sax question

[Sax_chick]

Hey guys! I play saxophone, and want to play flute on the side. It won't be in front of people, and I don't plan on being good any time soon. I'm a freshman in high school. I really don't want to spend a lot of money, I just want something to get the feel of the flute, I'm not going to a great sound.i know Mendini flutes are about $100, is that okay for what I want? Do you have any suggestions?

[pied_piper]

Do yourself a favor and buy a real flute. $100 won't get you anything decent. Here's what others are saying about Mendini:

http://www.fluteland.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=3296
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 826AAmR75l
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Are_Mendini_b ... lutes_good
http://www.8notes.com/f/25_343542.asp

See the Fluteland FAQ for help choosing a real flute:
http://www.fluteland.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=2411

[Lillyocity]

When I learned flute in 6th grade, I got that flute. Sure, it was all good and dandy for a few months. Then when the polish started wearing off, the cheap metal it was made of began to show on the lip plate and I got an allergic reaction from it... The pads wouldn't deal right and the whole flute wouldn't play right anymore. It would've cost a few hundred bucks to fix it...
So just get a slightly more expensive flute and save yourself the trouble.

[OGirly]

yay! another saxophone player! I recently started playing flute as well (like a year ago) and when I finally purchased mine I did a rent to own agreement. It let me get a used flute for around $850 (when interest is calculated in ect). It's been much easier to pay off plus it gives you the option to discover you don't like playing the flute which is a possibility. I wouldn't recommend going with the really cheap flutes. If you're going to learn an instrument learn on quality equipment otherwise you'll never be able to really tune in your tone etc as it will always be subpar and you'll not know exactly how much progress you are indeed making.

Just my two cents.

[pied_piper]

yay! another saxophone player!

There are a few doublers and triplers here and I am one of them. I started on sax and later added clarinet, flute, ethnic flutes, tin whistles, etc. Welcome!

[jseligmann]

You can't beat a Yamaha 221 or 225 (basically the same flute with different numbers) at the prices you can find them going for:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-221-Flut ... 3a8d7a6090

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-225SII-F ... 2a39d4ea9c


And when you get it, just like the sax or any other instrument, have it looked over/adjusted by a tech before you start playing.

[wall flood]

OP
Do yourself a favor: treat the flute somewhat seriously and practice it and even study. It could mean just taking lessons from whoever is the best and most serious flutist at your school.

When I was in school that was a girl who was getting a scholarship for flute, and studied from a heavyweight pro. A lesson with her now and then was very helpful and affordable. And just add it to your practice regimen. You'll be glad you did later. One more voice to add to what you want to say. Will also make you more appealing to those upper level bands or contemporary groups that might be recording or playing out at your age. I saw a high school age hip hop group recently who had a kid playing flute, sax, and hand percussion. Very cool.