Is It Worth It?

Well, one my fellow flute playing friends found this in a catalogue.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b293/philipinoguy/ALDIS.jpg

Apprently the ALDI supermarkets are going to sell these starting from this thursday.
I couldnt find anything about Livingstone (the brand of which the instruments were made from).
Do you think it's worth it to buy this/these?

Any information also about the trumpet and clarinet would be awesome.

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and yes, i do realise that i have been inactive since january, and i apologse, lol.
hi to all.

Well, I would assume that the Tpt and the Clarinet are of the same quality as the flute. I generally don't feel comfortable recommending these types of instruments, nickel silver, buying musical instruments from a discount grocery store chain or this trend towards the cheaper and lower quality instruments. Partly because they aren't so good and partly because this sort of competition causes the better companies to trim their quality as well or to go under.

WalMart occasionally sells flutes, trumpets, and clarinets, and they might as well just be toys. If you're buying an instrument to give to a young child who is just learning and you either suspect that they're going to be very rough with it and it will need to be replaced by the time they get into middle school or if you think their interest will be temporary, then that quality of instrument may have its uses. However, for a serious player responsible enough to take care of an instrument and that would expect said instrument to last more than a year or two, investing in a higher quality instrument is definitely a priority versus the convenience of buying one through a grocery store.

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Also, I checked out the picture you provided...I don't think I would feel comfortable buying from people who don't know enough about the instruments they're selling to offset the foot on the flute and turn the mouthpiece on the clarinet the right way. Just saying...

"people who don't know enough about the instruments they're selling to offset the foot on the flute "

Actually, I've been playing with my foot joint in the non-offset position for years with no detremental effect. I find that it restores a portion of the inherent lack of balance that the flute has as well as improving a certain amount of hand position correctness and facility. Of course this only works if the rh is located in a technically good playing position.

Seriously Bilbo? I don't have my flute right here with me, but I don't think I could do that very easily.....

Yes.
Realizing that this is in direct defiance of common trends.
I find a certain advantage in placing the ball of the fj mechanism at the front of the body keys.

My R thumb is below but a tad behind the RH 1st finger.

My rh knuckles are parallel with the body of the flute (no rotation towards the head) and directly on a plane behind the keys.

In this way I can actually hold the flute with only my right hand (as a demonstration) with only two points of contact and under complete control. DOn't do this unless you are sure that you won't accidentally drop or otherwise throw your flute. The Eb key pinkey and the RH thumb (more directly underneath the F key).

That is not my support while playing. This is at 3 points 1)the indent at the chin. 2)LH index finger knuckle location and 3)the RH thumb in a position at the spot below and slightly behind the F key. There is a sort of modified bipod support where the Lh Index forms one side and the other two points form the 2nd side of this bipod.

Of course the goal of supporting the flute is to have it held so that it can be fingered easily and that it not move on the embouchure when the fingers move.

Wow. That's pretty cool, Bilbo. When I first started playing, I didn't offset it, but it was beaten into my head that it was incorrect, so I simply assumed...thanks for setting me straight!

When I was in beginner band, I thought that the rod on the body was supposed to be lined up with the rod on the foot joint..lol...I found it very difficult to play this way!! Glad I know better now!!

Help!!

What are you guys talking about? My very first teacher had me set the foot at an angle. The rod intercepted the keys down the centerline. ( The open holes are bisected by the rod on the foot.) I have always played my flute this way.

I am trying to learn to play again and I have yet to find a teacher in the atlanta area to work with me. I am still setting my flute up the way I was origionally taught.

All of the pics of the flute that I have seen have the low foot inline with the keys. Is this the way that most of you play? Am I doing something wrong? Could my technique improve if I line up my keys?

Help!

"My very first teacher had me set the foot at an angle. The rod intercepted the keys down the centerline. ( The open holes are bisected by the rod on the foot.) I have always played my flute this way."

I will say that that description above is the typical way of doing this. I'm not suggesting change. It is just the way that I do it.
...........................

"When I was in beginner band, I thought that the rod on the body was supposed to be lined up with the rod on the foot joint..lol...I found it very difficult to play this way!!'

Probably the difficulty was even more so after Kara saw that and commenced to beat on your knuckles with the cleaning rod to correct the error of your ways. ;-)

I have to run out for a while, but when I get back, I will take a picture of what they are talking about and put it up on my profle for you to see.

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Okay, take a look at the first two pictures on my site. You will see how the footjoint is angled. I don't like it quite as angled myself as I have short fingers and find it easier not to angle the the footjoint rod to the moddle of the D key as I was told to do.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/flute_fun/

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I should also add that the set up in the picture is the way I do mine. You can see that it is not exactly lined up in the middle of the D key.

hey there,
I want to know the same thing re the Livingstone instrument. I can't find any info on them either (except for this thread). There must be people out there who have bought last years model. The band tutor at the school I work at worned all parents not to buy from Aldi. Apparently the guitars had frets all misaligned and were totally non-playable.

Mind you, with Aldi you can return any time.

joolz

I would stay clear of any of the off name brand flutes or just about any flute that is being sold at Walmart or non music stores. The only flutes that I have ever been impressed with AFTER I did some tweaking on them is the First Act flutes. You think that you are saving money when in reality you will be losing money. Even if there is a return policy, if the instrument breaks after the 30 day return policy then you ended up losing in the long run. To fix it, would most likely cost the entire price that the flute was purchased for to begin with. That is if you can get a repair tech that wants to work on it.

Lol, despite the thread getting out of hand..
thanks for all your info!

umm, yeah, knowing that WalMart sells bad stuff then i obviously cant trust Aldi. (Assuming that Walmart is like Big W) aldi is probably more scummy than walmart.
or maybe theyre theyre the same in quality.

I think Walmart is a bit like Big W here in Oz. I think Aldi has some good stuff sometimes, like the stand for $20 which is great. My parents bought a great dehumidifier which works like a charm.

The flute has a year warranty on it which I think is pretty good. I think I'm going to call the bandmaster tomorrow and see if any of his students have them and what he thinks about it all now that they would have had them for a year. Will write back tomorrow.

Joolz