Who is the best pratten style flute maker??

[moo jin Lee]

Stéphane Morvan flute is good flute??
I heard to Stéphane Morvan flute sound on Youtube.
That is good sound.

Who is the best pratten style flute maker by Hammy Hamilton and Stéphane Morvan and Patrick Owell's flute?

[Feadoggie]

Who is the best pratten style flute maker(?)

I'd say John Hudson. But you might want to ask this question over on the Flute Forum. (oh, Mr. Moderator?)

I would not trust YouTube videos to make such a judgement. Because one player can make a certain flute sound great does not mean it will sound the same in your hands. If you like the sound of that player, I would submit that that player could pick up a number of flutes from other makers and sound substantially similar.

I would suggest you play each flute and decide which flute is best for you. People are different, they play different, their mouths are different. Because one flute works best for me, it may not be at all suitable for you. There is no "best" flute, in my opinion. There are a lot of very good flutes.

The makers you mention all make good flutes. I would prefer Olwell out of those you mention. There are a number of other very good makers out there as well.

Feadoggie

[kkrell]

Ooooh, dangerous territory. It always depends on your own comfort handling any flute, and whether you can achieve the playability/responsiveness and tonal quality you seek.

In my opinion, Hammy Hamilton. I have played a number of them, and Olwells, but I have not tried a Stéphane Morvan flute. Pipemaker Seth Gallagher also makes a nice one, playing and sounding I think very like a Hamilton. There is one cocus Olwell that I particularly liked, but none of the others have convinced me of any need to switch, either. The Olwells were all very good flutes in their own right, though, top of the line.

Here are some samples:

Orlaith McAuliffe on a Hamilton:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBRlx9-WFF8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urBS6_p66Mg

John Skelton & Kiernan O'Hare, both on Olwells:
Audio samples of the "Double Barrelled" CD
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/skeltonohare

[RudallRose]

I'd say John Hudson.
Feadoggie

Awww, man, I was gonna say that!

Great great answer!

[rama]

looks like you have more of an interest in the morvan flute? they are a hybrid of pratten and rudall. there is the power of a pratten and the sweetness of a rudall blended together. it lends itself to alot of color in the tone. probably the most interesting sounding of the three flutes mentioned (for that reason). my former girlfirend liked it the most of the 3 (i had one of each type of flute for awhile) when i ran a comparison test with her as the audience. i'd say hamilton is most like a pratten and olwell is least like a pratten, it is its own design. she said the hamilton sounded like there was a party in the room, pleasingly loud and vibrant, moreso than olwell which was least pleasing to her ear, sort of a homogenized loud tone that lost her interest. she said the morvan spoke directly to her, the notes had character and the tune sounded more musical because of it (than olwell). hope that confuses you (just kidding).

[LorenzoFlute]

To confuse you even more, I played a couple of Morvan and I didn't feel comfortable with them. Maybe I'm just used to a different embouchure cut...

[monkeymonk]

i'd say hamilton is most like a pratten and olwell is least like a pratten, it is its own design. she said the hamilton sounded like there was a party in the room, pleasingly loud and vibrant, moreso than olwell which was least pleasing to her ear, sort of a homogenized loud tone that lost her interest. she said the morvan spoke directly to her, the notes had character and the tune sounded more musical because of it (than olwell). hope that confuses you (just kidding).

Recently i had the opportunity to hear a very good flute player playing My Hamilton and then playing an Olwell pratten. My initial impression was that the Hamilton was a little louder and drier sounding than the Olwell. I would not say one sounded better than the other, just different and they were both quite loud.

[Bran Ruz]

The only truth is that these are all very good flutes, if you don't like one it won't be difficult to sell it and try a new one.
I play a Hamilton, and I never felt very comfortable with Morvan flutes until I tried his last model. But is this because he changed some little things on his new model or because I improve my embouchure since the last time I tried one of his flutes ? Maybe both, or not...
Jean-Michel Veillon plays a Morvan on this video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bmOWV5F-Ro .

[moo jin Lee]

Who is the best pratten style flute maker(?)

I'd say John Hudson. But you might want to ask this question over on the Flute Forum. (oh, Mr. Moderator?)

I would not trust YouTube videos to make such a judgement. Because one player can make a certain flute sound great does not mean it will sound the same in your hands. If you like the sound of that player, I would submit that that player could pick up a number of flutes from other makers and sound substantially similar.

I would suggest you play each flute and decide which flute is best for you. People are different, they play different, their mouths are different. Because one flute works best for me, it may not be at all suitable for you. There is no "best" flute, in my opinion. There are a lot of very good flutes.

The makers you mention all make good flutes. I would prefer Olwell out of those you mention. There are a number of other very good makers out there as well.

Feadoggie

Thanks to your reply. Yeah. Your reply is very helpful.

[moo jin Lee]

The only truth is that these are all very good flutes, if you don't like one it won't be difficult to sell it and try a new one.
I play a Hamilton, and I never felt very comfortable with Morvan flutes until I tried his last model. But is this because he changed some little things on his new model or because I improve my embouchure since the last time I tried one of his flutes ? Maybe both, or not...
Jean-Michel Veillon plays a Morvan on this video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bmOWV5F-Ro .

Yeah. I read replies of folks and Preferred is to Hamilton and Olwell flute. Increasingly...

[flutefry]

I have a Morvan. It took me a while to get the hang of the embouchure, but now that I have, it's both powerful and interesting sounding. Played my Morvan, my Rudall and Rose, a Watson, an Olwell, and an Aebi a few nights ago with a friend. (Mostly large-holed Rudall-like flutes except the Morvan). The flute players present like me playing the Morvan best, I liked playing the Morvan the best, and the Aebi second best.

Nevertheless, as my friend and I agreed, we both sounded fine on any flute, and the differences between flutes were subtle to the listener. Over the past 7 years, I "wasted" a lot of time playing different flutes, searching for "my flute". I ended up stopping with the Morvan, and deciding that this was the "final flute". In truth, I would have been fine with any of the flutes I have owned, with one exception that was badly tuned. Some were easier to get the hang of, some were harder. But if I had stuck with them, I would have been further ahead than trying this flute then that flute, then another flute . (It was fun though.....). Now I find it only takes a few seconds to get a good sound on any flute I play.

Hugh

[jim stone]

Eamonn Cotter makes a good pratten, IMO.

[FascinatedWanderer]

Actually, Tom Aebi makes a very powerful Pratten as well.

[eilam]

i imagine that when you ask about the best Pratten you mean the biggest honk?
my favorite Pratten is made by J.Gallagher, the Pratten with the biggest sound that i played was made by McGee.

[jemtheflute]

Dunno if it's a Pratten-style flute (but that is probable) and I haven't seen or played it, but I happen to know Jean-Michel Veillon is currently selling a Pol Jezequel 8-key flute for <€3k. Jezequel's flutes are comparable to Morvan's and the one I did get to try (also via J-M V) was as good as anything I've played. Quite superb, on a par I'd say with Ben Powers' Olwell 6-keyer (which is the only one I've "met"). Jezequel doesn't make many and J-M has played it in. Sounds like a bargain to me! I have no personal interest here, but I can put anyone who is interested in touch with himself (pm me).