Hi, I'm back after a couple of weeks abroad.

I received a wonderfull gift form a friend: a nice wood flute, presumably an old model, as it does not have the modern key system.

There are only 5 metal keys. I suppose they are:

Low C
one next to the last hole I cannot figure out what note it is (can't make it sound)
G#
Bb
a trill for C2 (?)

It is made of 4 detachable parts:

Head with internal brass tube
barrel, also with metal tube inside
body (all wood), with 3 keys and 3 holes for fingers
foot (all wood)with 2 keys and also 3 holes for fingers.

I cannot get any sound out of it (except for a weak C2#). The head alone has a bright loud sound, almost a whistle.

I cannot post a photo right now (I have no digital camera) but I will try to do it later .

But in the meantime, I am anxious to know something about this type of instrument. Of course I would love to be able to play it a little, but it is not in workable condition (the keys do not move very freely and the pads... well, they could hardkly be calledled pads at this moment.

Also the crown is partially broken but still in place.

Could somebody help in identifying this instrument, in spite of my confusing description?

Thanks a lot!

Your wooden flute sounds like the kind of simple system flute commonly used in Irish traditional music but it would be difficult to say more about your flute without a picture or some more information. I can however point you in the direction of a forum that may be of more help. www.chiffandfipple.com has a message board with various forums one of which deals with wooden flutes. There are lots of experts who can give info and possible advice on repairs. Hope this is of help.
Caomhan

Thanks for the answers.

There is no brand name on it, or model or any indication at all. I checked with magnifying glases to be sure.
A little sad to know that they could have been thrown away by the dozens, I had the hope that it could be a valuable item. In any case it was a nice emotional impact to receive it as a gift.

But as the Böhm system dates back to the second half of the 19th century, so how comes that people switched to the new system so recently (to trade them only in a few decades ago)?

Looks like I have to study the history of flutes in more detail...
As soon as I can get a few photos I will post them and also on the other site recommended by caomhan.

Hi JL, don't throw that flute out just yet! It sounds to me like a 5-key baroque flute. (The Irish flute btw, is derived from the baroque flute, and was in fact adopted by (often) emigree Irishman as they were cheap at the time when the Boehm flute became pretty much universal.) They use a different fingering system, charts for which are widely available. They tend to have a softer, more haunting sound. With the current trend towards authentic instruments in baroque and classical music, the old wooden baroque flutes are rapidly gaining in popularity again, new ones are made copied from older examples, and they are NOT cheap. It's not a bit gift at all! With the right finger charts and a bit of TLC, you're flute would at least be a lovely alternative flute (easy on the neighbors as well), with luck it might be more than that.

Check out this site (there are others as well) for more info:
http://www.oldflutes.com/

Wow, I wish it could be true!. In fact it does resemble a normal flute except for the keys and the material. (same size and more or less same hole positions).

I have to check that site more in detail, in my first visit I could not find anything identical, but the flute shown on the main page is similar, though the keys are not the same.

I think I will ask a friend to take a couple of digital photos today, I cannot wait any longer!

No, Lera, it is not the same flute. It is my first post concerning this intrument. I received it as a gift this last Saturday, just before flying back to my country.

There is no mark or brand on it, but it has 5 keys. Rings and keys do not look like silver, they are probably made of brass.

I promise to post a photo before Saturday, I could not get a digital camera yet.

NEWS!

I visited again the oldflutes site.

This time I could search and found that my flute is similar (but not identical) to the five keys french flutes of the 19th century. See this page: http://www.oldflutes.com/french.htm

I resembles most the Noblet (Paris, c1860) because it has a separate barrel, but the foot is different. All four models depicted there have a footjoint made of two parts (as I see from the picture). But mine is a single part footjoint.

The head joint and the barrel in my flute are cracked and this may be one reason why I cannot make it sound under C2# (not even C2). The head joint crack is thin and runs from the crown side to the blowing hole, on the underneath side (opposite to the hole)

The barrel crack is wider and runs the whole length of the barrel, being wider on the headjoint tenon side. But the barrel is metal lined so there is probably little or no leak there. The headjoint is only partially metal lined. MO metal is visible from the hole.

The inner wall of the cork is at 17 mm from the hole center.



<Added>

OOPS,

MO metal is visible = No netal is visible

cool! Since we're on the topic of old flutes...have you guys tried a bamboo flute? i guess that doesn't have to be old. But my neighbor carves out bamboo flutes.. COOL..right? So i was wondering if you guys knew ANYTHING..

I got myself an Irish flute very recently, quite like yours but without any keys. It's in D. I had a hard time getting a sound out of it; the lowest notes seemed to be particular hard, as you need less air but a lot of diaphragm pressure. I still get fairly dizzy after playing it for a long time.

I took it to a flute teacher in my school to see if there was any trouble with the flute or if it was just me, and she found it real hard to play it. I mean, I play it better than she did. (It was pretty funny how she tried to press the key with her right little finger, for instance when changing between E and D, since there's no such key in the Irish flute!!) Then later, when I picked up my friend's flute, a normal flute, I was surprised at how well I played it!

So I think this new flute of yours will take an entirely different approach, and I also believe that if it's anything like my Irish flute, it's far more difficult than the normal flute, as far as making a sound with it goes.

Adhmaid
this is a common problem for people used to silver flutes who switch over to wooden irish style flutes but with practise you will soon be able to swap from one to the other without noticing. One tip that I found useful is to turn in the headjoint of your Irish flute a little more than you would for a silver flute. This should make it a little easier to get the lower notes and give them that extra bite needed for Irish music. The amount you turn in the headjoint will depend on you , some Irish musicians turn it in so that the back edge of the embochure hole is in line with the tone holes , though for me it is about half this distance.

Still no picture of it... My friend forgot the camera at the last minute and so I am still looking for an opportunity to photograph it. Sorry...