Tell us something.: Love playing trumpet and modern flute at church as well as Irish trad flute in a band. Been playing Irish trad and 18th century period music for about 15 years.
Doc Jones wrote:
My advice (against my professional judgment and much to my economic detriment ) is for players to be more monogamous and spend more time in the "woodshed" and less time buying different flutes trying to find one they can play.
Doc, Doc, Doc.... sshhhhhh... You'll put yourself out of business! On the other hand there are PLENTY of us out there (me included as you are well aware) that are a little more bigamous than monogamous!
Will you say why you want to know? That would help us field the question.
If you're just wanting to have a conversation, that's one thing,
but are you wanting some helpful info about what to purchase one day?
Folks are nervous they will be taken the second way.
keithsandra wrote:Alright, let me try and make the question easier to understand:
Which is the easiest, most satisfying Simple Flute you've ever played, and why?
The easiest flute to play is often not the most satisfying flute to play. The most satisfying flute I've ever played is my old Rudall and Rose, but it's certainly not easy to play. Although I do find it a lot easier now with two decades of playing experience behind me than I would have ten or even five years ago. Likewise, I've run across many flutes over the years that I've found easy to play (quite a few of them made by a certain Mr. Olwell), but the proportion of easy-to-play flutes I encounter seems to go up in direct correlation to the number of years I've been playing. As for why, I don't know. Why is the sky blue?
I played an antique Rudall made in the key of F, once. That was about as easy as I ever had it. Not sure what that information will do for anyone, but there it is. Cheers,
jim stone wrote:Will you say why you want to know?
From your previous post Jim I'd say you understand the question very well. Your superior experience and enjoyment of your present flute is enlightening and satisfies my curiosity somewhat, thanks.
No, I'm not looking for tips about a new flute just yet, though the Olwell, GLP and Copley are coming out very well in this thread. My Doug Tipple D with the two embouchure heads is easy to play and very satisfying, (one head at a time!). However, I also notice the odd phenomenon mentioned here, that flutes change their physical properties very much for the better in intonation, fill, ease and quickness of play as they get older in your hands. Doug seems to have built this in to his flutes. I know this is scientifically impossible, but there you are. Odd.
Here are a couple of generalities that may prove more useful that an bunch of anecdotes:
The easiest-blowing flute is likely to be a small-holed Rudall style with a short, wide-open foot. The tradeoff is in volume, or more specifically in response up and down the flute. Free-blowing flutes require less of a change of embouchure going up and down the octaves, but they miss a certain richness that seems to come from the "windsock effect" of the tighter, longer foot.
Modern headjoints and embouchure cuts are easier to make a satisfying tone on. The taller chimney height that results from the greater wall thickness, combined with a large, accessible embouchure cut, makes for an easy go of it. Antique flutes make you work harder, both because of the thinner walls and the smaller hole (on unaltered instruments).
Many modern, Pratten-style flutes have a "lower gear," i.e. you can tootle around on them using a small percentage of their potential, and they still might sound better than a cheap flute. The tradeoff here is that control, tuning, focus, etc. tend to go out the window; better to be completely filling a more manageable flute that inefficiently dribbling air into a session cracker. Cheers,
Rob
Last edited by Rob Sharer on Tue Jul 28, 2009 4:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
With your reply, Rob, we seem to be really getting down to the real stuff. Great.
Let's hope some flute makers now chip in with this kind of "navigational" detail to take us through the options and the varieties in them.
I suppose it comes down to knowing what you want. Personally, eventually I want the flute with the very best tone and flexibility of play imaginable to man, capable of sounds that express the complete range of human experience. If this means slogging away for lifetimes to get good enough to play such an awesome instrument, so be it. Aim high and die happy, eh?
Personally I've concluded that I cannot go wrong with flutes by Patrick Olwell.
There may be models that aren't for you in particular, but if you can manage
these flutes, they have extraordinary depth, flexibility, and range of expression, and (as has been
remarked by others in this thread) they are relatively easy to sound.
Getting out of them everything in them is another matter, of course.
I've never played the Olwell Rudall, but Chas has and he has good things
to say about it.
People may favor other flutes, no question, but I don't think any knowledgeable
player will be puzzled by my opinion or wonder why I say it.
I find Rudalls to be warmer, sweeter and easier than Prattens. I find Prattens louder, edgier, and more difficult to manage in the stretch and breath departments. I am a lazy man and prefer Rudalls.
That said, a good player can make a Rudall plenty loud and a Pratten plenty Sweet.
The Reason I like my GLP is that it has a unique and dark tone that I love. It's small holes also make ornamentation a breeze. I can play it plenty loud and "edgy" if I like, but it's certainly no Pratten.
The other flutes mentioned so far in this thread are also great and I could die happy if stuck on a desert island with any one of them.
The Copley Delrin someone mentioned is an excellent flute...much better than it ought to be for the price. If you were to get one of those you'd never need anything better and when you eventually succomb to the desire for wood it would be a great back up tooter. I keep meaning to keep one for that purpose but can't ever keep one around long enough.
Doc Jones wrote:
The other flutes mentioned so far in this thread are also great and I could die happy if stuck on a desert island with any one of them.
Doc
Doc, I'm glad that you feel so postively about my pvc flutes. Alongside Copley and Olwell that is a real compliment. I liked what Rob Sharer had to say when he commented: "better to be completely filling a more manageable flute than inefficiently dribbling air into a session cracker". For that reason I am thinking that my small round embouchure wasn't such a bad idea after all. It played easily, and people liked it. In many ways my larger, 2-semicircles embouchure has a lot more potential, but it is also a lot more challenging. For this reason I am offering a combo headjoint that has both embouchures, which I describe at my website. Needless to say, this is a commercial post.
Cheers!
The second draft of your question posed is fairly easy to answer, if you just want people to say what flute they've found to be the easiest for them to play, and gave them the most reward, for such an easy flute to play. It's certainly not much you can really use to great effect though, because it is anecdotal, as Rob suggested. If you want to know what flutes people really like a lot-just do a search and read back on the old posts here on Chiff-there are lots of "I love this flute...because..." to be found. The findings and opinions will not be very conclusive, but may lead to some generalities of good flutes available, anyway.
We have all read those posts and wondered about some of those flutes, even if we were not in the market for another flute-I understand that. My favorite and most satisfying, easy playing flute?-Burns Boxwood Bb. Why? Because of the Burns Boxwood tone (I have 3 of the lovely Boxwood creatures-Folk Flute, Pratten, and Bb) and because of the distinctly expressive Burns flute voice that Casey crafts into all of his flutes (and this one is very deep and sultry). Besides that, the second octave is so easy to play, and sounds so sweet and mellow. I also once had a Burns Standard in Blackwood, and it just seemed to epitomize what a wooden flute should sound like-full, rich, and sensual. My ears, my lips, my head, my blow...you know. Also, two other relatively easy flutes that I can highly recommend for their excellent tone, and greatly satisfying play are; as Doc just said, the Copley Delrin, a marvel with the rectangular cut headjoint (for me), and I can also give very high accolades to my short footed Copeland Blackwood flute, with a geat bottom end to envy. Like most other good flutes, in the right hands and lips (ones that know them well enough), they got it!
But on the third revision of your question, you say now that you want the best flute available, eventually, even if it takes a lifetime to get to know. I guess that you wouldn't classify that as an easy player, then. So, now, if you start asking about or even seeking the best flute that exists, you are still not going to be able to use other peoples subjective observations except superficially. Because you are the unknown variable in the equation that no one can answer but yourself, only after you have played any flute for yourself. Most times, it also takes a good long while to really know a flute well, depending of course on your abilities at the time. That is why most experienced players recommend playing one good flute for a while before considering other flutes, unless you just can't make any headway with that one.
Best for you, is probably the question, and you, are most of the answer. The flute is directly dependent on your individual input, and how you blow, breathe, and your flexibility in playing it, to bring about your desired results. Otherwise, it's just a stick of wood, with holes bored into it, and it can't do much without either a good aeolian breeze, or you. Which one will play it better? Hopefully you, in time, when you get your hard earned chops, by doing.
So, pick a flute, from any good maker, for whatever reasons that seem viable to you, and the rest is up to you to get there. It doesn't matter so much what you play, but just that you play. Some very beautiful music has been played on very mediocre instruments, and by mere, but talented mortals too. It's likely that if the people who may have heard such music were blindfolded, they might think it was made by the best instruments on earth, but that is certainly not always the case. A good instrument will help you, but it won't make the music.
Even one's ideas about what you like in a flute, must to come from you, and your playing experience, and those ideas will naturally change over time anyway, along with your ability, and sensibilities. That's the only way you can define your personal quest for "...the flute with the very best tone and flexibility of play imaginable to man, capable of sounds that express the complete range of human experience." That seems a pretty tall order (without your tongue in your cheek), but good luck with it, seriously, if that is what you really want. That flute may just be out there already, waiting for you to come along, pick it up, and show it what for! Just hope you have the desire, time and dedication to express it-and oh, some musical gift or talent might help with that level of expression too. Or, you can just go ahead and make some music now, to the best of your abilities and enjoy the ride as it comes, or as you make it. The rest usually sorts itself out, much to our surprise, and maybe with a little help from our friends, hopefully.
I also once had a Burns Standard in Blackwood[/i][/color], and it just seemed to epitomize what a wooden flute should sound like-full, rich, and sensual. My ears, my lips, my head, my blow...you know.
Bingo ...
This is from the heart of fluting experience, Barry. Priceless.
In addition, your thoughtful post resonates with good hands-on sense, IMHO. Thanks.
) is for players to be more monogamous and spend more time in the "woodshed" and less time buying different flutes trying to find one they can play.
Pat
