My partner and I love the lute. I have played it for many years. It's a natural complementary instrument to the guitar. So naturally it was an obvious thought to be doing duos together with the lute and renaissance flute. We did try the recorder because of problems that I will be mentioning, but we just didn't like the sound. It's a different type of instrument than the flute, and Jessica wanted to play flute, and the flute was what I wanted to hear.
The problem is the lute. Its natural keys are terrible for "C" instruments. So we decided to get a renaissance flute that was in another key, like a B flat clarinet or some other instruments would be. Understand that the wooden flute has problems. Certain notes don't come out very well. In the process of looking for a renaissance flute, we found that there were many flutes tuned in different keys, but none of them were strictly a renaissance flute. I guess because to be a renaissance flute they have to be reproductions. But it didn't matter because it just didn't work. It doesn't work with the lute.
Then we discovered that the flutes that we thought we were looking for (the E flat flute) was often called an F flute. It plays a minor third higher than what a player reads, which makes it perfect for many lute pieces. The lute is a minor third higher than the guitar, which is a natural "C" instrument, the "F" flute is a minor third higher than a normal flute. Once we found this flute, we had a blast. We found that we could play many tunes and that they sounded great. What we bought was a flute made by Ralph Sweet. The one Jessica bought was Rosewood, and has a great sound and was a reasonable price. Then we discovered that there were other tunes that were hard to play, because certain notes just don't want to come out very well. What we needed was a "C" flute (which classically would be called a B flat flute) and an E flat flute (which classically would be called a D flat flute. With these three flutes, we are able to play just about everything that we want to play.
Flutes by Ralph Sweet • Sweetheart Flutes Co.
You can reach Ralph Sweet at (860)749-4494 or write for a free brochure of all Sweetheart instruments via e-mail a Ralphsweet@aol.com.
Keyless Flutes, in D, G, E-Flat and A..
(Available in Walnut, Rosewood, Maple, Cherry, or Apple)
3-Section, one key, Tuning slide available, with cloth case
Keyless,2-section, Key of D, no case
Keyless,2-section, Key of C, no case
Sweetheart Flute Company
32 S Maple St
Enfield, CT 06082-4653
For F Flute
Blind Mary - Turlough Carolan/Alexander/Walsh
One place to shop would be with Daniel Larson. You can see his home page at http://www.daniellarson.com/ The prices are higher than the last time I bought an instrument. You can also find used lutes, and if there are any makers that would like to be listed here, just drop me an e-mail at: dowland@albany.net
Daniel Larson
26 N. 28th Ave. E.
Duluth, MN 55812
1-888-724-8099