Irish Flute Comparison (Beginner's Perspective): Lark in the Morning, Windward, Pipe Makers Union

Demo/review of three Irish flutes (caveat incoming!) from the perspective of someone who's been playing about a year. Feedback from more experienced musicians on my playing technique is solicited and welcomed.

Lark in the Morning:
Looks like my info in the video is already outdated...the entire company is out of business, but appears to be in the process of reincarnating. Nevertheless, an official site exists: http://www.larkinam.com/

Windward:
http://www.windwardflutes.com/
Mine is #129 in Pau Rosa, Pratten Perfected keyless session model.
Hanz Araki plays a Windward D/Eb combo (also keyless):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwtdsQ3ylVw

Pipe Makers Union:
http://www.carbony.com/
I have an Eb model - it looks like they make everything from D to G, with the exception of F#/Gb.
Here's a vid that appears to feature that D model with the full-metal tuning slide I mentioned...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v-_Sz3S1Sc

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Irish
• Flute

[dereksmootz]

Thanks for the feedback Jem. I'll try to explore that angle. There's a player at a local sessions who plays with absolutely phenomenal rhythm, seemingly via over-blowing notes (very frequently - like every third or fourth note) - I've played around a bit trying to mimic her style, and I think I'll explore that further. "Beginner" is relative, of course - I've had operatic vocal training/experience, hence the lung capacity, but I'm trying to overcome the classical influence ;)

[MexicanPiper]

The last one is in Eb

[cunparis]

I just found your channel while searching for Daye pipes. I think you cured my impulse to learn the pipes. Probably saved me a lot of money & time. ;)

I'm curious how long it took you to get a decent sound out of your flute? I play Low D whistle and I'd really like to try the flute but I'm not sure how long it'd take before I could play it.

[grittygreenhorn]

Interesting video! in your experience, what are the major differences between the irish whistle and irish flute? It seems to me that the flute would allow more freedom of expression while the whistle is geared towards easier playing, no?

[Jemtheflute]

Hi Derek.

You have good "flow" and can sustain lengthy phrases with reasonable tone impressively for a "beginner", but slow down, find the lilt in the triplet rhythm - it's all smoothed out here, though the last clip on the Eb starts to have hints of a better rhythm. Get the rhythm first, and don't be afraid to play shorter phrases/take breaths more often and to use breath emphasis. Then later you might think about more finger articulation to further reduce the smoothness. Keep at it!