Fluteworld.com

pandagirl11 · Post by **pandagirl11** » Mon May 09, 2005 6:55 pm

Has anyone from Canada bought a flute from www.fluteworld.com? How much did it cost you in terms of shipping and handling? Was the flute delivered to you in perfect condition? Were you satisfied?

You can answer this even if you're from the States. =P I was just wondering because I want to buy a Yamaha YFL-674H flute from there but I'm not sure if I should.

Any reasons not to? It's quite a bit cheaper. US$2469 there and about C$3895 at Ward Music here. Even with the currency conversion, it's quite a bit cheaper.

Thanks.

fluttiegurl · Post by **fluttiegurl** » Mon May 23, 2005 10:02 pm

I noticed that no one from Canada had replied. I am in the US and have deal with Fluteworld on a number of occasions with no problems whatsoever! They are very helpful and seem to have competitive rates. I would recommend having three flutes of the same model sent to you (you will have about a week to try them and pick the best one). You should expect to pay about $20-$30 US for shipping (give or take) per flute. If you call them, they will give you the exact total. They also insure their flutes while shipping. If one arrives damaged, call them immediately. Again, I have never had any problems with having flutes shipped from there, but I have a feeling that it would not be a problem.

pandagirl11 · Post by **pandagirl11** » Mon May 23, 2005 10:16 pm

Thanks so much! The flute I'm planning on getting (Yamaha YFL-684H) is C$3895.00 which converts to about US$3093, which, in my mom's terms, is way too expensive. -.-" I'm looking into buying from Asia...which is much cheaper. =D

fluttiegurl · Post by **fluttiegurl** » Mon May 23, 2005 10:19 pm

I would strongly suggest trying other flutes (if you have not already). For me, the 584 sounded the same, and costed a great deal less. Just an idea

pandagirl11 · Post by **pandagirl11** » Mon May 23, 2005 10:30 pm

LOL. My flute teacher won't let me! She insists on me getting the 684H even though I've only played for about 7 months now. -.-" But I do have a diploma in piano...=P So I'm moving quite quickly. Almost grade 6 soon. Then I'll have to start taking exams and she says I'm not improving on a student model and she doesn't want me to buy an intermediate.

MeLizzard · Post by **MeLizzard** » Tue May 24, 2005 7:43 am

Try other US merchants, maybe? This is certainly not the best price I've seen for this flute. Flute World is reputable, great, has lots of flutes, but frequently not the best deals.

biggzh · Post by **biggzh** » Tue May 24, 2005 1:51 pm

I highly, highly recommend that you at least try other brands. True, Yamaha's are good ( but as James Galway has said, "Don't tell me you like the Yamaha, I'll have to kill you")...

At fluteworld, I highly suggest you try a Sonare (my flute's a Sonare 6600, and the tone is one of the most beautiful things I can find for under 2000 dollars), Muramatsu flutes are also very good (I've had the chance to try an EXB, and its sound is gorgeous), Sankyo flutes are also very good. If you try other sites, Miyazawa's are also amazing flutes (Muramatsu, Sankyo, and Miyazawa flutes practically play themselves.) I have playtested 5 yamaha's (most of them 684's), and I just don't like them as much.

I highly recommend that you try to at least test a good amount of flutes before you get one, and ask around about what brands people in your area perfer. You also want to take into consideration what style you play in- the one's aforementioned have a darker tone in my opinion while Yamaha's are more light in tone. It's all up to preference.

Well, good luck on getting a new flute.

powayflute01 · Post by **powayflute01** » Tue May 24, 2005 2:48 pm

Yay Sankyo!

Seriously though, I've been SO happy with my Sankyo I got last summer. I really think it plays almost as well as my teacher's Powell, for a fraction of the cost.

pandagirl11 · Post by **pandagirl11** » Wed May 25, 2005 11:36 pm

=S How do I even begin to tell my teacher that I want to try another flute... >_< 98% of her students play on the Yamaha YFL-684H. -.-" I originally wanted a Trevor James flute. >_<

biggzh · Post by **biggzh** » Thu May 26, 2005 7:34 am

just tell her that Yamaha isn't the only good brand of flute... I mean... most of those flutes (sankyo, muramatsu, miyazawa) are all completely handmade, which means that their cost does not degrade as much, if at all, over time, and they are usually of higher quality than the Yamahas. Though Yamaha's have been known for being able to produce the same quality in each flute as the next one, these other flutemaking companies 99.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of the time have flutes who, even though are made from less precious metal, can beat out Yamahas almost all the time. (In my opinion, and sorry for all the 9's)

MeLizzard · Post by **MeLizzard** » Thu May 26, 2005 8:33 am

Absolutely try lots of flutes of different brands before buying. It is a lot of money, and we all don't sound the same, or equally good, on the same flute. That Yamaha model is great, and they're very consistent, but it's not the only flute of its quality for a similar price. I have three students who are currently flute-shopping, all with different goals, and certainly different playing styles and characteristics. Among the contenders: a Yamaha 674HHV (74 and 84 difference is inline or offset, and the extra H is heavy wall), an Armstsrong Heritage (#61), a Muramatsu EX, and a Gemeinhardt 70-series (I frequently hate this brand, but this model is an interesting flute). These are all available for $1800-$3000 (not the list prices). I suggested they also try Miyazawa , Trevor James (these were inconsistent), Pearl, and Sonare (shares much in common wih the Armstrong Heritage, which costs a bit less). I play Muramatsu and love them, great sound and amazingly consistent, light, mechanism. But I can't insist all my students play the same flute, since they all can't spend too much on their flutes, and need to choose the best-sounding and best-feeling instrument for them. So I predict the super-amazingly-talented 9th-grader will choose the Muramatsu, the rising senior who thinks she'll do a math major and a flute minor will go with the Yamaha or the Gemeinhardt (totally new design, limited availability), and the other 9th-grader, also talented but not pursuing a music major, will go for one of the Yamahas, or maybe the Armstrong. They all sound really good on all of these flutes. There's an old story of a young hornist and her mother visiting an instrument factory to try horns. A famous horn player happened to be touring the factory also, and the mother approached the great legend, asking for assistance in choosing a horn for her talented daughter. She was visibly shocked when he simply walked to the wall, lifted a horn from a hook, and said, "This one should do.". I assume he was implying that we can sound good on lots of instruments, just select one and get busy!

Definately consult and include your teacher in your choice, but the flute you ultimately choose should be appropriate for you-your tonal characterists, the size and shape of your hands, the weight and response of the keys you prefer (your fingers will spend a lot of time there!

), the kind of sound you like, your future goals (fine recreational player vs. performance major?), your budget...pick the most-awesome flute you can find for the amount of money you can spend.

pandagirl11 · Post by **pandagirl11** » Fri May 27, 2005 5:41 pm

I'm planning on majoring in Sciences and going on to medical schol and wanted to minor in music but UBC purposely does it so that you can't do that although it is available. -.-" They just schedule all of their classes within the same time. Grr...

But I love playing. =) Anything, actually. =P

MeLizzard · Post by **MeLizzard** » Mon May 30, 2005 12:46 pm

Argg...yeah, colleges enjoy intimidating you into believing there's no time for a minor or double major (though the workload after a time can become occasionally oppressive!!!). My husband did a chemistry (premed) major/music theory minor, then med school, at the University of Chicago, then residency at Northwestern, still with time to squeeze in some lessons and play with the U of C orchestra (cello), even travelling to China! He thought it was challenging, but a good experience. He's also one of those charmingly-annoying people who can't bear to have a minute of downtime, ever. Must cram every minute of every day, always, says his head is a dangerous place to be when it's idle, LOL. Hello, sudoku! Apparently, he wanted to be a music major, but couldn't figure out how to get into medical school with it, though an interesting music-ed article I saw recently reported, for the year statistics were checked, anyway, that, nationwide, 66% of music majors who had applied to medical school were accepted, versus 43% of biology majors (!!). With the correct electives, of course. I suppose if one can be a good musician, she can probably be a good anything! Seriously, though, Yamaha or Altus or Miyazawa or Muramatsu--really, any flute you sound good playing and that can withstand the demands of daily practice should be great for you.

Picc_Chick · Post by **Picc_Chick** » Mon May 30, 2005 11:37 pm

pandagirl11 wrote:=S How do I even begin to tell my teacher that I want to try another flute... >_< 98% of her students play on the Yamaha YFL-684H. -.-" I originally wanted a Trevor James flute. >_<

I have a TJ currently and plan on stepping up the the masters version in about a year or so. The flutes are very nice and tend to have good lower registers. But that also depends on how you play, if the low notes such as things past a low E was trouble, then you would want something that could help you if it was a finger problem. If it was just a problem with you, such as the way you personally play, then you would want something that would fit to you.

The entire thing in buying a flute is that YOU'RE THE ONE BUYING IT! Your teacher can say anything she or he wants, but they're not the ones paying the money. All flutes are different, even if they look exactly the same, and thats why you should try a few out just to see how you like them. This is the flute you're going to have for some time, don't just assume what works for all the others takeing lessons from the same instructor is the same as you. Go with what you feel and you'll find your flute.

Though, I do suggset a Tervor James.

Just a personal fav of mine is all. lol

Your instructor won't be able to make up your mind in the long run, if you felt that a TJ flute was the one for you, just tell her so and if she's a good instructor, she'll agree with whatever your decission is.