Olwell flutes

[Stefann]

Hello, I wanted to ask if anybody knows about the current prices for Olwell flutes and the waiting time.
I am an uilleann piper and want to get more into playing the flute aswell. I love the sound of the pratten flutes. Is it recommendabel to play a pratten if you are not mainly a flute player….because of the more air you need?

Thank you all very much.
Stefan

[PB+J]

Coincidentally just an hour ago the postal service delivered a brand new Olwell keyless Pratten in blackwood.

It took just over fifteen months from deposit of $300 (June 25 2021) to arrival (Sept. 29 2022), and was $1850 plus shipping and packing. Mine is a three piece with a silver slide and lined head.

So far I feel like it's quite a fine flute and I'm delighted by it, but it's going to take some adjustment going from my Ellis ebonite flute, which I've been playing for a few years now. It's a bit heavier and a bit more "polite" and responds to a different embouchure.

[Conical bore]

I've played a keyless Windward Pratten-ish flute and I now have a keyed Aebi medium hole Rudall-ish flute, and a keyed Peter Noy Nicholson type which leans more in the Pratten direction.

Regarding air requirements, I don't notice a huge difference among the different designs. I started on the Windward as a newbie to flute and moved to the others for the keys. The learning curve as a beginner on the Windward Pratten was more a question of developing my embouchure than lacking for air. You will probably experience some initial dizziness after a short amount of playing with any flute as a beginner, but that doesn't last long. So if you already like the sound of a Pratten-style flute I wouldn't worry about the air requirement if you're in reasonably good health.

[BKWeid]

Agreed. I've been playing an Olwell Pratten for some time and find it plays easily and doesn't require more air or effort than other Nicholson or Rudall pattern modern flutes I've played. The Olwell Pratten is all those positive things that you've heard and more. You will love it!

[PB+J]

I just did some comparisons with a mic and I would say the Olwell is distinctly louder but with a more refined tone. I'm having to work a little harder both in terms of the amount of air it seems to require and the amount of muscle I need to use to get it sounding cleanly, without a lot of "air" in the tone. I don't think that's the flutes fault, I just think I need to adjust to it. I'm very pleased with it so far

[Stefann]

Thank you all so much for your replies and help. So I guess a keyless pratten will be a great solution.

I also wanted to ask about the head and the fully lined heads….I read that the fully silver lined head should be olwells favorit head??
Is there a great influence on the tone? Does it have an influence on this „barking“ sound or is it for loudness?

Wish you all a great day.

[Conical bore]

Regarding lined vs. unlined head joints, IIRC from posts here, Olwell Sr. and his son differ on preference with one liking the lined version and the other unlined. I don't recall which was which. Also remembering from conversations here on C&F I don't think there is a consensus on which is better for tone. It might seem logical that a metal-lined headjoint *might* have a brighter tone, but I don't know if this has ever been established with a double blind test. There are plenty of famous Irish flute players using unlined headjoints with great tone and volume.

The other issue with lined vs. unlined is risk of the headjoint cracking from differential expansion of wood and metal when exposed to sudden or extreme shifts of humidity and temperature. Many vintage flutes with lined headjoints have cracked, and I've heard of a few modern ones that have cracked.

Personally, I think this risk is a little overblown as long as you're aware of your local playing environment and take basic steps to avoid sudden and/or extreme shifts in humidity and temperature. Many of those vintage flutes were probably stored for years unplayed in heated buildings before people were aware of indoor climate control methods.

For what it's worth, my Aebi D flute in Cocus, Noy D flute in Blackwood, and Lehart low Bb in Blackwood all have fully lined headjoints, and they have not cracked yet. I don't see any reason why they should, unless I'm careless about environmental conditions. I live in a fairly mild climate in the Pacific Northwest USA, and run a room humidifier in the Winter when the heat kicks in.

[kildarekonga]

Aaron plays half lined. Pat fully lined.

Here’s an email from Aaron from 2013 which I’m sure he won’t mind me sharing (shout if you do an I’ll delete) as it’s a kind of PSA on this subject:

“As far as the half-lined (french) vs. fully; the differences are slight, but i think you said it best that the half-lined has more of the sound of the wood in it. I play a half-lined, and my father plays a fully lined, so we're pretty divided as to which is "best". As for durability, we've had very good luck with our head-joints not cracking ( i think a couple out of over a thousand) so it seems like the inclination that 19th c. flutes have to crack there is mostly due to the wood not being as dry when the flute was made.”

[BKWeid]

The two above posts have great information and I agree with the content regarding French/partially lined and fully lined headjoints.

The difference, to the hearer and player, between partially lined and fully lined headjoints is not as pronounced as one might think. I would guess that most audiences wouldn’t predict whether the flute they were hearing was lined or unlined. You will find both heads are capable of wonderful tone. I have been fortunate to play an Olwell all-wood headjoint that projects loudly, can produce amazing tone, and is addictive to play. Definitely a tribute to the maker’s mastery of the craft—ability to produce lined and unlined headjoints that are so highly sought after. When I switch between lined and unlined headjoints on the same flute, there is only the most subtle difference, to my ear.

Somehow, the simple beauty of the unlined or partially lined headjoint is a draw, to me. However, others may see it differently.

Jay Ham’s unlined headjoints are extraordinarily fine and capable of producing splendid warm tones and plenty of volume. I’m a big fan.

So many options…

[Flutern]

Jay Ham’s unlined headjoints are extraordinarily fine and capable of producing splendid warm tones and plenty of volume. I’m a big fan.

Jay made an (unlined) headjoint in Solomon Blackwood for my Rudall, which plays wonderfully. It's also quite a bit more powerful than the original headjoint. Plus he is such a great person to deal with. After much deliberation, I gave in and decided to put myself on his waiting list for a keyed flute. I'm looking forward to Summer 2023...

[Stefann]

Thank you all so much! You help me a lot!
I once read that the lined head was a bit harder to play? Is this something you also could say in your experience or is the difference too litlle?

I know this is off topic but can anybody tell what kind of flute Seamus Egan was playing in the early Solas days? I know it is Seamus who is making the tone and not just the flute but I would be curiouse.

Thank you all and have a great weekend!!

[BKWeid]

In my opinion, an Olwell lined head is not hard at all to play. And, no harder to play than the unlined. They are just plain fun to play and tend to make the player sound better than they otherwise might! Nothing harder about them.

[GreenWood]

Egan was playing an original Pratten I think (I'm not that good at ID of flutes so a picture here)

https://stillslibrary.rte.ie/indexplus/ ... 9/094.html

Which was replaced with an Olwell Pratten

https://books.google.pt/books?id=rcDWAA ... ll&f=false

viewtopic.php?t=44406&start=15


I guess makers in 19th century did not expect their flutes to dry further ?

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ma ... midity.png

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sa ... curves.png


https://www.weather-atlas.com/weather/i ... ity-en.gif

I.E. The moisture content at ambient humidity of say 70 %... well I don't think they expected London to get drier, or central heating etc. Or to put it another way, if they had lined flutes fully dry, then the lining would have come loose as the flute swelled to ambient, unless they used cork or similar to take up slack.

[BKWeid]

Ah…! Flutes. Olwell flutes. (I’ve also wanted to try a McGee 5088.).

[jim stone]

Two identically similar flutes except one has a lined head and the other is unlined may well sound equally as loud, and the lined head will probably project better.