No matter whether you’re just getting started with flute or are an established player looking for an instrument that will take their playing to the next level, here are a few essential points you should keep in mind before investing in one.
Before choosing a flute to suit your playing style, you must first determine what kind best meets it. Many flute makers offer an impressive variety of flutes.
Matt Molloy
Matt Molloy is one of the premier flute players in traditional Irish music, having performed with The Bothy Band, Planxty, and The Chieftains as well as recording four noteworthy solo albums.
He owns a pub in Westport, County Mayo which is known for hosting sessions featuring some of Ireland’s finest traditional bands like John Carty and Mike McCague.
Matt Molloy plays traditional Irish music on both flute and tin whistle, both upright vertical fipple-flute instruments that direct airflow through an orifice in their mouthpieces to produce sound. These instruments can be composed of different metals such as nickel-silver, brass and aluminum for optimal playback.
Molloy’s musical roots in Sligo run deep; both his father, uncle, and grandfather were flute players – which has had an influence on his playing style as well as providing him with modern sensibility on this instrument.
Catherine McEvoy
Catherine McEvoy was exposed to traditional music while living in Birmingham, England as a young girl. Both of her parents hail from Roscommon and she was fortunate to grow up among many traditional musicians on her street.
Catherine began playing the flute at 13 and joined the Birmingham Ceili Band. Soon thereafter, her older brother John–an accomplished fiddle player himself–introduced her to such artists as Denis Murphy and Mairtin Byrnes on records that John brought home for her.
In these early years, she also listened to many unaccompanied flute recordings by Irish musicians from across Ireland. These recordings provided great inspiration and she learned from them.
Josie McDermott from Ballyfarnon and Peg McGrath from Kilroosky had an immense effect on Jo’s flute playing. These women could both play rhythmically yet energetically without rushing the music, using ornaments to distinguish their flute for sale and add flair and interest to the music.
John McKenna
John McKenna was born in Tarmon, Co Leitrim and immigrated to New York where he made some of the first commercial recordings of Irish flute playing. A master of rhythmic attack with short phrases using breath rests and glottal stops, John was one of the pioneering flute players from Ireland to create commercial recordings in America.
John McKenna Society in Leitrim has just released an impressive compilation album that showcases John’s 78 RPM recordings as some of the most influential in Irish music history, still having an enormous effect today on generations of musicians from around the globe. These records continue to influence upcoming musicians today – just look at all his disciples! His influence can still be felt today! His recordings remain powerful and vibrant even today!
McKenna remains one of the greatest influences on traditional music today despite his age, as evidenced by Matt Molloy and Frankie Gavin performing his tunes with great zest in recent years.
McKenna was one of the pioneers in making serious recordings of Leitrim tunes, inspiring generations of traditional players globally through his recordings. His recordings remain an influential resource today.
Peter Horan
On a sunny, warm day when I feel the urge to step outside into the fresh air – taking a walk along the seashore or through trees near a spring-cleaning project, for instance – traditional Irish music often helps me unwind. My collection contains albums to match every mood from lockdown blues to feeling excited as I stroll by a lake.
Steph Geremia’s Up She Flew album provides me with something more energetic. Her versatile style draws upon her years living in Sligo where she spent time amongst great North Connaught flute players like Peter Horan.
She studied world musician Anthony Braxton in New York, gaining expertise in various traditions of music. Additionally, she traveled to India in order to learn the Bansuri (north Indian flute). Furthermore, she is an advocate of using traditional instruments in modern musical settings.