New Copley prototype Solomon Island blackwood flute; Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, slightly late! This is a quick demonstration of a new prototype flute by Loveland, OH flutemaker Dave Copley. The flute is a simple, two-piece design, made to show off the properties of Pacific or Solomon Island "blackwood". Contrary to the name, Xanthostemon melanoxylon is not black and is not closely related to related to Dalbergia melanoxylon (African blackwood). The wood is a lovely dark brown color, very similar in appearance to cocus wood. It also has many of the qualities of cocus wood, with a deep, rich, expressive tone, with more of an "edge" than my African blackwood flute. This is only the second flute ever made in this wood that we know of! Due to the rarity of cocus mixed with the increasing demand for the timbre's use in wooden flutes, I think that SIB will be a great new addition to the tonewood options in simple system flutes. For more info on Dave Copley, go to http://www.copleyflutes.com and for more info about SIB and its use as a flute tonewood, check out this article on Terry McGee's site: http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/Solomon%20Blackwood.htm
The tunes are an aire that I learned from Dublin flute player Alan Doherty and the reel is my version of "Christmas Eve. Just meant to give you an idea of what the flute sounds like.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• flute
• Irish
• celtic
• wooden
• blackwood
• Solomon
• Islands
• Zac
• Leger
• Dave
• Copley

[blowinbamboo]

nice playing...

whats the instrument hanging onthe wall?

it looks interesting

[Legertymusic]

@blowinbamboo, it is an old, low-end mountain dulcimer, given to me by a friend many years. It is essentially a wall-hanger instrument. Looks cool, though!

Zac

[ephektz]

It sounds like you are having difficulty controlling the quality of sound; almost like you're having to push too much air through. Did you feel you had to increase the volume of air to get the correct response?

[Legertymusic]

@ephektz , in Irish flute playing on the wooden flute, the embouchure and technique are very different from the silver flute. You want as warm, and smoky a sound as possible, to take advantage of the rich tone of the wood. This doesn't take a lot of air, but it is a very different approach to the instrument. I am also using my breath to "pulse" the rhythm in the tune, which is also very characteristic of Irish flute playing. I was getting pretty much exactly the sound I was going for.

[Legertymusic]

Also, I am subtly lowering and raising the flow of air and turning the embouchure hole back and forth in order to color the tone of various notes. This gives me a very large "palette" of tones to work in and out of the notes, something else I love doing with the wooden flute. So, yeah, there is a lot going on there, but aside from the brief flub I made in the reel, timing-wise, it was all intentional.

[aanvil]

Nice Zac... I think the first time I ever played "Christmas Eve" with someone else was with with you. I like your setting very much. Didn't know it had another name... cool. :-)

[Legertymusic]

Thanks, Peri. I think you are next on the list for this flute, no? Let's meet up and have some tunes soon!

[ChanFan03]

you are a BEAUTIFUL player does the new flut make a big difference i know when i got my new one it did!

[Artabri]

very good!!!you´re greate!!

[KeltiKyrie]

Awesome flute! It sounds lovely! I don't have a Copley or anything really snazzy and my bamboo flute is broken beyond belief. Fortunately I got a flute for Christmas, a Hall Crystal Flute.

And it's in G major, so you can't say all my flutes and whistles are in D major anymore. :0)

Great playing as always Zac.

Thanks for sharing,

Katie

[Legertymusic]

@thedulcimer , you will be very happy with, I think!

Thanks for the kind words.