beginner's question: $100 for Tipple or $200 for Tony Dixon?

[WD-40]

Hello everybody!

I've been thinking about trying the flute lately. I play tinwhistle, but also want to have something lower-pitched and more substantial. Somehow good low whistles for the right price just didn't seem to come my way -- so here I am in the Flute Forum

Have two options right now - I can get a Tipple flute for $100, or I can buy Tony Dixon's 3-piece polymer Irish flute for $200. The later seems like a pretty nice deal if you consider the price of the new one, but I'm really not sure that I'll have any success with the flute whatsoever and will be patient enough to win the embouchure battle (and other flute-related battles, too).

That's why I need your advice - would you recommend buying the cheaper option (Tipple) just to try how it goes for me without cashing out too much, or go for the more costly option (Tony Dixon 3-piece) because it might actually improve my chances in the flute department?

Thanks in advance.

[drewr]

Although it might be tempting to go with the more inexpensive flute, keep in mind that flutes keep their re-sale value quite well. You'd likely not get more than $75 for the Tipple if you found out the flute wasn't for you and decided to sell. You'd no doubt get more than your money back for the used 3-piece Dixon polymer, however, and at this price it'd be a good investment. The Tipple is an excellent flute, with tonal quality at least as good as the Dixon, and is what many here (including myself) started on, but in your case I'd choose the Dixon.

[chas]

I haven't played a Tipple, but owned a Dixon for awhile, so I won't vote.

The Dixon is an excellent starter flute. It has a pretty deep chimney, so a very forgiving embouchure that's easy to learn on. The holes are small and easy on the hands. The sound doesn't have much of that edge that Irish fluters are after, though. I got mine as a travel flute after I'd been playing for awhile, so the sound disappointed me a little. (I've since had a Seery and an M&E, both of which I've also sold; I guess polymer just isn't my thing.) For your first year or two, that won't make a difference, though, as you'll be fighting to get a sound out of the flute and wanting something that conserves breath and is easy on the hands, all of which are characteristics of the Dixon.

[greenspiderweb]

You can get a good Irish huff from a Tipple (especially with a lip plate-but it's not necessary), and probably more volume too than the Dixon. Tipples have a lovely tone, if not a little more rounded and Boehm-like unless you do the work and make it sound Irish-like. For a beginner you will just be happy to make a nice sound on a regular basis, though. If you have small hands or short fingers, then the Dixon may be a better choice. But if you have average to large male hands, a Tipple can be a fine starter flute. It is also a lot lighter than the Dixon, or any polymer flute, which may or may not be a concern for you.

On the other hand, the Dixon, being a conical bore flute, will have the easier finger spread between holes, and will be more Irish-like in tone overall. Charilie gave a good description of the Dixon, so if that sounds more fitting for you, then go with that.

If you could afford more, there are better choices, but at the top price of $200, these two are very good, either of them-it's up to you to decide which fits you best. Good luck with your decision-but the main thing is you really can't go wrong with either (unless your hands or fingers are small), and the important thing is to just play and develop your embouchure-so either will get you started well.

[plunk111]

I've owned both - I vote Tipple... I found the Dixon to have a weak low-end - the Tipple doesn't. I play with the wedge in the Tipple, BTW.

Pat

[Henke]

I didn't vote. I played the Dixon 3pc briefly on my last visit to Ireland and was impressed particularly with it's power. Don't get me wrong, it's nothing like a big bore, large holed flute, but everyone keeps saying they are so quiet, so I was expecting a very soft and fragile sound. But the one I tried was quite powerful, it had a nice sound and I could push it to produce a nice reedy sound. Not reedy like the Seery Pratten, more mellow-reedy, but it had a nice buzz and I liked it very much.
That's based on 5 minutes of playing, and I've never even seen a Tipple in real life so I'll just go back to my
whisky

[sbfluter]

That sounds to me like a tough choice. I've heard good things about both. I've had a Tipple and I let a more experienced flute player play it and he was impressed. He's very picky, too.

I guess the thing that I would be concerned with is that you say you are looking at a flute because you couldn't find a cheap enough low whistle. A flute is not a low whistle. It's going to have a different sound and a different learning curve. You may end up liking the flute more than the whistle. Or you may find that it's too hard. It is hard, but it's worth it.

I have a Tony Dixon tunable, aluminum low D whistle that I bought new for under $150. So that's another option for you. I think he's got a plastic one, too. Something to consider.

Personally, I don't think the low whistle sounds as good as the flute when I play it, but the low whistle is beautiful and haunting in the right hands.

[Jayhawk]

I'm with Henke - the Dixon 3 piece is a nice little flute - and it's not particularly quiet. I think it's often played by people too new to really get the best out of it. I did end up selling mine, but I sold it to a professional flute player. She was recently in town at the National Flute Association convention...I'd hoped to get down to hear her play and ask her if she still had the Dixon (it was not going to be her main flute...which is a Healy), but rather a back up/travel flute that she was planning to lend to a bandmate from time to time for duets. She'd played a Seery, M&E, and a Dixon 3 piece...and she preferred the Dixon.

Eric

[WD-40]

Yes, I understand perfectly that a flute isn't a low whistle (or a high one, for that matter ), but at the current state of things the only fact that matters for me is that they both play in the same register. I guess it's pretty hard to describe to a non-playing person how each of these different instruments feels like, so I'll probably have to try both out myself (and I don't think that 5 minutes tooting at a session would be enough to make up my mind).

I'm also aware that there are some low-cost (~ 100$) options for low whistles, too, but found none that would really interest me enough.

Maybe I'd better get a cheaper flute now and add a low whistle to it a bit later, so that I could compare these two instrument types (roughly) and decide for myself what I like better.

[JSCWhistler]

I started out on a Dixon, not sure if it's the same one, but I'm not too fond of it anymore. All I get out of it is an airy, weak, plain sound. I would recommend the Tipple.

[Henke]

I started out on a Dixon, not sure if it's the same one, but I'm not too fond of it anymore. All I get out of it is an airy, weak, plain sound. I would recommend the Tipple.

I think that would be the Dixon 2pc or 1pc pvc flute, not the one we talk about in this thread. The one you talk about is notoriously difficult to play, but since you have it, I'd say practice on it. It will make you a much better fluter, it did to me, and trust me, it is possible to get a strong, clear sound.

Guess I'll have to wait til friday with my strong, clear
whisky

[SteveB]

I owned both a Tipple and a 3-piece Dixon prior to getting my 1st wooden flute. I sounded equally inept on both, however found the Tipple the easier and more gratifying of the two to play. But I also found that the Dixon, being conical, behaves and responds to the player's input more like a "real" Irish flute than the Tipple. Adjusting to the standard flute grip is also easier due to the smaller, more closely spaced holes (I know that playing flat fingered is perfectly fine, but let's not into that arguement here!). So, if your objective is to get a starter flute with a view to eventually moving on to "proper" Irish flute, I'd lean towards the Dixon. But if you want an opinion as to which is the "better" instrument in-and-of-itself, I'd probably have to tip my hat to the Tipple.

regards,

SteveB

[Doug_Tipple]

I'm not discussing my flute or any other flute here, but I do want to give my opinion of what an instrument for a beginner should be like. First of all, it should be easy to play. I'm not a believer in starting with an instrument that is hard to play, such as high strings on a stringed instrument or a difficult embouchure on a woodwind. These kind of difficulties do more to frustrate and dissuade the beginner than anything else. I have seen "student" stringed instruments (guitar, mandolin, violin, etc.) that were setup so that even an advanced player wouldn't want to play them because they are just too difficult to play. Secondly, the instrument should be as responsive as possible, considering the cost, etc. I have a couple of lower-cost instruments that I avoid picking up because I am not satisfied with the they respond to the touch or to the breath. It is a joy to learn to play an instrument that is easy to play and is responsive. If at all possible as a beginner, have a teacher or someone who is player help you in making a selection of a suitable instrument to start your studies. In a virtual sense, that is what this thread is all about.

[Cork]

...If at all possible as a beginner, have a teacher or someone who is player help you in making a selection of a suitable instrument to start your studies...

That ^ and a few lessons can go a long, long way toward getting started.

Try thinking of a flute as being a bag of many little tricks, where a teacher could be of great help.

;-)

[dontf]

all those considerations aside, my first flute was indeed a Tipple and it got me going without breaking the bank, when I decided I needed something better it was nice to be able to pass on the Tipple to someone else who was interested. Don