I'm currently playing a Gemeinhardt 2sp. I am currently in the eighth grade and have been playing for about 2 and a half years. I wanted to get an intermediate flute, preferably solid silver with open holes and and an offset G. I'm looking at either an Armani or an Azumi (I don't remember, my mom showed them to me) and I'm not sure if it's really suited to me. Do you have any other suggestions for flute brands?

I would suggest either an Azumi, a Solexa, or a Di Zhao. They are all solid silver with silver plated keys and cost under $2000.

First try the one you prefer or better, try a few among your preferred and then decide. It is the best way. Your teacher could help in assessing when you sound better and give you advise and reccomendations. Good luck!

my flute teacher loves the brand Sonare for intermidiate. its an amazing flute, and plays like a professional model, with an intermidiate price. it cost me
1,895$ well worth it.

I am making the same transition from a Gemeinhardt. My flute teacher suggested open-holed Yamahas and Jupiters.

You should also consider the re-sale value of the flute you intend to purchase. Look at what used flutes are being sold at specialty flute shops (JL Smith, Carolyn Nussbaum, Weissman, etc.). If you upgrade to another instrument for college or just stop playing after high school, you want to be able to re-sell your instrument with not much effort.

I would really recommend an Azumi! I went to a mainly specialist flute shop (Jonathan Myall Music/JustFlutes) and I tried lots of flutes in that range, including a Yamaha 371, a Pearl 655RE, and an Azumi 1000RBE. The Pearl was breathy, so it was between the Yamaha and the Azumi, and the Azumi came out on top, even though it had less sterling silver in it than both of the other flutes! Other brands for intermediate flutes that use professional headjoints (Azumi uses Altus) are 'Amadeus', 'Sonare', and 'Brio!'. Brio! use Dana Sheridan headjoints, Amadeus use Haynes and Sonare use Powell. Yamaha could be worth looking into, but they're quite expensive.
Brio! are very cheap, but I haven't heard much about their quality.
Just make sure you try lots!

ok I sugest you if you like gemeinhard a KGM milenium ltd, if you don't like gemeinhard's buy a powell sonare or a haynes amadeus.
hey readers what do you think about GEMEINHARDT KGM LIMITED FLUTE???
byebye

i really like to reccomend sonare by powell to anyone looking for a step up insrtument. amadeus is also a good one if you get the all silver models.

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and also do NOT buy a flute off the internet without trying some first. try to find a dealer anywhere near you and try multiple flutes in your price range. every flutist has their own preferences. to some, a flute may be the most amazing one they have played, but to others, it may be absolutely horrible.

I have never heard of either of those "A" brands and do not trust the newer brands of instruments on the market or the low end instruments under the Powell and Haynes brand names.

If you want a really nice silver nstrument, depending on what you have to spend, a Yamaha (at least 481) or Murumatsu
AD is the best way to go. If you go with a Yamaha, you need to find a used instrument that was made in Japan. Do NOT buy
one of the American-made ones as they are not nearly as well-made.

I got through most of college with a Yamaha 385 (Japanese-made) that wasn't even solid silver.....only had the silver head, but it gave me a nice, big fat sound, which is just what I like. Since then, I upgraded to my Murumatsu which gave me an even bigger sound than the Yamaha.

These "A" brand flutes from Powell and Haynes have been around for a while. Forget about the silver content. A Yamaha 200 series has the same cut headjoint as the 400 series and will play the same. As many know, (and I know, it has been said MANY times on this forum) silver content doesn't mean much as it is in the design and built of the flute.


A young student can't go wrong with a simple Yamaha 200 series flute if it is setup properly.

A Yamaha 200 series instrument is NOT an intermediate instrument. Yamaha intermediate instruments start out in the 300 series, but maybe that's what you meant? As I said, a Japanese-made Yamaha 385 carried me through most of college. It could've carried me the rest of the way, but I wanted a better instrument so moved up to the Murumatsu. My friend graduated college on my old 385. It was such a great flute, I wanted to put it in the hands of someone I cared about, that needed a much better flute than what he had. You definitely need at least a silver head to get a big sound, but if you can get a good quality all silver flute, it's even better than one that only offers a Silver head. Brand name DOES make a difference.

Powell and Haynes sold today are not made for the same people who owned those companies for several years. A friend of mine told me that Haynes was bought out by another company and is not run by the same reputable people who made the brand name the quality that it was in its heyday. I think she said the same for Powell, but I'm not sure about that. I just know that having tried some of their low-end stuff, I wasn't impressed by it. Perhaps they are being made better within these last few years, I don't know.

One thing that's important is to be sure you have a QUALITY instrument, because if you don't, many instrument repair people won't fix your instrument when it breaks down. I had a student who bought some off-brand flute from Sam's Club that played soooooo badly out-of-tune, her mother ended up renting her a nice Armstrong.

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I forgot to mention, after renting the Armstrong for a little while, she ended up with a lovely used Yamaha 385 that she totally adored. :)

It really dosen't matter, just pick the one you think you will like.

Yes, of course a 300 series is labeled an intermediate flute in sales terms. The facts are that until you enter the 500 series of Yamaha flutes they are basically the same design and will sound and play the same. The only difference? Add some holes and a B foot. Same CY headjoint, same body. If you research this forum, you will see that this discussion has been hashed out many times. When you enter the 500 series there will be a noticalbe difference mainly because they are stocked with a EC headjoint.

I'm not going to tell you which flute is the best, because that is a decision that YOU will have to make on your own, BUT I will tell ya which I prefer. If I was in your shoes I would be trying all the flutes I could get my hands on. Here are a few examples:

Sonare by Powell {it has a lovely tone, although the mechanism might not be as strong as some flutes in this price range}.

Muramatsu EX {I have a love affair with this flute! It's price might be a little above what you are willing to pay, but it is well worth it I promise}.

Sankyo 201 {also a great flute, but I prefer the Muramatsu}

and the Altus 907

Hope this helps!