any advice for a person who has small hands and a begginer

[Guest]

ROTFLMFAO!!!!!!!

Seery flutes are made out delrin, which is superb, much, much better than PVC. Desi does a great job of machining his flutes make them pretty much just like wooden flutes. Desi does NOT have his flutes made in China (where the heck did you get that idea, toasty )

As for Eamonn Cotter, he makes superb flutes, but I highly doubt he's going to make you one out of house piping! I could be wrong.... :roll:

Toasty is, however, correct about not putting your lips directly on a copper flute (I'd recommend not putting anything on a copper flute!), your lips might go green, and that would be very, very bad!


Peace,
Chris

Assuming you are as Irish as the name suggests why would you be pushing Seery's junk when you know there are excellent Flute makers in Ireland ...and the best of them are not well known nor expensive!

If anybody would like are real Irish flute then go look in the NPU monthly or CCE literature for one. Co Roscommon, Leitrim and Sligo for starters not to mention the North.

[ChrisLaughlin]

LOL -

The reason why I'm saying good things about Seery flutes is because they are good flutes at a good price and I'm not racist or nationalist so where the flute comes from doesn't make much difference to me.

And yes, there are lots of fantastic flute makers in Ireland who sell their work for great prices. Hammy Hamilton, Eamonn Cotter, Sam Murray.... and many more. You were the one disuading her from buying a good wooden flute, not me.

I say, if you can afford it, definately buy a good wooden flute. You won't go wrong!

[Guest]

LOL -

The reason why I'm saying good things about Seery flutes is because they are good flutes at a good price and I'm not racist or nationalist so where the flute comes from doesn't make much difference to me.

And yes, there are lots of fantastic flute makers in Ireland who sell their work for great prices. Hammy Hamilton, Eamonn Cotter, Sam Murray.... and many more. You were the one disuading her from buying a good wooden flute, not me.

I say, if you can afford it, definately buy a good wooden flute. You won't go wrong!

Well I would not be recommending her to buy what she could make out of an old shovel handle IF I knew she could get it done, bbbut she probably cannot so I am not.

OTOH if she really wants a PVC flute she could buy one from Doug Tipple USA and have it mailed her. Nothing wrong with that except like the Seery the tuning would be slightly off because of the difference in climate...

So I say buy the new 2000 euro silver keyed model but on Hire Purchase ( Oirish for Loan Finance ) then if it fails or she gets tired of Eamon An Cnoic she can quit making payments. No big deal, she wins every way.

But her being an Irish lass I bet you a sack of Uillleann Pipe Chanters she has already thought of that one.

Mention of which reminds me of one fellow who I met away back someplace near Scouser land who had a fine Flute which wasn't paid for ... if you get the drift ... ahem anyways he couldn't play anything on it but if you wanted to hear a Piper there was no equal But that was back then, now it's now, and everything has changed including herself being fertilizer.

[jim stone]

Hello

At the moment i am trying to choose a flute, a person i know gave me a loan of a keyless cotter which is nice but there is a bit of strech on the right hand. being a beginner i am not aware of weither or not you can get the holes for the fingers any smaller is this a big factor with different makers.

I have to admit i am out in the cold here when in comes to flute makers and all the jargon. i am much more at home with the box and fiddle which are my main instruments, however i really do love the flute and would like to take it up but i would just like some good advice on this matter medb

The CB folk flute is a good place to start for people with
smaller hands, I agree with those above.

Also you may find that if you play the Cotter for awhile
the stretch may resolve itself. These things tend to
take time.

[Jayhawk]

Desi Seery does make a "small hand" delrin flute, too.

Peter - Are Desi's wooden flutes that much different from his delrin flutes? I'd not call the delrin flute quite in any way. Tom Doorley sounded pretty decent on the one he played on the first two Danu albums.

Still, if I was in Ireland, I'd go check out a Murray, Cotter, etc.

I agree that the whole wooden flutes will make you sick is a bunch of hogwash...might as well go live in a bubble if you're that worried about germs.

Eric

[Lambchop]

Oh, dear! I just did a search for hazards associated with PVC. Now I know why it's not available in the UK . . .

In addition to emitting pthalates, which are notoriously not good for you, and other toxic substances, it often contains lead, the chronic ingestion of which leads to all sorts of horrible things, notably mental deficiencies.

Best not to lick or chew your PVC flute. Don't breathe in air from around it, either.

There is no way to dispose of it safely. It causes toxic accumulations in landfills and, worse, produces its own weight in deadly toxins when burned.

[Cayden]

Peter - Are Desi's wooden flutes that much different from his delrin flutes? I'd not call the delrin flute quite in any way. Tom Doorley sounded pretty decent on the one he played on the first two Danu albums.


Eric

A man locally got a timber Seery recently off his nephew Conor Byrne, I (and he himself) thought that was a relatively quiet flute compared to some. Nice though. That's all i have seen i am afraid.

[The Sporting Pitchfork]

Hello

At the moment i am trying to choose a flute, a person i know gave me a loan of a keyless cotter which is nice but there is a bit of strech on the right hand. being a beginner i am not aware of weither or not you can get the holes for the fingers any smaller is this a big factor with different makers.

I have to admit i am out in the cold here when in comes to flute makers and all the jargon. i am much more at home with the box and fiddle which are my main instruments, however i really do love the flute and would like to take it up but i would just like some good advice on this matter medb

Hi Medb,

Sorry the ratio of practical, well-intentioned advice to your query hasn't been higher. I hope it hasn't put you off visiting us.

I've got very small hands and when I first tried to play flute, I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it at all. For the first few months, the stretch was a bit bothersome, but you do get used to it. I currently play a Hamilton, which in terms of design is (as far as I recall) fairly comparable to a Cotter. Cotters are nice flutes and if you've got one that you can borrow for a while, I'd say keep at it and try your best.
Which would you say is the more bothersome problem--the space between the holes or the size of the holes themselves? Do you find it difficult to get a good covering of the F# hole at all? It's amazing what a difference a milimeter or two in hole size can make. If you're looking for a flute that simply has slightly smaller fingerholes, that's not quite so much of a problem. There are a few makers that make flutes with small to medium sized holes. Something more like an early Rudall and Rose flute might be more comfortable. If it's the stretch between the holes, that might be a bit more of a problem. Casey Burns' flutes do seem to have addressed this fairly well. If you haven't done so already, check out Brad Hurley's great site--

http://www.firescribble.net/flute/index.html

There's a very thorough directory of flutemakers listed--many of them with e-mail addresses, though not all of them necessarily check their e-mail on a regular basis. You might want to just try e-mailing a few makers and tell them what sort of things you're looking for in a flute. Perhaps if your inquiries are successful, you could even arrange a trip out to their workshop to try a few flutes for yourself. If I were you and I were in your position, I'd certainly try contacting Sam Murray, Martin Doyle and Marcus Hernon, just to name a few. Couldn't do any harm.

Anyway, hope a bit of that is helpful. Good luck!

-CD

[Guest]

Oh, dear! I just did a search for hazards associated with PVC. Now I know why it's not available in the UK . . .

In addition to emitting pthalates, which are notoriously not good for you, and other toxic substances, it often contains lead, the chronic ingestion of which leads to all sorts of horrible things, notably mental deficiencies.

Best not to lick or chew your PVC flute. Don't breathe in air from around it, either.

There is no way to dispose of it safely. It causes toxic accumulations in landfills and, worse, produces its own weight in deadly toxins when burned.

According to your information we should all be dead already! PVC water piping has been in use for several decades in the USA! In addition there are thousands of domestic products made from the same material with a few added ingredients to provide a more durable surface.

So your politicking is rubbish!

FYI PVC Piping is certified for domestic use in the US by the Federal Government and it is NOT the same material as found outside the US!

In additioon all Flutes made of African woods contiain traces of insecticides and other toxins, in fact blowing one of them is far far far more of a health hazard than PVC. Merely touching such wood can deposit fungus on your skin.

So


Nyeaaahhhh

[AaronMalcomb]

There was a thread regarding PVC in the UK last May right here.

There is some confusion about the nomenclature of PVC and ABS.

I'm interested in your comments about insecticides and fungus, Toasty. Cite me some sources. I'd like to read some of that out of my own interest. I'd like to find out how something can contain insecticide and deposit fungus.

And Toasty, just because US Governmant certifies something doesn't mean it is safe. If you think Peggy was politicking I think you would find a good career at Fox News. And I won't deny that I was just politicking.

Cheers,
Aaron

[Casey Burns]

re "In additioon all Flutes made of African woods contain traces of insecticides and other toxins, in fact blowing one of them is far far far more of a health hazard than PVC. Merely touching such wood can deposit fungus on your skin."

In 24 years of flute making, this is a new one in the fearmongering department and I am getting a good laugh from it - thanks, no doubt to my brain, addled with an industrial exposure to these so called insecticides and fungi from the African woods my clients prefer! I wasn't aware that wild trees in the savannas of Sub Saharan Africa were that heavily sprayed, or known for their mushroom derived deadly toxins.

One is as likely to get as much or more of an exposure to pesticides driving down heavily sprayed highways or eating commercially grown peaches, than playing a flute made of wood and sealed with non toxic varnishes such as linseed oil made from the linen plant (this stuff is actually used as a food in parts of the world, and with high lineolic acid content is probably good for you - but popcorn made from it tastes like paint! I tried once when out of olive oil. With enough cayenne, we didn't mind...). Living in a mobile home is a better way of experiencing fungi than flute playing. While building my house, we lived in one and cohabited with a certain Peziza domesticata without any long term effects, other than great fear of mushrooms growing out of a wet carpet by a poorly sealed door and occasionally stepping on one with bare feet accidentally - I forget the exact medical term for this condition.

Seriously folks, this poor person inquired with some serious issues regarding hand size and flute comfort - and is now having to filter this through all sorts of misinformation and reponse that will do little to help him/her. Perhaps the Tom Ridge impersonations can be shared in another forum on Chiff and Fipple. How about Chiff and Fearmongering? Lets keep it useful, folks!

Just my own, fungus and pesticide riddled opinion.

Casey Burns
Specializing in Small Handed Irish Flutes for 22 years
www.caseyburnsflutes.com

[Doug_Tipple]

Casey, you make beautiful flutes, and people love and admire them. However, your joking coments about whether insecticides are being sprayed on African trees tends to obfuscate the issue. The real issue is that many trees protect themselves from insect and fungus infestations by developing protective chemicals. These insecticides and fungicides are developed by the trees and are present in the wood. Most people are not bothered by limited exposure to touching or playing flutes made from these tonewoods, however, some people, myself included, are bothered. And the literature is full of accounts of instrument makers who met a early death because they did not take this concern seriously with proper ventilation of the work environment, for example.

[Lambchop]

One is as likely to get as much or more of an exposure to pesticides driving down heavily sprayed highways or eating commercially grown peaches, than playing a flute made of wood

Exactly. There are no health hazards associated with flutes, whether they be made of wood, PVC, Delrin, or glass.

There are bacteria, fungi, toxins, and contaminants in just about everything. Including organic peanut butter. It's just the way the world is.

If you have a toxic reaction to wood, then by all means do not buy a wooden flute. However, the vast majority of persons do not have such reactions to wood.

Specializing in Small Handed Irish Flutes for 22 years

A fine job you do of it, too! I, for one, am very grateful. The flute Mr. Burns made for me is simply perfect. I did not think anything could fit my hands so well and be so comfortable. (Said flute just survived its third hurricane in six weeks. . . is that a record for an Irish flute?)

As this thread began with a recommendation for a Casey Burns small handed flute, maybe we can now return to useful recommendations for poor Medb? The lady who asked a serious question?

[Guest]

To the fungus doubters. No woods exported out of Africa have any resistence to agents - esp in different climates - which mother nature provides for the decomposition of them, no big deal there..huh.

Soooo what gets shtuck on the surface of yer average bit of wood after it arrives and what was there before it was pecked makes a mighty poweful dose of lung rot, or am I a compete eeegit to have missed why so many fluters in Ireland enjoy such great health...

Anywho I did not start this arguement, and was quite happy to make me tootlers out of bits of hygenic domestic piping until somebody here tried to shtick a knive in it!

Mr Casey, what can I say, Ok you make Irish flutes, but so do Irish people in Ireland AND they are far more needful of the employment. In fact overseas Pipe/Fluter makers make me want to pound the table and ask why in the name of j they cant make a living doing something else?

[jim stone]

Toasty, your posts would be even more amusing if there wasn't
somebody in the background, a newbie, making
a sincere inquiry for info. We try to put them first.