Hammy Hamilton flute for sale

Liney Bear · Post by **Liney Bear** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 3:51 pm

edit:
Thanks to everyone who inquired, and thanks to cocusflute, Ronbo, and Blackwood for the kind remarks. The flute is sold pending funds. If the deal should fall through, Roebuck is next in line.

I hate to let go of this flute, but my number is just about up on Patrick Olwell's list and I really don't need an extra keyless flute.

This is a keyless Pratten style flute made by SC Hamilton. Its born on date is the last week of August, 2007. It has a beautifully sculpted embouchure capable of a warm, powerful tone. The toneholes are among the most beautiful I've ever seen on any flute, smoothed and rounded and a joy to feel under my fingers. There are no scratches, scuffs, dings, cracks, or blemishes of any kind on this flute. Its condition is immaculate in every way. I have pampered and babied it with regular oiling. It has always been stored at 60% humidity or higher. It's completely broken in and has no issues whatsoever. In short, it's the best keyless flute I've ever owned, and in the top 3 of flutes that I've *ever* owned. Included is a wooden, leather-covered case also made by Hammy.

The new price for a keyless D flute directly from Hammy is 850 Euro, which is about $1303 US as of today, plus wait time. I'd like $1000.

Here are some links to pictures. I'd love to paste them directly into the text but I'm on a Mac and not too sure how to handle it (the thread about posting pics is from a PC standpoint).

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh10 ... Hammy1.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh10 ... Hammy2.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh10 ... Hammy3.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh10 ... Hammy4.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh10 ... Hammy5.jpg

I also have some clips. The jig in my signature was played on this flute, and here are some other clips, recorded last night at an impromptu recital. Please excuse the bodhran.

<a href="http://www.box.net/shared/7jhafc7k80">Waltz</a>

<a href="http://www.box.net/shared/3tsl4vp4wk">Slip jigs</a>

<a href="http://www.box.net/shared/3g9ofeg4k0">Slow reel</a>

<a href="http://www.box.net/shared/znhrphoo40">Air</a>

<a href="http://www.box.net/shared/huffp73go4">Blooper</a>

Feel free to PM me if you're interested.

thanks,
Gordon

Blackwood · Post by **Blackwood** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 4:13 pm

Unsolicited opinon: I've played this flute and it is a very solid player.
Disclosure: I have no financial stake in the sale.

Ronbo · Post by **Ronbo** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 4:33 pm

It sure does sound a solid player. But I am sure that the player himself has "nothing" to do with it.

If I had the spare I would get it. Someone could do worse than that flute.

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 4:48 pm

Dang, if only it were Boxwood or something else relatively hypo-allergenic......

Loren

cocusflute · Post by **cocusflute** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 2:01 pm

Great flute, great player, great clips. Well done.

eilam · Post by **eilam** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 2:48 pm

i love to tone you get out, i'd love to play like that, i know i have already wrote this to you in a PM, but the tone that i have in my head and am aiming at is very much like how you sound.
very tight embouchure?
great !!!
Also, i think the Hammy is the Pratten that i like the most, as far as tone.
great price as well !!

Liney Bear · Post by **Liney Bear** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 3:42 pm

Since everyone's lips are shaped differently, it's hard to say, "Just do xyz, and you'll have a great tone," but basically, for me, getting a strong tone has to do with finding the exact position between the front edge of my lower lip and the embouchure hole, and then blowing at the right angle. Sometimes I just try to find a strong B1 note, and once I'm there, the rest of it just sort of falls into place.

Be picky about your tone! I've been in Eamonn Cotter's class at Willie Clancy before, and he gets a tone like a freight train out of his flute. And he's practiced, and practiced, and practiced, and been incredibly conscious of his lip position and blowing angle, and it's paid off for him. There's a great interview with him on Brad Hurley's site where he says about the same thing in his own words.

If you're getting a thin, weak, wispy tone, then think to yourself "What can I do differently than I'm doing now?" Always strive to sound better and don't be satisfied with less than you know you can do.

I wish I had a more consistently strong tone. I'm always a bit self conscious about it when I meet players like Blackwood, who has superb tone, or Eamonn Cotter, or Matt Molloy, or whoever.

But thanks for your kind words, Eilam. Keep at it, as MM would say.

eilam wrote:i love to tone you get out, i'd love to play like that, i know i have already wrote this to you in a PM, but the tone that i have in my head and am aiming at is very much like how you sound.
very tight embouchure?
great !!!
Also, i think the Hammy is the Pratten that i like the most, as far as tone.
great price as well !!

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 4:20 pm

Liney Bear wrote: Sometimes I just try to find a strong B1 note, and once I'm there, the rest of it just sort of falls into place.

I'm so with you on that; fell across it on my own just recently after hating my tone right around the B1 zone for a long time and deciding to focus on it.

Anyway, congratulations, have fun, and SUPER playing! I thoroughly enjoyed your clips, and it's such a treat to hear someone really find the Hammy in a Hamilton.

norcalbob · Post by **norcalbob** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 5:09 pm

Cathy Wilde wrote:
Liney Bear wrote: Sometimes I just try to find a strong B1 note, and once I'm there, the rest of it just sort of falls into place.
I'm so with you on that; fell across it on my own just recently after hating my tone right around the B1 zone for a long time and deciding to focus on it.

I'm playing a keyless D, so I am assuming that when you say B1 you mean B in the first octave XOO OOO and D1 would be XXX XXX, right? If we are speaking the same language, I usually try to find a strong G1 to get started on. When I get a strong G1, my embouchure feels dialed in. I'm wondering if there is a reason that both you and Gordon try to get dialed in on B1? Just personal preference...?

The main difficulty I am working on currently, is being able to maintain a strong, rich tone in the lowest notes after playing quite a few measures in the high notes, say above G2. In tunes that require me to play up high for a while and then suddenly drop down low, I usually have trouble maintaining a strong, focused tone in the lowest notes then.

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 5:43 pm

I can't speak for LineyBear, but me, yes, I'm talking about that first-octave B.

It seems that's what "dials in" my embouchure better -- I always felt I had a nice solid G as well as the rest of my low register, but my tone around B seemed kind of muzzy and unfocused -- too "squashed"-sounding; no character.

Anyway, I haven't been happy with it.

So I started zeroing in on B and found that to get a good B, I had to have an entirely different embouchure shape. When I started transferring that embouchure shape to other notes through exercises like B-A, B-G, B-E, B-D -- then back up to B again; then on up thru the scale from B i.e. B-c B-d, B-e, B-f, etc. I started liking my tone on those other notes better, too.

It just seems freer, more edgy -- and basically, more like what I want. And the embouchure shape required to give me the good B means I can't push the flute too hard into my jaw like I sometimes want to when I'm trying to get a good lower register -- that to me contributes to a dull, dead tone, and makes bounding up to the second octave notes much more of an effort.

But that's just my thinking this year, of course. <sigh> Actual results may vary -- wildly.

norcalbob · Post by **norcalbob** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:12 pm

Cathy Wilde wrote:It just seems freer, more edgy -- and basically, more like what I want. And the embouchure shape required to give me the good B means I can't push the flute too hard into my jaw like I sometimes want to when I'm trying to get a good lower register -- that to me contributes to a dull, dead tone, and makes bounding up to the second octave notes much more of an effort.

But that's just my thinking this year, of course. <sigh> Actual results may vary -- wildly.

I just spent some time trying the B1 dial-in thing, and I see what you mean, especially about not pushing the flute so hard into your jaw. As you know, I,m so new to all of this that I'm constantly trying different things at the moment, but tone is my absolute number one priority. I know my stumbling fingers with eventually find their way, but I think tone is a life long project.

I have also been playing with how far inward I turn the headjoint. Up until a few days ago, I was turning the headjoint inward to a point where the outside edge of the embouchure hole was lining up with the middle of the L1 hole. But, it seemed like my tone was still too fuzzy down low. Now I'm back to only turning it inward a fraction off center with the L1 hole, and my tone seems to be more consistently focused and centered.

I think someone posted recently that it was imperative to turn the headjoint inward significantly in order to get good tone on an Irish flute. I guess YMMV is the only truism with these things!

Liney Bear · Post by **Liney Bear** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:13 pm

Ditto to what Cathy said.

Probably the main reason I target the B1 (1st octave B) is because I've usually found that to be about the easiest note to sound on most flutes I've owned.

Oddly enough, for me, the high notes have always been easy. It's low D and E I have to fight so hard for.

Gordon

norcalbob wrote:
Cathy Wilde wrote:
Liney Bear wrote: Sometimes I just try to find a strong B1 note, and once I'm there, the rest of it just sort of falls into place.
I'm so with you on that; fell across it on my own just recently after hating my tone right around the B1 zone for a long time and deciding to focus on it.
I'm playing a keyless D, so I am assuming that when you say B1 you mean B in the first octave XOO OOO and D1 would be XXX XXX, right? If we are speaking the same language, I usually try to find a strong G1 to get started on. When I get a strong G1, my embouchure feels dialed in. I'm wondering if there is a reason that both you and Gordon try to get dialed in on B1? Just personal preference...?

The main difficulty I am working on currently, is being able to maintain a strong, rich tone in the lowest notes after playing quite a few measures in the high notes, say above G2. In tunes that require me to play up high for a while and then suddenly drop down low, I usually have trouble maintaining a strong, focused tone in the lowest notes then.

Liney Bear · Post by **Liney Bear** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:24 pm

norcalbob wrote: I think someone posted recently that it was imperative to turn the headjoint inward significantly in order to get good tone on an Irish flute. I guess YMMV is the only truism with these things!

I've never felt any need to play with the headjoint turned in. I play with all the holes lined up and never felt like my tone was suffering because of it.

norcalbob · Post by **norcalbob** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:54 pm

Liney Bear wrote:Oddly enough, for me, the high notes have always been easy. It's low D and E I have to fight so hard for.

Amen to that, Gordon.

norcalbob · Post by **norcalbob** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:56 pm

Liney Bear wrote:
norcalbob wrote: I think someone posted recently that it was imperative to turn the headjoint inward significantly in order to get good tone on an Irish flute. I guess YMMV is the only truism with these things!
I've never felt any need to play with the headjoint turned in. I play with all the holes lined up and never felt like my tone was suffering because of it.

That's nice to hear. I thought maybe I was creating some bad habits carried over from playing the Boehm flute.