Question about Casey Burns Beginner's flute

nashradus · Post by **nashradus** » Thu Jan 01, 2004 10:02 am

I was wondering what the Casey Burns beginner's flute looks like when seen from the blowing end (front view -> O ) since it does not come with an end cap. Can you see the cork ?

Could Steven (NorCal) or someone who's seen the flute please answer this for me? Thanks!

~nash

msheldon · Post by **msheldon** » Thu Jan 01, 2004 12:25 pm

I can't speak directly on this, but I suspect it's like the Sweetheart, where the end of the cork is an inch or more down the tube.

IDAwHOa · Post by **IDAwHOa** » Thu Jan 01, 2004 12:47 pm

The plug appears to be cedar (whew; mopane, cedar and wood sealer smells do NOT combine well!).

Yes, it is recessed a good bit, a mile or so it seems to me.

Actually, I will defer to Casey as to the exact distance if he so chooses to reveal it.

Renee is having great luck with the Flute, by the way. She has had a cold so that has impeded her desired playing time. That leads to a question I have, but will start a new thread since it is not CB specific. He did a GREAT job of getting the finger holes matched to her hands. The only problem we have had is that it needs to be pushed all the way together to tune up with most of our whistles. We are wondering if it is playing experience or if it is actually that flat???

Celtoid · Post by **Celtoid** » Thu Jan 01, 2004 1:29 pm

The end is open and not bad to look at; basically it looks like the front end, but I worried about stuff getting in there and moving the cork. I had a very bad Pakistani flute with a very similar looking wood and grain. The lousy flute found a new home in the garbage can and yielded only its end cap (no metal) which just happened to look perfect on casey's flute.

I had to sand the cheap shellacky coating off the wood and oil it to look nice, but it's very cool and works with the minimalist ethetic of Casey's nice design. Think of all the great end caps that a person might carve. a jeweler might even be able to set a stone in a nice little setting for an interesting sparkle. But i really like casey's design, so I would not mess with it with any thing more than the low-profile simple end cap that is on there now.

Celtoid · Post by **Celtoid** » Thu Jan 01, 2004 1:34 pm

Steven

I have been playing mine with the sections about 1/16 appart, to 1/8 appart.

How do you like the C natural? Seems really nice to me, and that note usually bothers me quite a bit. The flower of Magherally (sp) sounds much better now..

IDAwHOa · Post by **IDAwHOa** » Thu Jan 01, 2004 2:22 pm

We will play it against the on computer tuner and see how that compares.

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Thu Jan 01, 2004 3:26 pm

Often, it's the player who makes a flute sharp or flat. Some of us just play at a slightly different pitch than others. Also, since you're still breaking in the flute and can't play for long stretches yet, it should get sharper as the wood warms up. So, when it's broken in, after playing for 15-20 minutes, you might find you need to pull it out a bit to get back in tune.

Eric

nashradus · Post by **nashradus** » Thu Jan 01, 2004 3:38 pm

Thanks a lot guys! I'm currently playing Al Mount's beginner PVC flute and loving it! I've promised myself that when the Next Big Thing happens in my life I'm going to get myself a CB beginner's flute to celebrate

.

I am also considering M&E delrin flutes for my next flute - they cost a little more than the CB wooden flutes but look more like the other professional flutes I've seen posted here. I really don't know how either feels. Is there any reason why I should prefer one over the other? What are the differences between these two flutes? I've seen many posts recommending different flutes for beginners, but I was hoping to get a specific comparison of these two alone. Thanks again!

~nash

mrosenlof · Post by **mrosenlof** » Thu Jan 01, 2004 3:45 pm

Happy New Year!

As far as playing flat goes, it's likely the player since you seem to be describing a beginner.

A transverse flute does need to be blown in to tune. The things you can vary are the speed of the airstream, the size of the airstream (wide or narrow), the angle that the air hits the blowing edge, and the distance from the lips to the blowing edge. All of these have an effect on the tone and the tuning.

In general, faster air gives a sharper tone than slow air, blowing more into the hole gives a flatter tone than blowing more across. Lips closer to the blowing edge gives a sharper tone. A good teacher (if available) is a tremendous help here.

have fun!

IDAwHOa · Post by **IDAwHOa** » Thu Jan 01, 2004 6:21 pm

Thanks for the tips on affecting tone. Renee has realized some of those things, but a concise comparison like that is likely to benefit.

We fired up a couple of tone programs.

One generates a tone, like a tuning fork, at A=440. It can be varied, but did not worry about it for this. To my ear the flute sounded a little flat to the tone generated.

The other is like a spectrum analyser. You play a tone into a mic and it displays the spectrum of the notes. You can see the fundamental, harmonics, subharmonics and any trash showing up. On this program, again at A, Renee was able to blow frequencies at 440 +30/-40 cents or so. It still takes the barrel being pushed all the way in to accomidate this range. Unless experience and technique can overcome this fairly narrow range it will be tough to play in tune with any instrument that is more sharp than that. I will ask Casey about it.

Sorry to hijack your thread nashradus, but hopfully this will help you in the long run as well.

Henke · Post by **Henke** » Sat Jan 03, 2004 6:00 pm

nashradus, I have a polymer M&E R&R and it's a very, very nice instrument. Unfortunately I haven't played the CB flute so I can't compair. But to me, it seems like (and take this with a grain of salt, again because I have no experience with the Burns flutes) both Michael Cronnoly (M&E)and Casey Burns seems to be very good makers. They know their craft, and make nice instruments. However, the M&E is designed more like a proffesionall instrument, and the Burns beginner model is a beginner modell. With my M&E, at least, I can get that good Irish reedy honk, and the M&E works fine for me. I love it, and other people (Michael Eskin and James Peeples for example) who owns some top notch flutes and an M&E say's that the M&E comes very close in several respects to the top of the line wooden flutes. The CB flute is probably very nice, as you've heard from people who have acctually tried them, but my guess is that the M&E would be a step closer to the proffesionall modells, just as the price suggests.

nashradus · Post by **nashradus** » Sat Jan 03, 2004 11:00 pm

Thanks Henke, I'll bear that in mind when it's time to upgrade

~nash

skh · Post by **skh** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 4:38 pm

NorCalMusician wrote: On this program, again at A, Renee was able to blow frequencies at 440 +30/-40 cents or so. It still takes the barrel being pushed all the way in to accomidate this range. Unless experience and technique can overcome this fairly narrow range it will be tough to play in tune with any instrument that is more sharp than that. I will ask Casey about it.

If this is her first flute, give them a few months.

Sonja

JessieK · Post by **JessieK** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 4:47 pm

Nash, I disagree about the M&E. I find it way too thick around and not at all attractive (kind of like a big plastic rod). The rings are usually glued on in such a way to show the glue, and the outside of the upper body isn't tapered at all, making the flute bulky. The holes are usually not finished very well, and they need to be sanded further. I find the tone uninspiring, too. They are not delrin, but ABS plastic.

I think a beginner's wood flute (not counting the ones from Pakistan) would be better. I prefer Sweetheart flutes over M&E, and I bet Casey's flute is better than a Sweet, though I have not tried it (Casey's beginner flute).

IDAwHOa · Post by **IDAwHOa** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 5:10 pm

Yes, all, this is our first "real" flute. She has been playing a high C nickle plated one I got on Ebay for about $10. Her progress on that is what prompted me to get the CB for her. Casey has said he could adjust it for us, but I will ask that we delay this based on feedback here and from others over on chat. We can evaluate the need at its one year checkup.

She was playing it the other day and I was on the computer chatting on CF (instead of practicing, I know). She stopped, looked at me and said, "I REALLY like this flute!"

Best Christmas present I ever gave, well, other than the engagement ring 26 years ago!

I was playing it the other day, just a few lower octive scales. I got back down to the low D and it boomed and vibrated my chest.

WOW!

I must have done something right I guess.