I'm about to email John Packer about coming to try out some flutes in a few weeks and i was wondering how many you're allowed to try?
I really don't wanna miss any possibilities out - i wanna try as many as possible to make sure i find the most perfect flute for me Meaning i want to try atleast 1 from each of the major makes...
I made a list of all the flutes i want to try and ended up with 8... should i cut this down to 4 or 5 or something?!
Which are the makes you'd most reccommend?

Hopefully, I'll be doing some flute trying out in the not too distant future. I'll probably end up trying out 6-8 flutes I guess...

Absolutley not (cut them down, I mean) try as many as you can. Some you will blow once and put em down never to blow again others well you may not be too sure, and the rest you wont want to put down. You will soon wittle them down, so try all you can, and enjoy.

Try loads. Only way. I didn't buy the one I thought that I would, ended up with a completely different make, and a lot cheaper
Bev.

If you can, it's well worth having someone else listen to you too, especially if that someone else is a flautist.

I also found that you are best not looking at the cost and make of the flute when trying. That way you cant be swayed by reputation or the myth that the more expensive ones are the best! I ended up with the cheaper one. And try different heads on the flutes too even ones of the same make have subtle differences. If they are serious about selling then the shop will oblige. What price range were you looking at and are you aiming to buy aprofessional flute or intermediate model?

John Packers won't rush you at all, and you can try out as many as you like. I have spent many an hour in there with students. Do try to take someone with you for a second opinion.

The only limitation is how many they have in the shop! It can also be worth trying more than one example of the models you like best as individual instruments do vary.

I went down there a while ago to look at flutes. I tried about 10 i'd say. They will (or should, they did me) let you try anything you want, it's important to make the decision that's right for you. I ended up with a Powell Siganture but i'd say you should definetly try the miramatsu and miyazawa (one of them i really liked, the other i hated but can't remember so not much help sorry). My advice would be to not try anthing that you definetly cannot afford. If you can't get the money for it and you fall in love with it... well you see where i'm going.

Make sure you take a good variety of music with you, something easy, something you enjoy, something with tricker passages maybe a mixture of range (e.g. high register low register) It says you are working on DipABRSM in your signature so I'm guessing scales aren't a problem. If that's the case make sure you play C (3 8vs) so that you can see how/if the tone changes throughout the range. A good idea is to attempt something really difficult that you are sturggling with and see how it compares because you may find that one flute just works and enables you to do this kind of thing.

You might want to look at cheaper flutes with more expensive flute heads if this is more in your budget and you think it suits you.

No matter what flute you find, or don't find -> Good luck!

p.s. make sure you do it at a time when you aren't rushed. i spent over an hour there without realising...

p.p.s. if you don't find anything you can always make a trip to london and go to just flutes/johnathon mayall, they will probably have a bigger range

Certainly is Barry. Especially when your hubby is a guitarist and doesn't know what to listen for
Bev.

Just a quick follow up question...how do you actually know when it's time to upgrade? (Not just on flute but really all woodwind). I know from grade 5 the concensus is you tend to 'want more from the instrument' such as responsiveness, but as every person you listen to has a different 'character' when they play e.g tone, colour etc so you may be searching for a particular style and never be able to find that 'ideal' with all the headjoint/body/footjoint combos available...

I knew it was time to upgrade when I couldnt get anything else out my instrument, for example tone didnt improve, sound and colour. It was also ready for a major major service, any excuse really

Any joy with a new flute yet?

It's now all sorted I'm going to choose it on 9th April. Then my grandpa is lending me the money for the flute, so i can order it straight away!
Mega excited :|

Im going to go flute hunting soon as well, cos i'm now moving onto grade 7 flute, and although my Yamaha 211 is probably good enough to go right up to grade 8 and beyond, i dont think i can get much more from it, and have got some models in mind (looking at Pearl, Sankyo, and miyazawa), and hope to get the flute by the end of the year, and anyway, it's always nice to get a new flute!

What models have you got in mind at the moment?
When you go to the shop, try some of the £10,000+ flutes as well, just for the fun of it, but dont do that until after you've made up your mind and played all the flutes that are in your range, cos otherwise you'll end up comparing them all to the amazing flutes!

Sadly, i cant afford to get the same flute as my teacher (seeing as its solid silver all over, with a 14K gold lip plate, and platinum riser, and white gold springs, with open holes, and some special type of keys where the metal that holds the keys to the flute go around the sides of the flute instead of french arms), but im looking at the Pearl Elegante 795RBE-CODA, and the Pearl Dolce 695RBE-CODA, which are still very nice flutes, but not as expensive.
Jacob.

Hey thats great let us know how you get on. Not sure that trying £10,000 flute is a good idea, you might fall in love