As far as bang for the buck, I'd recommend a Butch Hall. I haven't actually played one, but I've held one and heard it played in person. They have a very nice tone and Butch has a reputation for quality and intonation.
The most popular keys are G and F#. Go to the website and listen to the samples.
www.butchhallflutes.com
Even though they're not all on the website, he makes the B, A, and G in two styles. One is the starter, and one is concert. The starter A is shown on the website as the Little Horse. If you can spring for it, I'd recommend the concert series. They have a brass plate spacer, which makes for a clearer tone. I believe the starters are all wood. I haven't heard one of the starters in real life, but I've heard mixed reviews. However, I don't think I've heard any negative comments about the concert flutes.
You can find cheaper flutes online, but of course you get what you pay for. Butch Hall has a good reputation. If you go to his site, you can see how many artists have used his flutes on their albums.
High Spirits also makes good flutes ( www.highspirits.com ), but they're more expensive (more decoration). I have a High Spirits Golden Eagle. I love it and it sounds great, they're $175 now.
Jason
Native American Flute forum
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Jason Paul
- Posts: 573
- Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2005 11:39 am
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You can also check out the Amon Olorin PF flute that we mentioned earlier. It's plastic, but it's a good player and comes with two keys for around $75 shipped.
As I mentioned, the octave is noticeably sharp with the recommended fingering, but can be overcome with alternate fingering. Being plastic, it's obviously not quite as warm sounding as a cedar one, but it's durable and portable, and does sound better than I expected.
I did a review on the NA flute forum, and posted a sound clip.
You can get them from Ken Light at Amon Olorin flutes. He also has a very good reputation and in fact is the main flute maker for R. Carlos Nakai. Nakai is by far the most popular NA flute player. Ken's website is:
www.aoflutes.com
Jason
As I mentioned, the octave is noticeably sharp with the recommended fingering, but can be overcome with alternate fingering. Being plastic, it's obviously not quite as warm sounding as a cedar one, but it's durable and portable, and does sound better than I expected.
I did a review on the NA flute forum, and posted a sound clip.
You can get them from Ken Light at Amon Olorin flutes. He also has a very good reputation and in fact is the main flute maker for R. Carlos Nakai. Nakai is by far the most popular NA flute player. Ken's website is:
www.aoflutes.com
Jason
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primenumber321
- Posts: 19
- Joined: Mon May 29, 2006 6:49 pm
