis of variation from ´Prattanesque´ or larger bored, larger holed flutes, and ´Rudallesque´ or smaller bore, smaller holed flutes, but quite a spread from maker to maker with what is a ´good embouchure cut.´ See this blog posting from Hammy Hamilton where he discusses some of what I am on about:https://hammy-flutemaker.blogspot.com/s ... embouchure

Bob

[bigsciota]

I have a flute by David Angus. His are around the 200 pound range (hes in the UK), and I've had no issues with shipping. I got it because, it was one of the only actual wood ones I could get, and is cheaper than most Delrin ones. How his compares to ones like Seery, M&E, etc, I'm not sure. If anyone has played his whos a bit more knowledgable, I'm interested to know how his compare. I'm primarily a whistle player. But from my minimal experience, it seems good. Which could make it a good option if you really want the wood look like I did. But there's other very reputable Delrin flute makers that could be better.

With all due respect to Davy Angus, whose instruments I have played, I don't think his flutes are the right choice for someone interested in playing Irish music and looking for a first simple system flute. Angus' expertise and main trade in in fifes, and he does those pretty well, but his "folk flutes" don't really compare to other Irish flutes on the market. By "don't really compare" I'm not so much making a quality judgement as pointing out that most Irish flutes have certain characteristics, are modeled on certain antique makes (usually Rudall or Pratten or similar), and are made to produce a particular sound that is well-suited to the standard Irish sound. Angus' flutes don't really fall into this category. With OP's stated budget they'd be better off getting something more "standard" for Irish music.

OP, for the upper end of your range you can get a Gil Lehart flute, made in France (so within the EU for you). Excellent flutes, I play one as my main flute. Looks like a D goes for €820 new right now. You're going to get a lot of individual recommendations like this given that everyone's got their preferences, but a Lehart flute is one that you likely wouldn't feel the need to "upgrade," unlike some of the more commonly-recommended flutes generally sold as "starter flutes."

[Geoffrey Ellis]

...what we mis-call a Boehm Flute.

Is the silver flute not considered a Boehm flute?

[GreenWood]

...what we mis-call a Boehm Flute.

Is the silver flute not considered a Boehm flute?

Considered and called, but I think to be more accurate it should be "Boehm system flute".

Radcliff flutes for example, if it isn't an original (and even if it were) then someone might say a Radcliff system flute. Boehm made simple system conical bore flutes also...I mean when someone says a Boehm flute they are really saying "a flute made by Boehm" which usually isn't the case...even though most people would guess what was meant.

?

It's funny that around where Boehm came from they don't use his name though, or at least OP didn't. Modesty, or maybe there is a certain ring to "silver flute" ?



[Ed.in. Being in the US and under the dollar, maybe you would understand the appeal of silver to Germans though ?

https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Joachimsthaler

Which is where the dollar originated. Possibly a flute in his hand there, everything being more rugged in those days ]

[Music in the Glen]

Sorry for not responding so long....
All very good advice, thank you!
To the Silver/Boehm flute: I have indeed no idea, what the difference is. In German, you call this instrument "Querflöte", wich literally is translates to "flute" in English, so I think many people use the term "silver flute" to make clear that it's not a flute from wood, delrin or whatever. I have not enough experience in classical music or in the history of the flute to tell if there's a difference between a silver and a boehm flute, that's just how I used the word here.

[marshwren]

An seanduine, Greenwood: Respectfully, I disagree. “Boehm flute” is perfectly acceptable usage, as is “silver flute,” when differentiating it from other kinds of flutes in English. I personally prefer saying Boehm flute, as it calls to mind its whole suite of essential characteristics (very large holes! Cylindrical bore! Tapered head joint! linked keys! Invented by Theobold Böhm!) rather than a characteristic (made of silver) that is merely extremely common— they can, after all, be made of wood, other metals, even plastic. Obviously, Böhm made other flutes— and when someone wants to talk about them, they can just specify which one, because outside certain niches people don’t think about them at all, worthy instruments though they were. Probably the most “proper” name for the instrument is the “concert flute” or the “Western concert flute” but the conical bore flutes we’re usually talking about here are called “concert flutes” as well. So silver flute, Boehm flute, whatever. These terms are only really relevant when one is in a space talking about multiple kinds of flute anyway.

Querflöte literally means traverse flute— which for the majority of people in Europe and the Americas is the contemporary Western concert flute— as opposed to a flute that’s held vertically, Längsflöte, with the Blokflöte, what’s called a recorder in English, being the one most people are familiar with. There are ways of differentiating fipple flutes and rim blown flutes and all the rest, but that’s a whole other thing. And just like in English, when you start talking about other kinds of transverse flute, like we’re doing here, you have to be more specific. “Boehmflöte” and “Böhmflöte” and variations of that are occasionally used, mostly in older sources from what I’ve seen.

Music in the Glen:
I’d also check out Vincenzo di Mauro, based in Ireland. I haven’t played his flutes, but I’ve heard them played well. Good luck.

[GreenWood]

An seanduine, Greenwood: Respectfully, I disagree. “Boehm flute” is perfectly acceptable usage, as is “silver flute,”....

For my part I don't find that as disagreement. It is only semantics really, or abbreviation. Looking through catalogs and texts, R,C&Co have it labelled "Cylinder flute, parabola headjoint, Boehm's system" ... a 1911 text calls "Boehm's construction" as "known as the cylinder flute with the parabolic head".

So "Boehm system" (all of it) , and I would say that was definitely parabola and keys and tonehole layout (because other makers were already balancing out venting previously) , both became abbreviated as "Boehm" as well as being used to describe any flute with those characteristics, whether made by Boehm, under licence or otherwise. The original cylinder flutes are so outnumbered now that if you want to refer to one you might say "original Boehm" or "made by".

Therefore "Boehm flute" is as acceptable as it is understood, but if Seanduin or anyone considers it mis-called, then they are also right due to the confusion created by not adding "system" . In short by that view it would be saying that Boehm made that flute, not that that flute was built to Boehm's system.

I don't say any of this to argue or nitpick, just to emphasise that "Boehm flute" will carry a different meaning for some people and according to normal convention, and as long as that is the case then it will remain mis-called, if only for the confusion that therefore exists.