Another Happy Casey Burns Folk Flute Owner

Dana · Post by **Dana** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:24 pm

I just received my small-hands version Casey Burns folk flute in yesterday's mail. Let me say, wow! I don't know how he does it for such a reasonable price.

Now for my disclaimer: I'm a Boehm flute player that has dabbled in the whistle. I'm certainly no expert on Irish flutes, but I do know quality when I see it. I've tried a few high-end flutes, and also the polymer flutes by Seery, M & E, and Dixon. (The finger spread has been an issue for me on all of these).

As Casey states on his website, this is a "no frills" flute with simple construction. The mopane wood is absolutely beautiful, and the sound seems warmer than the sound of blackwood. The embouchure and toneholes are carefully finished. Pitch is very good. The flute is in tune with itself, and plays just a bit sharp to A-440 with the headjoint pushed in all the way (which is just what you want). For those of you that gotta know, yes it plays a nice hard D. The C natural is wonderfully in tune using the left hand 2, right hand 456 holes. It really doesn't sound like a cross-fingered note. You can also get a decent-sounding Bb by cross-fingering. Half-holing to get an F natural is relatively easy, and the G# seems like it will get there as I get more comfortable with this flute. The flute seems to have a 2 octave range. I can sort-of finagle some notes in the third octave, but the overtones are off up there, and I've had to come up with fingerings by trial-and-error.

The flute has a warm, fat sound that is not edgy. It's very satisfying to play, and seems capable of a variety of colors. The small-hands version is quite comfortable for me, and will allow snappier ornaments simply because of the easy reach.

Thanks for a great flute, Casey!

Dana

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:43 pm

Dana,

The best that I have been able to come up with for the 3rd octive is:
D OXX OOO
E XXO OOX
F# XOX OOX
G XOX OOO
A OXX XXO

They aren't perfect but they will "lip" into tune.

Denny

Dana · Post by **Dana** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:49 pm

Thanks! I'd come up with a couple of those myself.

Dana

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 6:05 pm

Yes, it's a remarkable flute for the price.
Sweethearts have gone up in price, so it is
now significantly cheaper.

onkel · Post by **onkel** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 3:43 am

Congrats Dana! You've made the transition to the real thing...

I tried out a folk flute lately and I think it is not only for the beginner, it's a high value instrument -- just without rings, slide and keys.

Claus

Dana · Post by **Dana** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 7:27 am

onkel wrote:Congrats Dana! You've made the transition to the real thing...

Well, not a transition, but perhaps I'm expanding my horizon a bit.

onkel wrote: I tried out a folk flute lately and I think it is not only for the beginner, it's a high value instrument -- just without rings, slide and keys.

I own 2 high-end Boehm flutes, one in blackwood, so I feel like I can recognize quality, even as an Irish flute newbie. I like Casey's flute at least as much as a couple of the high enders I've tried. The thing that's really sold me on it was the fact that I can play it without pain.

Dana

BillG · Post by **BillG** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 4:59 pm

Dana - thank you for this post. I have a Casey Burns Boxwood keyless that has been sitting on the shelf while I got back to fluting after a five week pneumona hiatus. After reading your post I dug it out of storage and began crackin' on it. WOW! Am I glad for this list AND your post.

Also happy for you being a long time fluter with some elegant Boehm flutes and praising the CB as much as you are. I also echo the praises for CB. It'll take a few more practice sessions for me to get the 2nd and 3rd octaves going again but I'm at it.

BillG

cflutist · Post by **cflutist** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 8:37 pm

Dana, you're making me salivate. I too ordered a Folk Flute from Casey Burns several weeks ago and when I spoke to him last Saturday, he told me he was shipping it this week. The anticipation is killing me.

I too play a Boehm flute (Wm S. Haynes), been doing so for 36 years and currently play Principal Flute in our community orchestra.

I have a Healy fife and assume that the fingering is the same for a 6 hole keyless Irish flute?

Azathoth · Post by **Azathoth** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 2:23 am

Another salivating flutist here! After trying a wooden keyed flute and not getting on with it really well (well, one buys and takes a risk I guess, it plays well until one goes down to E at which point it's murder trying to get the lower two notes) I ordered a CB flute recently too.

And I'm guessing the fife will be the same fingering -- although Skip does make chromatic 10-hole fifes

Oh, and on the point of that seemingly cracked? or somehow leaky? wooden flute of mine: anyone know any decent flute repairers in Germany? Onkel?

Cheers,

Ed

onkel · Post by **onkel** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 3:26 am

Azathoth wrote: Oh, and on the point of that seemingly cracked? or somehow leaky? wooden flute of mine: anyone know any decent flute repairers in Germany? Onkel?

Hi Ed,

Andras Rogge comes to my mind. He's a busy man though. Wait until you get your CB flute before sending your other flute to him

Andreas is a renowned pipe maker and apparently he's also into making quite a number of flutes now. I tried out a Rogge flute in plumwood (!) at the same occasion where I came across the CB folk flute. A very nice and resonant instrument too!

Good luck!
Claus

Dana · Post by **Dana** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 7:23 am

Hi Bill:

Sorry to hear that you've had Pneumonia. Never had it myself, but I've heard it can take a while to completely recover. That flute of yours should be good therapy!

Cflutist, always glad to meet someone else from the "other side". You are correct in that the fingering should translate from the fife to the flute. BTW, after I figured out that I'd been playing the flute for over 30 years, I stopped counting. :roll:

Man, with all these salivators in here, this thread is getting pretty messy/damp!

Dana

cflutist · Post by **cflutist** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:30 pm

My CB Folk Flute just arrived in the mail. Its beautiful, both the wood and the fat tone I can get from it (the first two registers only). Since I am new to Irish flutes, will need to work on the third register.

Now I will need to make a trip to Lark in the Morning to buy some more music. I have Civil War Fife music and a Tin Whistle book I picked up a while ago, but no Irish Flute music. Any suggestions on what and where to buy some?

Thanks again Casey for such a beautiful (and affordable) instrument.

BillG · Post by **BillG** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:46 pm

Cflutist - the fife music is good for a start - just drop it an octave for the flute. Whistle music is also equally as good as much of whistle music is flute music as well.

If you have an abc translater program on your computer you can find a lot of stuff on http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/FindTune.html entering any tune you may want to hear/play by notation and there it is.

Two books I enjoy playing from are from Mel Bay site: Ireland's Best Slow Airs (with a CD - listening is critical here for learning ITM); A Dossan of Heather (also with CD).

Enjoy, and stay tuned - I'm sure there will be many more suggestions. Just remember to LISTEN a lot to ITM.

BillG

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:46 pm

Dear cflutist,

For the small investment of downloading some sort of "abc" reading software like abc2WIN or BarFly (Mac), you can get a HOST of tunes off the Internet for free!

www.thesession.org (they even have the sheet music online)
and
www.irishtunes.net

are two of my favorites (esp. since JC's Tunefinder seems to be ailing at the moment ...)

Also, www.ceolas.org/ceolas.html has great links to both tunes and abc software downloads. It's an excellent place to start.

As for books, L.E. McCulloch's 121 Irish Session Tunes is expensive, but it does seem like a lot of the standard repertoire is in there and it will keep you busy for four or five years

. It comes with CDs; hence the $40ish price tag, alas. larkinam.com and all those places should have it; maybe even amazon?

Have at it, and have fun!
Yet Another 30+ C-Fluter.

mvhplank · Post by **mvhplank** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 6:21 pm

Today I got my CB Folk Flute in the mail from "Santa" (who is a guitar player--he gave me permission to open it to make sure it shipped okay).

It's a small hands version too. It's an easier reach than the other Irish flutes I've tried, but since I have a bit of arthritic bone loss to my left-hand middle finger, it may take me longer to hit the hole than with the whistle. As you might guess, I'm pipering that hand, but open to other suggestions.

Thanks, Santa!

Thanks, Casey!

M

PS--I'm not giving up the old wooden Boehms--what else could I play flat keys on?