Tuesday 2 April 2013

Read the Blurb!!

Just about to into Cruinniú mode here, so this will be the last post until at least next week.
Just noticed a thread on Chiff and Fipple, about which type of "Pratten" flute someone should choose.
Several listers commented on which was the most Prattenish flute, and decided that mine definitely was.
I leave you with this from the home page of my website...


The terminology of the 19th century flute, in the sense of the association between certain makers and their designs, and the perceived results of those designs for the player, remain with us today in the insistence that players have of designating almost all new flutes as either being of the Rudall & Rose or Pratten’s Perfected type. Although this is useful to some degree in helping people understand what to expect from different flutes, in terms of my own instruments, it is not so relevant. 
Although, like all other modern makers I began by copying old flutes, at this stage I feel that the flutes that I now make, and have made since about 1990, are as different from 19th century designs as they are like them. All the basic design elements such as bore, embouchure cut, and tone hole size and spacing, are based on my own observations and experience of over thirty years deeply immersed in traditional flute playing.
I think at this stage I don’t need to reference 19th century makers when talking about my own flutes.