Hamilton Practice Flute ?

Jim_B1 · Post by **Jim_B1** » Thu Nov 07, 2002 8:46 am

OK, I have an Olwell Bamboo F flute on order (should show up before Thanksgiving) but I am thinking about a Hamilton D practice flute while I decide on a wooden flute come the spring. They are only in the area of $50 so so I can handle that little expenditure if it's worth it. Has anyone tried or bought one of these? Is it worth it?
As always, Thank you all for your help.

Gordon · Post by **Gordon** » Thu Nov 07, 2002 10:20 am

I understand they are very good intro flutes. Though cylindrical, they are an easier play than a bamboo flute, and play in pitch through the two octaves. For fifty bucks, you can't really go wrong, when you consider the price of, say, a decent low D whistle, and in this instance you can work on your embouchure along with your fingering. That said, you probably won't stay with it once you feel accomplished the way you might with a cane flute, which has a very different quality often sought in addition to that of a wooden flute.

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Thu Nov 07, 2002 10:36 am

Also be aware of the following (comments based solely on my own personal experience):

As a beginner, switching back and forth between several different flutes that you own may make the development of a decent embouchure a slower and more difficult/frustrating process since each flute requuires something a bit different lip wise.

Just a thought from someone who's had that particular experience, might not be the same for everyone though.

Loren

Gordon · Post by **Gordon** » Thu Nov 07, 2002 3:55 pm

I'd agree, Loren, but I think the Hamilton practice flute has a more "flute-like" embouchure than the cane flutes. Since Jim is going to be going for a wooden flute in the spring, the low cost will enable more immediate practice on his embouchure, IMHO, than the cane flute and offset what you're referring to. I do think constant switching from one flute to another can be (temporarily) detrimental to embouchure development, but I also think that a developed embouchure will allow adjustment from flute to flute rather quickly (as opposed to undoing all the hard work put in in the first place), and ultimately that's a good thing.

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Thu Nov 07, 2002 4:23 pm

Gordon,

I'm well aware that picking up different flutes is not a big deal for experienced players, I thought I was making it clear that my comments were with regards to someone just getting started, which is were Jim is.

Also, I wasn't suggesting in any way, shape, or form which instrument he should choose (the Olwell cane or the Hammy), I was just suggesting he might be better off to simply pick one and have a go at that for a while rather than spending money a bunch of less expensive flutes and hopping about between them.

No matter though, it was just an idea.

Loren

Gordon · Post by **Gordon** » Thu Nov 07, 2002 7:07 pm

You're last point, Loren, I definitely agree with. When you start to buy a lot of cheap substitutes for real flutes, they add up quickly -- may as well go for a good flute up front (and I personally think that's the way to go in any case).
I was in no way saying, or thinking, that you didn't know what I was saying, BTW -- I, too, was thinking of the beginner. There have been many threads here in the short time I've been on C&F that say beginners should start with a smaller (for eg, the F) cane flute. While some teachers and players I do respect advocate this, I really think it's an unnecessary step. The finger stretch stretches when you get used to it, the embouchure develops best on a good flute with a well-cut embouchure.
Substitute beginner flutes only put this off.
I was not challenging what you had to say at all, Loren, just suggesting that the Hamilton is a closer mock-up of a wooden flute, and far cheaper than the polymer flutes often sited as a warm-up-to-a-good-wood flute. Like you, I actually think the best first step flute is a good first flute.

Jim_B1 · Post by **Jim_B1** » Thu Nov 07, 2002 9:14 pm

OK, no arguments now

I just figured that since I was going over to Ireland I may be able to get one for a little cheaper there then here with no shipping charges and since the bamboo would be in F that maybe the Hamilton in D would be a little closer to the size of the regular wooden D flutes but may be easier to fill and finger than a bamboo D.

I figured Hammy Hamilton has a good reputation so even to make a quick buck he wouldn't put a complete piece of junk on the market. I just haven't heard anything about them one way or the other so I was hoping someone who tried one would just chime in and let me know if it's worth the $50 or if I should just pass on it.

Some good points about the switching embousure between two different types of flutes while you are just learning though. Something to think about. It could go either way, I may learn better by having multiple instruments to learn on because I will learn what things are better or worse on each type and will have to learn to adjust between them to get the best sound so it may actually make me a better player, maybe not good but better

or it could go like Loren said and it could just confuse me but in that case I could just stick with one as my primary practice flute and use the other for specific things like use the bamboo for general learning and the Hamilton for finger stretches and to get comfortable with a larger flute.

Of course if the consensous is that the Hamilton is not worth the time to mess with and I should just stick with the bamboo until I'm ready for the real deal, then I get to use that $50 on something else. I just wanted to clarify my thinking on it to see if anyone sees it differently.
Thanks,
-Jim

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Fri Nov 08, 2002 7:25 am

I don't think you'd go too far wrong with anything Hammie makes.

As for switching flutes, I find myself agreeing with Loren on this one, at least for somebody brand new to flute: to be able to switches flutes, you have to have learned a decent embouchure. Trying to switch while learning the embouchure would only frustrate and complicate.

However, one you have the basics of a good embouchure down, I think there is actually value in switching from flute to flute at that point, so that you have a correct embouchure burned into muscle memory, and not one built around the idiosyncracies of some particular flute.

Yet later in the game you'll be able to pick up a flute and fairly quickly identify things about it you can use to your advantage by altering your embouchure on the fly.

I point this out so that you know there are a whole range of workable embouchures, not just one "correct" one.

Best to all,

--James
http://www.flutesite.com

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Fri Nov 08, 2002 8:05 am

On 2002-11-07 22:14, Jim_B1 wrote:

OK, no arguments now

Not to worry, nothing to argue about here - I wasn't offended by anything Gordon or anyone has said, I was just clarifying my earlier thoughts, since it seemed that perhaps I didn't get across what I was intending to.

Now, James and I agreeing on something....well we simply can't have that going on around here now though, can we?

Loren

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Fri Nov 08, 2002 8:36 am

LOL!

Gordon · Post by **Gordon** » Fri Nov 08, 2002 9:20 am

Well, not to turn this into a love-fest, I agree with what both Loren and James have said; on the one hand you probably can't go wrong with something Hammy makes, and early on you probably should concentrate on one flute, then graduate to a more all-round embouchure. The ideosynchratic nature of various flute embouchures is a given, so I think it's important to work primarily on one decent flute and also keep trying other flutes when you get a chance to play them.

I always got a decent tone from the German flute I started on (I'd actually started on a Boehm), but I really didn't get the biting hard D and honk, if I wanted them, until I worked on the Hamilton I currently use. This was largely because the German doesn't do this well in the first place (it naturally has a much sweeter, quieter tone, smaller holes and bore, etc). The point to all this is that, once I started to get it with the Hammy, I now can get a decent bite even on the German flute (though it still doesn't do it as well).
If this helps at all..

Jim_B1 · Post by **Jim_B1** » Fri Nov 08, 2002 10:43 am

Well, looking through the posts, I still haven't heard from someone who has actually tried one of these. Still waiting for a little review if anyone has it. Someone has to have bought or tried one of these things.
Thanks
-Jim

kkrell · Post by **kkrell** » Fri Nov 08, 2002 1:44 pm

On 2002-11-08 11:43, Jim_B1 wrote:
Someone has to have bought or tried one of these things.

Just call Hammy and ask him if it's suitable for you, 5 hours ahead of you. Phone is 011 353 26 45209 .

Kevin Krell

Jim_B1 · Post by **Jim_B1** » Fri Nov 08, 2002 8:12 pm

Well, I could just call Mr Hamilton but I wanted to get real reports on how this flute is not a brochure, if you see what I mean. I'm pretty sure if I talked to Mr Hamilton he would say something like "this is a practice flute, you are looking for a practice flute, what else do you need to know?" I kind of doubt he would say "no this is garbage, stick with the bamboo" However someone on this board who has tried it could say just that without having any conflict of interest.
Thanks,
-Jim

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Sat Nov 09, 2002 6:16 am

I have now an Olwell low D
and it's quite an extraordinary
flute. But it would be fatal
to take it outside in the
cold--so I'm also interested
in the metal practice flute
for busking.

Just checked Hamilton's
webpage but couldn't be
sure if the practice flute
is low D or soprano.
I think it's low, but
he says children age 10
or more can play it--
kind of hard to see
ten year olds playing
the low D... Will someone
tell me? Jim

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: jim stone on 2002-11-09 07:31 ]</font>