Who plays old flutes?

[rama]

sure, can i have your cocobolo flute?

[Aanvil]

Hi Gabriel,
I play a few antiques. My main go to flute now is a Blackman, London I got from Jon C. I haven't had it that long but love it.
It just responds nicely to everthing I give it. The rings are beautiful and the low keys respond well. It's low pitched but I play sharp so plays okay with the head all the way in.

Jon, is that the one of the two I kept for a while?

If it is, I didn't have any problem playing it in tune with a reasonable pull.

Great flute.


Oh and yes... I play an old flute as my go to.

[Latticino]

Like dow I have a 6-key Wm Hall and Sons flute in grenadilla that I play by preference (and have noticed the distinct similarities to a McGee GLP as well). Lovely tone, particularly in the second octave, and better control of dynamic range for me than modern embochure cuts. Restored this one, a Metzler and a couple of others myself, though the Hall could use a new pad job (still has what I believe are the original leather pads which still work, but are probably not optimal). I guess if I had the dosh I might go for a modern version of the antique, though there is something to be said for bringing back a piece of history and making music on it. Also have a Pratten Delrin Seery that I take traveling and to sessions, but find that I prefer the smaller bore and toneholes of the antique when I play at home. Or maybe I'm just more used to the efficiency of that design. Certainly after playing my antique the embochure on the Seery feels huge. The closest modern flute I own is a Ward Hawks model (and that is really more like a large hole Rudall model than the small hole Hall), but the cork joints on that are feeling a bit tight with the drop in humidity, so I'm reluctant to play it right now risking the socket for a comparison.

[deisman]

What a cool thread... thanks for posting it. I've got an anon. one-key american flute in boxwood that looks very firth/hall/pond in style, that Jon C. is fixing up me. I'm guessing mid 19th cen. Believe it or don't it was a goodwill find... looked like it had been used as a garden tool when I got it. I'll have to get back to you on the details but I'm very peaked to give it a go.

Best,

Deisman

[ImNotIrish]

These days I am mostly playing my Firth, Pond and Co. flute w/ Jon C. hj and barrel, though I switch between the Jon C. and Abell hj's frequently. My other weapon is a Hudson Pratten which just honks!

Arbo

Oh, why do I like the old flutes? I think there is something about the uniqueness of the timbre. They require a lot more effort than some of the newer models I have tried. But, most importantly, I think they can take as much as you can put into them, and then some. The only limitations being that of the player. I also find them to be tonally distinct from some of the modern flutes, which is what I was alluding to earlier.

[Gabriel]

I've had an original Rudall for a few months now...but only really got to know it in the past two weeks. What a gem. But don't ever make the mistake to force it into your own playing habits you accustomed on another flute...it won't work! I'm totally amazed on what this flute has to offer, once one engages with it. Incredible. This is a huge insight for me as a flute maker, and player.

I'll do a workshop this weekend, and I'll use the Rudall for it exclusively. Can't wait to see how far this goes...a whole new world actually. Impressive.

[jemtheflute]

I've had an original Rudall for a few months now...but only really got to know it in the past two weeks. What a gem. But don't ever make the mistake to force it into your own playing habits you accustomed on another flute...it won't work! I'm totally amazed on what this flute has to offer, once one engages with it. Incredible. This is a huge insight for me as a flute maker, and player.

I'll do a workshop this weekend, and I'll use the Rudall for it exclusively. Can't wait to see how far this goes...a whole new world actually. Impressive.

Dark horse, Steffan, or have I missed something? Have you "shown" it to us? tell all!

[pflipp]

My other D is an unlined boxwood Olwell.

That's what it says on my bumper sticker, too. Meanwhile, I'm still with my French flute. But I'm also still learning truckloads by it, so I'm not complaining.

(I once played a little pop music on it; then realized that the flute was older than the song. Then I realized that it was older than the genre, what, Beatles and all. Then I realized that it was older than rock & roll, jazz, blues and even some "classical" music. Then I realized that it still works, and is still actual in its own way. Humbling )

I do like the reports of the past few days about the old Rudalls and their peculiarities. Guess it would be benificial to modern flute making indeed if we could pinpoint what it's all about. Gabriel, always interesting to hear

[Gabriel]

I'll see if I can get a recording and maybe a few photos together in the next few days...interestingly enough, a headjoint from my own shop doesn't change the Rudall's characteristics at all, but the same headjoint changes an (original) Siccama flute's characteristics a lot (positively). After all it's just the embouchure hole, which proved to work nicely and improve a handfull of flutes before. But not the Rudall. Flute magic I guess...

[radcliff]

That's what I was talking too....

yes, I have a couple of Rudall too, nice flutes indeed. "nice" means: another class...

[Julia Delaney]

Othannen

It's taking a while to get used to the embouchure, very different from the easy one on the average modern flute.

Is there such a thing as "the average modern flute?" What flute might that be? What are the parameters of "the average modern flute?"

Here's a clue: Definition of parameter: "a variable, in a general model, whose value is adjusted to make the model specific to a given situation," or "a constant property of a population."

To what flutes are you referring when you say something like "the average modern flute?" Is "the average modern flute" easier to play, say, than the average old Rudall or Pratten?

[Julia Delaney]

Gabriel:

Hi fluters,
I wonder how many of us are playing old flutes, i.e. antique ones made long before we all were alive, as their main instruments (if such a thing exists among us polyfluticious lunatics). What do they have to offer what others don't have?
Come on, do tell!

Rama:

hmmm let's see..they offer... cracks, broken keys, warped bores, strangled tenons, off pitched, unmodern tuning, false pride, denial; i guess they call all that 'character'.
headaches, heartaches and broken dreams - there should be a country western song about them.
heck apart from that i think they're great, ...almost as good as a modern made one.

You forgot: Inexpensive. Quiet. Cheap. Easily available*. But... they are flutes, and we love them all, right?

*Cheap.

[chas]

Othannen

It's taking a while to get used to the embouchure, very different from the easy one on the average modern flute.

Is there such a thing as "the average modern flute?"

Sometimes I think we're spoiled. When I saw the "easy [embouchure] on the average modern flute" I immediately thought Olwell. Of course, his flutes are anything but average.

[Akiba]

There is no such thing as an "easy" flute, modern, old, whatever. Flute is hard; Irish flute really hard.

[Cubitt]

I play an eight-key made in London in 1882 by WD Cubitt, Son & Company. It has a great sound at a good volume, plays easily down to the low C, is quite lovely and simply better IMHO than any other flute I have ever played, and I've played plenty.