How many play simple-system instruments?

[Owen Meehan]

I play both simple system and Boehm flute. I play classical on silver flute and Irish on the simple system. In the time that I've been watching this board, there has been unfortunately little conversation about simple system instruments, so it's good to see this topic.

The simple system flute has a great deal of appeal. It can be purchased very cheaply, requires no maintenance of pads or springs, and can be played in a variety of styles. (It's also a lot less intimidating than the Boehm system flute!)

Jaded, One thing though. I don't mean to be overreacting to this, but what exactly did you mean in your post when you said that the simple system flute is less intimidating than the Boehm flute? Remember that the "simple" in simple system flute refers to the very simple nature of the key work (0 to 8 or more keys) and not the ease of playing the instrument. I have found the simple system flute to be equally challenging as the Boehm flute. Anything that one chooses to pursue in detail will pose challenges. Those challenges just happen to be different than on the Boehm flute.

If you choose to see it this way, imagine playing Mozart on a simple system flute.... as far as ease of playing goes, I'd take the Boehm anyday! The fingering for a classical piece would be much simpler. In fact, the whole reason that Theobald Boehm redesigned the flute was to make it easier to play! So although the simple system flute may appear simpler because of the look of it, don't let this fool you into thinking it is easier to play.
The truth is that they both take alot of work to master, and should be treated with equal respect.

[Owen Meehan]

I also meant to add that a simple system flute with keys would be comparable in price to a decent quality Boehm flute. It's actually often more expensive to buy an entry level simple system flute than an entry level Boehm flute. The reason for this is that less expensive Boehm flutes are machine made, whereas all the playable simple system flutes are handmade.

[Jaded]

The cost of a good quality Boehm flute is high relative to the type of simple system flute I had in mind, either made by Mr. Doug Tipple, or created in one's garage with some PVC pipe and the cork from a bottle of wine.

I'll probably make a high D flute sometime this week, if I remember to swing by the hardward store to pick up some 1/2" schedule 40 PVC pipe and a straight plumbing joint. When I'm done, after about half an hour with a hand drill, some needle files, and a mitre box, I'll have a perfectly usable flute, waiting for fine tuning of the embouchure and fingerholes, which will be tunable relative to its base note via a simple, plumbing joint. (I'll probably experiment with different embouchure designs, looking for something that will work better than my first, viable creation now in use as the headjoint of my low D flute.) The net cost to me for the instrument I'll produce, perhaps $3.00. (Ironically, about what a Clarke Meg would cost in a store.) A little time spent polishing the PVC with 400 grit sandpaper, and it will be the sort of instrument that has caused the people who see it to ask where I got the material from which it is made.

There will never be any need for an expensive trip to a music shop for pad replacement or other, routine maintenance or check-out. All of those costs are inherent in a Boehm flute, but hidden. (I won't even have to play for shipping.)

Mozart is fine. I tend to focus more on traditional music with a flute or whistle, and it is normally written to play easily on a D major flute. I have heard of cultures, as in China, with its dizi, in which half-holing simply comes with the territory. As for the flute lay-out, I suspect that most people can easily grasp how to play the scale of a simple system flute with little more than a sentence of description. That makes it less intimidating to me.

Does D major limit me? Not really. Half holing a note now and then isn't the big deal that the devotees of the Boehm flute make it out to be for most of the music that the average person wants to play. I suspect that those who tend to restrict themselves to Irish traditional works get a little spoiled, and disinclined to attempt pieces requiring that the instrument be played chromatically. I'd like to move in a more chromatic direction with the simple system flute, and am enjoying developing the necessary technique. (I was just finding my way through a book of movie themes last night, and neither the "Indiana Jones" march nor the theme from "Star Trek, the Motion Picture", nor "Born Free" seemed likely to cause a problem, except when I had to invert the melody a bit where middle C popped up, and I had to take it up an octave higher.)

No doubt you can push a tune to a pace that makes half-holing difficult, but I suspect that most people interested in playing a flute can find a massive amount of music they can play at a pace that permits half holing, and with others who aren't inclined to play as though they insist that whoever finishes first is the winner. If a classical work is too difficult on a simple system flute, there are plenty of other works from which to choose.

I truly enjoy my low D flute, and recently moved away from sheet music to improvising versions either of short works or themes, like "The Pink Panther", "Christmas Time is Here", the theme from "Star Wars", and "Linus and Lucy", so I can develop the capacity to play a few pieces without the need for a piece of paper in front of me. (It's kind of fun to lend some of these works a hint of ITM style ornamentation, including a little note bending now and then.) Its not that hard to come up with something that can be played on a D major flute that sounds convincing based on a work's signature theme, even simple classical works, such as "Fuer Elise" (with the "e" added given that I have no umlaut in this environment). ("Mood Indigo" in D major seems to be kind of pushing it, though...")

I'm not knocking the Boehm flute. Those who can play it well are very impressive, but the fact that I don't play it doesn't matter to me, given that the simple system flute is a fine instrument in its own right, that is very easy to understand and to take up, and very economical, if you have a hardware store nearby and the necessary mechanical capabilities and tools, or Doug Tipple's e-mail address (dougsflutes@gmail.com).

So, are simple systems flutes, as I approach them, and as offered by Mr. Tipple, less expensive than Boehm flutes? Unless you get lucky with a good used one that holds up well, I think my original statement was valid. Are simple system flutes less intimidating than Boehm flutes? For the repertoire that I play, yes, they are. Do I feel limited? Not at all. (I suspect that if Doug Tipple stops selling simple system flutes for less than $100.00, someone else will.)

(I think you must consider Boehm's accomplishment relative to making the flute an "every person's" instrument by eliminating issues of finger size, hole size, and hole placement. I think that's a better basis for gauging his accomplishment than asserting that half-holing is grounds for dismissing the simple system flute in terms of its use with a more general repertoire.)

[Owen Meehan]

Ok, I understand what you meant now. Thanks.

I'm not knocking the Boehm flute.

I didn't mean to imply that I though you were. If anything, I was actually trying to defend the simple system flute. I was not meaning to call the simple system flute limited in any way. I was just saying that which one is less intimidating depends on what style of music you are trying to play on it-- (what works best on it). I don't play Mozart on a simple system flute either! I also focus on traditional music on the simple system flute.

Does D major limit me? Not really. Half holing a note now and then isn't the big deal that the devotees of the Boehm flute make it out to be for most of the music that the average person wants to play.

I'm a devotee of both.

I now understand that by "less intimidating" you did not mean anything bad about either the simple system or Boehm flute. Thanks for your post.

[Jaded]

I built the new high D flute tonight, decided the fingering was uncomfortable, and built a second one that is a clear improvement. Its a two piece flute, 13.5" long (assembled), and needs some tuning, but it plays through the B note above the top line of the treble clef staff (at least with my limited skills relative to forming an embouchure - in every way that can be interpreted without going off the deep end). I built it with a special feature that lets me play middle "C" yet keep the D major scale and fingering (except for middle "C"). No more moving middle "C" up an octave. I overestimated the cost. It was less than $2.00 for both the first and second prototypes, and I've got enough material left over to make a few more flutes.