The Haphazard Reviewing of Flute Makers

[Brazenkane]

I knew the title of this post would get you reading!

this may be considered harsh but it needs to be said:

Many fluters simply have not developed their embouchure beyond a level that might be considered mediocre at best. So, the real question is: How do you know you are really pulling out the tone and performance etc., that you're flute is capable of? Is it fair to the craftsman who might be putting out a professional level instrument, to give a half baked review?

I believe a serious look in the mirror is to be had by us all. How consistent and solid is your embouchure? Really, how good are you and should you be giving definitive reviews on tone, when so much of it rests upon the physical command of your own lips? How much about Irish traditional fluting (or whatever your chosen genre is) do you really know if order to direct your ear to tell you if you are "doing it right?"

The last question is slightly a subjective one, but the first one is a physical one where a quantitative answer can indeed be derived.

Dropping makers names if fun, and owning a gaggle of flutes from them is even "funner!" However, it's merely fluff when comparisons are being made. Many players here and elsewhere w/semi-proficient embouchures are putting (in print) reviews. It's fun and it gets your mind churning about what you feel the instrument is doing.

We all know (or should know) that with a flute pressed to one's chin, it's very difficult to get accurate reading on exactly how the instrument sounds. It's probably better to say how it feels to the individual. Of course, our perception of the actual sound might be skewed based upon the physical position of the instrument. And again, there is the embouchure/skill of the Instrumentalist for us to consider... and that is a big consideration! So, the proverbial "we" maybe sometimes putting out reports that are in fact not the most accurate.

I just felt it important to say. They're now, I feel all better... do you?

Lets take that mirror out....

[Denny]

Shurely

ah.....good luck with that

[planxtydt]

Yes, well said. It's all true. I tend to ignore many "reviews".

[crookedtune]

I see very few "definitive flute reviews" here. What I see are impressions from a lot of fluters who generally state their own experience levels and proficiency. I find it all useful.

[Rob Sharer]

My personal feeling is that sound samples should accompany such reviews, but apparently this is a hot topic.



Rob

[johnkerr]

Personally I place no stock in written reviews of flutes either here or elsewhere. Writing about music is like dancing about architecture, and all that jazz. If I want to know if a flute is any good, I'll do the following, in this order:

Try it myself.
Ask a better flute player than me to try it, and offer an opinion.
Listen to recordings of good flute players playing this or similar flutes, and decide if I like what I'm hearing.
If none of the above is possible, move on to another flute. There are plenty of fish in the sea.

Even the novice flute player can do the last two things I've listed, and will have a better guarantee of success than they would by paying attention to a written flute review.

[MarkP]

can't disagree at all but take as you find.

I'm not an expert or a great player (yet) but there's often something useful in the discussions and most people are pretty up front about their own level of ability. I sense that many people are not looking for the 'ultimate' flute but rather the flute that will help them make that next step change in their particular stage and style of playing. Hearing about people's experiences of adapting, learning and performing on different instruments can be quite helpful for that.

Having said that, I'd take 99% of the opinions for what they are (just that). I think it's more helpful to work out what kind of player you want to be, search out other players that impress you in that particular way, and then talk to them (more selectively) about the flutes they've played. That and... work like hell on your embouchure!

PS. to be honest it would be nice to see a little less discussion about the flutes and a bit more about playing the damn things

[crookedtune]

Also, it's not just the "reviews" that are useful. It's also the rebuttals and commentary from others. The wider consensus you get has always seemed pretty reasonable and useful (to me). I'd know nothing of the makers and choices out there were it not for the discussions here.

[Unseen122]

Tis true enough, but it is hardly anything new. In the past (this is going back around 4 years mind you) I tried many Flutes and posted reviews on this site. At the time I had not been playing that long (around 2 years) and got into a bit of trouble for writing reviews when I was not entirely experienced enough to judge the instruments properly. I think the ensuing debate (a fairly heated one at that) made a lot of forum members more wary about the reviews they read. So in other words I learned this lesson the hard way; you can't read the posts on this forum as if they are all written by experts. Of course now it is a bit of an unwritten rule that we post our experience level and clips of our playing before reviewing, this is probably partially due to the debate that was caused by my my own ignorance.


Speaking of clips my old ones were quite outdated so I removed them.

[Akiba]

Spot on. I'd say that even experienced players can't assess a flute objectively--no one has the definitive objective opinion. I know of a great player who loves the Grinter 8-key, but got an Olwell 6-key because of all the hoopla about Olwell's. When this player got the Olwell, this player hated it, sold it and has stuck with the Grinter ever since. That is, it's mostly personal opinion and preference, what one is used to, one's particular embouchure and sound/feedback expectation, etc. It seems it takes months, if not longer, to really lock in with a flute. I know I feel that I'm just now learning to really play the Burns flute I've had for a year. I also know when I play another flute, there is no way I'm getting anywhere near the full potential out of that flute because my embouchure, fine muscle, all that are locked into and calibrated for the Burns.

[sbfluter]

I don't usually read reviews at all, but when I do it's mainly to find out if a flute has physical characteristics that I would like, such as what kind of wood, how beautiful is the wood, does it have a tuning slide, what kind of embouchure, how big are the holes (big or small, or pratten-like vs. rudall-like is good enough for me, I don't really care about exact dimensions), that sort of thing.

After that, I like to hear the more subjective commentary for a general sense, but I take all that with a grain of salt. A sound file is really nice, but even those don't help. For example, there was a clip of Grey Larson playing the Folk Flute. It sounded real good, but nobody makes any flute sound like Grey Larson. He's got a distinct style. So no matter what I do, a Folk Flute in my hands will never sound like that.

I have learned in my 3 or 4 years now (gosh, am I still so awful at this???) to give any flute a few years trial before I'm sure about it. It's good to hear someone who really knows how to play well play it in person. Then I know whether to keep working on it. So far even with ultracheap pennywhistles, the problem is not usually with the instrument.

[Gabriel]

Reviews are useful to find out if a specific maker's flute generally receives positive opinions. If so, one can buy a flute from that maker and play it, knowing that those flute are generally good. On the other hand, many players, especially the less experienced ones, tend to buy and sell lots and lots of flutes and never learn to play one of them decently, so the flutes may get worse replies than they deserve. The easiest flute is kept then (and that's usually an Olwell).

[celticmodes]

I don't remember any recent reviews of flutes. So much has been said about the well known makers that anyone can search on a name, like I did when I was looking for my flutes, and get a huge amount of historical discussions. I don't remember beginners coming off as experts or anything like that.

Flutes from new makers usually tour with the usual crowd and we know those active posters' experience and expertise levels for the most part.

I guess what I'm saying is that my experience on the boards has been that the reviews are the opposite of haphazard with a lot of opinions and discussions of those opinions. They have been an invaluable resource to me.

Is their a maker that you feel has been unfairly reviewed? Did someone dis your favorite flute ?

P.S. I remembered one incident where questions were asked about a KDJ flute and my searching found only one real comment that was (heresay) from Grey Larsen about a possible embouchure problem. In that case, their isn't an adequate sample size who have tried the flute and had a chance to agree or disagree and that could potentially hurt the reputation of that maker on this board.

[Brazenkane]

I think it's quite simple, this matter of reviews, etc.

A few posters suggested sound files. I think that's dead on. Put your money, or better yet, YOUR FLUTE where you mouth is! Make a sound file or 2, and give us your impressions. I gave it my best shot when I did it w/my cocus Aebi and cocus Hamilton (in posts past). So, I'm trying to lead by example.

Looking forward to the sound-files lads!

[Rob Sharer]

Good luck with that, B.



Rob