Carbon fiber conical flutes

[Jon C.]

Has anyone played one of these?
http://www.carbony.com/Flutes.htm

[Denny]

there's been, I think, three threads: in chronological order

Carbon Fiber Flute (Carbony from Pipe Maker's Union, LLC)

Clip and first impression of Carbony flute #2(?)

Lets try another Carbony Flute Tour

[Sillydill]

Hey Jon,

Man, Denny you're just to fast!

I thought the material had good properties, but it wasn't a good design (hopefully it has evolved since then).

[Jon C.]

Hey Jon,

Man, Denny you're just to fast!

I thought the material had good properties, but it wasn't a good design (hopefully it has evolved since then).

A traditional 8 key block mounted version would be cool...

[jemtheflute]

Co-incidentally, the following appeared today via the near-defunct Woodenflute mailing list:

During a visit to the North American Comholtas conference in St. Louis, I met
Rob Gandara, an MIT-trained engineer who is fashioning flutes and whistles out
of carbon. All are great instruments, at very reasonable prices.

His D is a Rudall style bore with a complex taper, resulting in excellent
tuning through the range, and true-sounding c-naturals with cross-fingering in
both octaves. He undercuts the tone holes and has a nice chimney on the
blow-hole, so that the instrument is easy to fill with no 'dead spots' in the
first two octaves. On this model, the tone hole edges are left sharp, a
feature I appreciate to give plenty of feedback to my fingers. It is made in
two pieces with O-rings on the tenon connecting the head-joint, and a metal
sleeve to reinforce the head joint socket. Rob has a metal end-cap on it,
nicely engraved with his logo. There is no screw connection to the cork,
requiring a wooden dowel for adjustment, but this is a minor concern. I
bought one as an anytime, any-weather flute. Margie Mulvihill took one home
and plans to recommend them to her children progressing to flute. It is
priced under 500.00 U.S.
The Eb version I bought has a straight thinned body with a more bulbous
head-joint. On this model, the tone-hole edges were smoothed, which seems to
work fine for me and makes half-holing a snap. This is an instrument that has
a high-pressure feel, one you can drive really hard for lots of fifing
effects. Both Sean Gavin and I felt this was a terrific instrument for
channeling Leitrim-style tune masters. I bought the Eb; Sean has an F. I
could hear him playing great tunes on it later in the Hilton lobby, a great
distraction from the constant onslaught of storms over the weekend. Rob's
new Eb's are designed a bit differently, a response from previous owners who
were concerned the body was too thin to hold. I didn't find that a problem.
Anyway, the F is made with the thin-body design and will perform very
similarly to the Eb I described. In a simpler finish than the D (no 0-rings
in the one joint) it is under 300.00

Finally, Rob has made a thin-walled carbon whistle with a tapered body. The
head-joint is reminiscent of the Clarke whistles Micheal Copeland helped to
design, with good reason: Rob consulted with Copeland. The top of the
mouthpiece can be finished in various colors. This is a great whistle for
those of us who love old Clarkes. The bottom D, while not strong, will
support a lot of breath pressure with resultant rich overtones. The upper
octave is very much in tune with the first, and the 2,3, cross-fingering for
the first c-natural is in tune. The instrument provides satisfying vibration
through the body as it is played. It is, of course, feather-light. I also
like the way Rob finished the bottom, with a bit of a dip in the 'hem', very
stylish. This is not a cheap whistle at 185.00, but for those who like
conical-bore instruments, you won't be disappointed. The carbon looks very
stylish on all the models, and the finish is left just a little short of
high-polished so you are unlikely to have problems with grip slippage as the
night wears on.

Contact Rob at www.carbony.com He is located in Oregon.

Frank

I trust Frank won't mind me forwarding his post here.

[plunk111]

I remember testing one when they first came out - it had some pretty serious flaws, as I recall. Tone wasn't great, but not TOO bad, but it didn't have a cross-fingered C-nat - a big problem for me! All fingers up was C#, but any fingers down made it go below C-nat. I assume he's fixed this problem by now since he's selling them.

Pat

[Denny]

Co-incidentally, the following appeared today

I rather expected that and the other two posts were what got Jon started.

Man, Denny you're just to fast!

forty-five minutes? fast?

[ancientfifer]

This clip from the Carbony flutes website:
http://youtu.be/5v-_Sz3S1Sc

[Sillydill]

Hey Denny,

I was going to post before you did, but while I was digging up the links you posted.

Making my links superfluous!


Glad to hear the Carbony flute's design has evolved!

[Denny]

ah, so it was really you...

[Jon C.]

A post on woodenflute.com got me started...

[Aanvil]

I did Jon.

One of the early ones.

It was total crap.

I actually liked the his low D whistle. But that was an early model too. It had an aluminum head and it made it really crazy top heavy.

If he's continued to improve his design I'd love to try a new one.

It's a weird material though.

I'm sure it has a really small radar cross section.

It probably looks like your are playing a needle on the scope.

[MadmanWithaWhistle]

I've had the opportunity to play some Carbony instruments at the local highland games, and they're pretty cool instruments, between the good sound and the cool material, but they are massively overpriced for what they are. For the kind of money they are asking you could easily get a much, much better flute or whistle. I consider them more of a novelty than an actual professional instrument.

[highland-piper]

One of the early ones.

[snip]

If he's continued to improve his design I'd love to try a new one.

Rob had a booth at a highland games last month and it was raining on the 2nd day so few people were around. I talked with him for a long time. He sounds like he's the sort of fellow who believes that a product can (and should) always be made better. He spent a bit of time telling me how the design has evolved over time, but not being a flute player I wouldn't try to relay any of that.

I did give the D flute a blow and I managed to play two octaves and a bit of a tune without much trouble. I thought it sounded nice and was easy to blow. Since I don't play flute I don't know if that means anything.

I have one of his low G whistles and I like it a lot.

[apossibleworld]

I've had the opportunity to play some Carbony instruments at the local highland games, and they're pretty cool instruments, between the good sound and the cool material, but they are massively overpriced for what they are. For the kind of money they are asking you could easily get a much, much better flute or whistle. I consider them more of a novelty than an actual professional instrument.

Some people feel that carbon fiber is a material with unique qualities that may be particularly well-suited to making a flute from. Plastic flutes can approach wood at their best, but other materials can offer musical elements that there's no other way to get. I'm not saying I feel this way, nor that the builder of the Carbony flutes does, but it does at least deserve some exploration.

http://www.matitflutes.com/