A good flute to play after the tin whistle

[dyersituations]

Hi, I have been playing the tin whistle for about 3 years and was looking to purchase another flute with a different sound. I was wondering what would be a good one to choose? Something that is similar to play would be good, I think. I was looking into the duduk and the nay and was wondering how much breath it took to play these, if it was a lot more intense? Or if anyone has another that they think is better that would be great. Thanks very much.
Adam

Try the Irish flute. I played an M&E polymer after the whistle, and I am still playing it. The Tipple PVC flute is also another great choice. I've also heard good things about Forbes flutes.

[CranberryDog]

I have played whistle for longer than I like to admit. High and low.

I just got the logical transition wood wind from a vertically blown fipple Irish flute to a transverse blown Irish flute. Kind of a "no brainer".

The fingering is the same. Ornaments are the same. All of the tunes that I have collected "work".

I got a Casey Burns Rudall style. The first time I picked it up, I got a solid ,loud bell tone. I was surprised how much louder it is than my Copeland low D which by most standards is a loud low whistle. Now I am thinking about selling the Copeland as I now have a really great low whistle, er, flute.

[manu.bande]

Hi Adam

welcome !

As somebody already said the most logical thing to do would be begining to learn the irish flute after the whistle .

To start with a shakuhachi it's also fine but it would be even more difficult than the irish flute , belive me , I've been playing shakuhachi for a while !

And about the Ney , more specifically turkish ney , it has a very different blowing technique , I would say even harder than shakuhachi !!!

Anyway good luck with the flute adventure !

Manuel

[BillG]

Consider a fife, either the B flat military style or one of the various "folk" fifes Sweetheart and other makers offer. Size wise, they are closer to your whistle, but the lip technique and tone are quite different. Being smaller than the full-fledged D flute you can "ease into" the different playing posture.

I gave up the fife after many, many years in favor of the Irish flute. The fife is definately not a parlor instrument and not recommended for indoor playing. Its a great instrument for outside and for marching bands, et al. I would rethink going with a fife and definately go with an Irish flute.

[Cathy Wilde]

And if you want to play Irish music with others, the Irish flute's probably your best choice there, too. I don't know for ney or shakahuchi tuning, but like others have said the transition from whistle to flute is a no-brainer fingeringwise and there's no transposition required. The embouchure thing may take a little more time, but you'll get it.

In the $100-ish or less price range, I'd go with the Tipple. If you're willing to spend $400 on a keyless flute you'll probably be content with for general use for life (until you succumb to the wooden-flute temptation, that is ), I'd heartily recommend one of those new Delrin flutes Rob Forbes is making. It's easy to play and sounds as good as most any other flute that I've run into. www.forbesflutes.com

[cadancer]

..looking to purchase another flute with a different sound.

If all you want is a different sound, I would thing the low-whistle would be high on the list. Very similar blowing technique, fingering, music,scales, and ornamentation.

The next logical (to me) transition would be to a simple-system keyless flute (irish). The blowing technique is different (transverse flute vs. fippled whistle), but the fingering, music, scales, and ornamentation are very similar.

You mentioned quena, sakuhachi, and ney. These instruments are all end-blown, however the ney is a bit different than the other two. Both the quena and sakuhachi flutes have a notch in the rim. They are played in a manner relatively similar to a fippled flute as you hold the instrument down-ish and blow across the notch on the far side of the cylindrical opening. The ney does not have a notch. It is played by holding the instrument more up and to the side as you blow into the instrument, but more across than down. The ney is much more difficult to get a good tone than the other two.

I play Bulgarian kaval which is "similar" to the ney. The scales, modes, and ornamentation of some of these instruments are very, very different from the whistle. So... the good news is that playing any of them will definately result in a "different sound". They can be challenging instruments to play.


Best wishes,

John

[sbhikes]

I decided I wanted a sturdy flute that was portable enough I could bring with me hiking or wherever and not worry about wrecking it. Something less annoyingly high-pitched as my whistle.

So I went to my music store where I knew they had a nice low whistle in stock. I just didn't like it. It sounds out of tune or something. And it's pretty big. Like the lead pipe that killed Colonel Mustard in the Conservatory.

They also had a fife. I bought the fife. That thing can be very loud, but it's small enough to tuck in a bag, has metal on both ends to make it more sturdy, and since it is a flute I can play it quietly if I want. I use it to practice tunes when it's time to put away my nice Folk Flute, which is still in the break-in stage. I could probably use it to fend off robbers in a pinch as well.

I only wish my fife was a piccolo instead so I could play along in the key of D to the recorded tunes I have, but then the pitch would be up high again and hurting my ears.

I feel a little bad for the poor fife because it won't get to be in a fife and drum band. I don't think we have such things out here. I have no idea why the music store would carry such a thing as a military-reproduction fife. We are more of a native american flute kind of town than a military fife town.

The fife sounds great, even in the low register which apparently they are not meant to play. Infinitely nicer than my Generation Bb whistle that sounds like I'm squeezing a goose.

[TheSpoonMan]

So I went to my music store where I knew they had a nice low whistle in stock. I just didn't like it. It sounds out of tune or something.

Are you sure you were sealing the holes properly? I had the same experience with low whistles and flutes till I realized my fingers weren't covering the holes competely.

Either way- fife, cool! Good choice.

[crookedtune]

I also enjoy playing a Bb military fife. One problem, though, is that they're designed to optimize the 3rd octave, (which I seldom use). The trade-off is that the first octave is not particularly strong, and the lowest (bell) note is pretty flat. If you can gloss over or avoid that low note, it's a fun flute to play.

[demon_piper]

Get a Seery, these things are professional quality, not to hard on your bank account. And zero maintenance, which if you aren't used to doing much maintenance is a good starting point, because you can't make a mistake

[sbhikes]

I also enjoy playing a Bb military fife. One problem, though, is that they're designed to optimize the 3rd octave, (which I seldom use). The trade-off is that the first octave is not particularly strong, and the lowest (bell) note is pretty flat. If you can gloss over or avoid that low note, it's a fun flute to play.

Yeah, it's really different the way that second Bb note is so clear and ringing and loud. I am pleased with its intonation overall. It seems very well in tune to me.

The low whistle I tried was a Dixon. I think the G was the note that bugged me. Plus, not being particularly talented at this point, I can't get over how it sounds like, well, blowing into a tube.

I took my fife on a hike today and played a couple of tunes under a stone bridge at the trailhead. I heard from someone they used to have a session under this bridge. Fife sounded great!