Wednesday, April 12, 2017 by Jamie Rone | Information

Hello RBMS and LHS Flutes!

For those of you preparing to enter into the high school from RBMS, you will soon see the wonderful world of Leander High School Marching Band! Make sure you get your current flute checked out at one of the music shops at the end of the school year/start of summer that way you are not waiting until band camp and then realizing you have a leak or minor maintenance right before you are playing every day for three weeks. The music stores are typically swamped with the school owned instruments closer to August so the sooner you get your flute taken care of the better. 

For those of you who have a nice flute and do not want to get it "marching band damaged" you may want to look into borrowing a graduating senior's or seeing if they are selling theirs.
If you feel like you are ready for an upgrade and want to use your middle school flute as the marching instrument, below are some tips to navigate your purchase. I can also have as many flutes sent to my home as you need to feel comfortable with your choice.
Make sure they are a reputable sales vendor with a warranty before buying. Ebay, Craigslist and Amazon are usually not great sources.

I will do in home trials at my home so everyone can get as much time as you need.
Jamie
 

Online Flute Options:

- Carolyn Nussbaum: www.flute4u.com

- Flute World: www.fluteworld.com

- The New York Flute Exchange: www.flutes4sale.com 

Local Stores

- Music and Arts

- Strait Music

- Always try the flutes before you buy 

- Use a tuner when trying your potential flute

- If you are looking at a used flute, make sure it is repaired by a certified repair person

Flute Options:

- B-foot - extends the range of the flute

- Off-set G - allows for the left hand to be more comfortable for those with smaller hands

- E facilitator (donut) - helps create a better in tune E - natural above the staff while allowing for ease of certain right hand "tricks" 

- D roller - roller adds ease to sliding from low C and C# to D or E-flat

- C# trill key - ease to trill B-C# and other trills

- Split E (I do not recommend this for my students, please do not get this addition on your flute)

Brands of Flutes:

North Bridge

Di Zhao

Sonare (by Powell

Resona (by Burkhart)

Lyric

Trevor James

Miyazawa

Muramatsu

Used Flutes:

Muramatsu

Miyazawa

Powell

Haynes

Burkart

http://www.flute4u.com/store/Used-Flutes-Piccolos-and-Headjoints/

Used flutes purchased from a legitimate flute dealer will always be refurbished and overhauled before being sold. I cannot stress enough how a trial with these instruments and your flute teacher will help so much with instrument selection. 

Piccolos:

If you are looking for a piccolo, try to get a wooden or resin piccolo without a lip plate. These instruments are the highest quality without getting the exotic woods which can run you starting at $4000-10,000. The resin and composites are wonderful for indoor and outdoor use. They have the lovely woody sound you want for the concert setting and the utilitarian outdoor temperature resistance for marching. The regular wooden piccolos are restricted to indoor use due to the nature of the swelling of wood. Be aware of this when buying a piccolo. 

Piccolo Brands:

Di Zhao - Resin

Pearl - Grenaditte (resin with Grenadilla wood)

Trevor James - Wood

Most important upgrade information.... TRY EVERY FLUTE!!

The lists above are just suggestions, try, try, try!!!