...but will it blend?

[Elfforce1]

I have a question that has kinda of been pestering me. Would a keyed irish style flute blend with the modern boehm flute, assuming both being tuned to a440? I really like having 6 open holes and now find it hard to go back to my old boehm flute. Eventually, I want to replace my boehm with a keyed irish style flute. I mostly play solo, but there are times where I could join the flute section of a casual, non professional, volunteer group, like at church for example and would like to use my flute of choice. Thanks for the input.

[Akiba]

Yes.

[MTGuru]

Would a keyed irish style flute blend with the modern boehm flute

Blend how? It depends.

For the specific situation of a timber flute playing the same trad tune along with a silver Boehn flute, I'd say not unless the Boehm is played with very particular attention and deliberate practice to cultivating it into a trad style - e.g. à la Joanie Madden. With respect to some of the examples of trad-on-Boehm I've seen referenced here on the board, the Boehm flute would tend to undermine the distinctive timber flute articulation, resulting in a blanded-out blend.

But if talking about substituting timber flute to play non-trad in a generic or classical way with other Boehm flutes, then why not. A good timber flute can certainly hold its own in that context.

[dunnp]

I'm not sure how well this blends anything but it sure is fun:
two of the wackiest playersout there one boehm one dave williams, I think
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbJ1Qaho4rE

[Elfforce1]

When I said blend, I meant like not stick out and sound bad. Again, I normally play alone, but with my siblings getting closer to middle school, they might start picking up instruments and if the church my parents switched to has any kind of music program (don't know as I'm out of the country), than potentially that could be an opportunity to play too. Thanks for the help, open holes for the win!

[Cubitt]

I would recommend against it. IMO, the characteristics that distinguish a wooden simple-system flute don't work well with a Boehm because the Boehm will be louder, brighter in tone and sharper in clarity. Although not as dramatic a difference, I would compare it to an electric guitar playing with an accoustic where both are playing lead. Maybe it will work, but unless you want to showcase the contrasting sound, I wouldn't recommend depending upon it working.

[jim stone]

IMO, fwiw, totally subjective, etc.
Pratten flutes seem to me to blend better with a mix of instruments than do rudalls, especially the lovely open warm low notes of the Pratten.

[JackCampin]

The differences in tone quality and articulation are trivial compared with the differences between either and a melodeon or fiddle. So obviously if that previous assertion were true you shouldn't ever play with anybody who has even a slightly different instrument to your own.

Sorry, but that's nuts.

Intonation is the biggie. There are a lot of keyless flutes and whistles out there with such appalling intonation they should never be played anywhere except alone in a padded room, but they still insist on joining in with other people. Sometimes the player is otherwise good enough to get away with it. More often, not.

A Boehm will usually have reasonably accurate intonation, so at least you'll be in tune with the free-reed and fiddle players.

[mutepointe]

I would encourage you to play whichever flute that you want to play at church. If you're going out in the country, there may be few musicians and they may appreciate what you bring. It's all about working it to make it blend.

We're in a small city in West Virginia. Our current folk group at church is an electronic keyboard, an electric bass, my wife sings, and I play an assortment of instruments (12 string acoustic, simple flute, boehm flute, whistle, ocarina, and harmonica). What I play depends on which works the best. Although we're a folk group, we play everything from traditional to classical to folk. We're going to be working on some chant here real soon. I hope it works.

We were surprised the electric bass blended well, it's the person. There have been times that acoustic guitar players didn't blend. It was the person then too.

[Gordon]

I would encourage you to play whichever flute that you want to play at church. If you're going out in the country, there may be few musicians and they may appreciate what you bring. It's all about working it to make it blend.

We were surprised the electric bass blended well, it's the person. There have been times that acoustic guitar players didn't blend. It was the person then too.

Not a moot point, Mutepoint.. The best point so far, I think; it is all about working on the blend, and whether the player(s) can make that happen. I've seen/heard it work between silver and wood, and have seen/heard it not work between wooden flutes.