LEARNING IRISH FLUTE AFTER THE WISTLE

[tradfancy]

Hi !

I am playing the tin whistle (high&low) for approx 6 months now
and I know that my ultimate goal is the irish flute.

Do you think that enough time has pased? and what kind of flute is recommended? (polymer/wood...I heard good things about M&E and SEERY)

I want a nice decent one, with a sweet and full tone (not volume), that I'll be able to handle. my budget stands for the MAX MAX of 650 US $

[Easily_Deluded_Fool]

If you want to - do it!

My foolish advice is to stay away from the M&E and/or Seery just now.
Try a Tipple they're much cheaper on the pocket,
and they are also a very good flute - easy to get a
sound out of, and they sound good, so you'd be off to
a flying start re encouragement, and they are
virtually maintainance free compared to wooden flutes.

I have a Seery (and wooden and metal flutes),
and it's a lot more challenging than the Tipple.
If you want to get another flute later, the Tipple makes
an excellent car flute - don't forget to open the window
if yer in a right hand drive

HTH

[AaronMalcomb]

It's not really a matter of how much you want to learn the flute but how much you want to learn on the flute.

If you have a variety of tunes with good technique and expression on the whistle, you will spend less time learning those things on the flute and can focus more on learning to blow the flute. There's nothing wrong with learning all of it on the flute, but it's a question about how you want to pace yourself.

If the flute is your goal, I'd skip the Tipple. Seery and M&E are good options. Some models by Casey Burns and C&F's own Jon C fit your budget too.

Cheers,
Aaron

[michael_coleman]

If the flute is your goal, I'd skip the Tipple. Seery and M&E are good options. Some models by Casey Burns and C&F's own Jon C fit your budget too.

These two are great options. I think if I had my choice now, I would probably go with Jon C's.

[tradfancy]

thanks for the wonderful advises

[Henke]

Based on your description of what you want in a flute, a polymer M&E R&R would be right on target, and well below your max budget as well. They are extraordinary instruments, and Michael is a great guy.

[Wormdiet]

I'd go with any of the following:

M&E
Casey Burns Folk Flute
Seery
Sweet

While the tipple is well made and sounds good, it didn;t work for me because the cylindrical shape means it feels quite different than a more conventional "Irish" flute. OTOH the price is great, and in and of itself, the Tipple is a good instrument.

I have an M & E myself and it's great. The very simple equation that makes it worthwhile:

No maintenance = More playing time

[Doc Jones]

Sounds like you are describing an M&E more than a Seery. Though both are great flutes.

I can also vouch for Casey Burns. Best bang for the buck in the world of wooden flutes as far as I'm concerned. You can get into a nice mopane Burns Rudall for about $450. In fact, there's a brand new Casey Burns Standard on eBay right now for $450 or so. I've done bisiness with the seller (Tom) and he's a good egg.

The plus side of the M&E as mentioned is that polymer in virtually indestructible and requires no maintenance.

Cheers,

Doc

[Sliabh Luachra]

Personally, I'd go for wood. But that's just me. I like the sound better. I THINK (depending on the exchange at the moment) you might be able to swing a Hammy flute, or a boxwood Olwell. Though, I haven't checked prices in a few months. If you're going to start an instrument, might as well do it right. Not that there's anything wrong with the flutes already mentioned.

Then again, if you're not sure whether you're going to keep going on the flute, get an Olwell bamboo D flute. Talk about best bang for your buck. Tone like you wouldn't believe for under 100 bucks. Umm, yeah, well, right then. Good luck.

Oh, and when you get your flute, read Ciaran Carson's book, Last Night's Fun, especially the chapter called, "Hard To Fill". Then lay on the floor and start playing some tunes. You'll thank me in the long run, though you'll want to kill me first. The real advantage of learning to play lieing down is that you don't smash you head when you fall over.


Mark

[Henke]

Personally, I'd go for wood. But that's just me. I like the sound better.

About the wood vs. polymer issue, my opinion is that there
is a difference in sound between wood and polymer. I don't say I like wood better because I think that what makes a flute sound a certain way would be probably about 70% because of the player, 29% because of the design of the flute and 1% because of the material (depending on what materials you compair). I think there is a biger difference in sound between boxwood and blackwood than between polymer and blackwood. Ofcourse, without any sort of scientific experiment, my view might as well be imagination, just like I think yours sounds like (no offence intended).

I love to discuss this subject, BTW.

[Sliabh Luachra]

I like this discussion too and I have to say: Well, heck, it could be my imagination as well. Though, I have played blackwood and polymer flutes back to back though, and I always like the. . . um. . . woodier(?) sound of the wooden flutes. I don't know how else to explain it. I could well be all in my mind. Maybe I just like the idea of playing a more "organic" instrument.

BUT (and it's a huge but), the price difference has had me considering polymer on more than one occasion. That and not having to worry about environmental factors in the south (rain, heat, humidity, air conditioning, etc) is another huge factor I've considered as well. All that being taken into account, though, I still play a wooden flute.

As for the blackwood, boxwood thing. I like both for different reasons.

Mark

[Henke]

Fair enough. I think it's just difficult to compair because there are not two similar embouchure holes in the world, which is why it's impossible to make an accurate evaluation on two flute materials. One way I can draw conclutions on material characteristics is that every flute I have played out of one certain material has characteristics unique to a flute of that material, and not shared by flutes of other materials, but those characteristics are quite insignificant. It is possible for polymer flutes to sound very woody. I think the design of the flute and the cutting of the embouchure hole contribute to so much more of the characteristics of a particular flute. The M&E is a flute which has a particularly deep and woody tone in my opinion, at least the two polymer heads I have tried. I also have a Cocobolo head (by M&E) which has a reedier, brighter tone than any of the polymer heads, but I suspect this has more to do with the embouchure, which is cut quite differently than Michaels normal heads. I haven't played anything else made of Cocobolo so I can't comment on what might be characteristics of the material and not of the particular embouchure cut.

[Wormdiet]

I like this discussion too and I have to say: Well, heck, it could be my imagination as well. Though, I have played blackwood and polymer flutes back to back though, and I always like the. . . um. . . woodier(?) sound of the wooden flutes. I don't know how else to explain it. I could well be all in my mind. Maybe I just like the idea of playing a more "organic" instrument.

BUT (and it's a huge but), the price difference has had me considering polymer on more than one occasion. That and not having to worry about environmental factors in the south (rain, heat, humidity, air conditioning, etc) is another huge factor I've considered as well. All that being taken into account, though, I still play a wooden flute.

As for the blackwood, boxwood thing. I like both for different reasons.

Mark

Boxwood is great, BUT, in a variable climate I would worry about banana syndrome.

[Wormdiet]

Personally, I'd go for wood. But that's just me. I like the sound better. I THINK (depending on the exchange at the moment) you might be able to swing a Hammy flute, or a boxwood Olwell. Though, I haven't checked prices in a few months. If you're going to start an instrument, might as well do it right. Not that there's anything wrong with the flutes already mentioned.

The other issue is. . .the wait. ONe year is a bit long to wait for a "starter."

[Jack Bradshaw]

The real advantage of learning to play lieing down is that you don't smash you head when you fall over.

Now that's advise I can really use !

Otherwise, reread Henke as he's stolen all my thunder.........