Scottish, Irish, and just generally Gaelic Flute Music?

[WildThistles]

I've had one foot in the Scottish Highland piping world, and one foot in the Irish Traditional Music world, since the late 1970s.

My take on it is that in Scotland the older traditional dance music has been dominated by the fiddle and the Scottish pipes (both the Great Highland pipes and the numerous species of Scottish bellows-pipes).

Interestingly the pipes haven't travelled as well as the fiddle, and in places largely influenced by Scottish music such as Donegal, Cape Breton Island, and to a lesser extent Appalachia the fiddle is king.

Of course there are places in Scotland where fiddle has always been king such as the Shetland Islands and Aberdeenshire.

Ireland is a different story. For whatever reason there's traditionally been more instrumental diversity. What instruments have traditionally driven the music varies greatly from County to County.

Donegal has been dominated by fiddle. In Clare the uilleann pipes, flute, fiddle, and concertina have long been popular. Sligo as I recall has traditionally been about fiddle and flute.

I'm talking in generalities. I'm sure exceptions can be found for each and every thing I've said. And recently there's been tremendous cross-fertilisation because anyone anywhere can watch a Youtube video by anyone from anywhere.

There quite possibly have always been Scottish fluteplayers. Perhaps somebody has done a Doctoral Thesis on them. But my impression is that Scottish fluteplaying has long been a tiny minority thing. If there's an old traditional Scottish stream of fluteplaying I've not heard about it.

There was a Scottish band in the 1980s called The Whistlebinkies who had a fluteplayer, but he sounded to me like a "classical" fluteplayer. A few Scottish trad/pop bands in the 1980s and 1990s had a thing where one of the musicians whose primary instrument was accordion or Highland pipes or whatever had later picked up flute. The guys I heard were playing in a mainstream Irish trad style.

Richard,
Thank you so much for this thorough and in depth response (and links in the following posts!). Admittedly, considering how widespread the fiddle seems to be compared to the flute in several musical genres, I'm growing to love, a part of me wishes I hadn't switched from violin to flute at a young age.
Perhaps the pipes have travelled less easily than the fiddle due to the large amount of reeds required for the instrument? I had a friend who wanted to get into piping with an old one his family had, but his largest barrier was the price of the reeds (of course this is in a different time period and region, and I've never been a player of a single, or double, reeded instrument myself so I only know secondhand knowledge of prices).
I'll definitely check out the links, and continue to do some of my own research. This is a really wonderful jumping off point you've provided for that research.

[OC Richard]

You're welcome!

There's an odd thing about the traditional Irish flute world.

When I first got into it (in the 1970s) I kept hearing flute players whose goal seemed to be to blend in with fiddle playing as much as possible, and flute players who seemed to be trying to make their playing sound like uilleann pipe playing.

The eye-opener was when I heard the 1920s recordings of Tom Morrison, whose goal seemed to be to make his flute sound like a flute, to capitalise on the things that flutes do, the things that set the flute apart from fiddles and uilleann pipes.

Here he is!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-blZR7M-DI

I've never heard any other fluter (never flautist!) do all the things he does.

In particular I love the thing where he'll play a string of notes staccato, out of the blue.

There were older fluters who had that Morrison bounce to their playing, one such was Michael Tubridy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfaV...uJmXzzTZX7Mkru

[WildThistles]

You're welcome!

There's an odd thing about the traditional Irish flute world.

When I first got into it (in the 1970s) I kept hearing flute players whose goal seemed to be to blend in with fiddle playing as much as possible, and flute players who seemed to be trying to make their playing sound like uilleann pipe playing.

The eye-opener was when I heard the 1920s recordings of Tom Morrison, whose goal seemed to be to make his flute sound like a flute, to capitalise on the things that flutes do, the things that set the flute apart from fiddles and uilleann pipes.

Here he is!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-blZR7M-DI

I've never heard any other fluter (never flautist!) do all the things he does.

In particular I love the thing where he'll play a string of notes staccato, out of the blue.

There were older fluters who had that Morrison bounce to their playing, one such was Michael Tubridy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfaV...uJmXzzTZX7Mkru

Oh huh, I'll definitely check his stuff out! The flute is such a beautiful instrument with it's own strengths, it's a shame to just relegate it to mimicry of other instruments, so his work definitely sounds of interest and educational. Also I've never heard the term fluter before, but it sounds like a fun one: ) Do you know the linguistic/cultural reasons for the differing term?

[OC Richard]

Here's what Nancy Toff has to say about the various terms for people who play flute:

On the average of once a week somebody asks me "are you a flutist or a flautist?"

My answer is a vehemently declaimed "Flutist!"

Less decisive people call me a fluteplayer, or even fluter...but please don't call me a flautist.

I have run into "fluter" in the Irish flute world, I suppose an analogy with "piper".

But I think "flute-player" is the most common term.

("Flautist" was invented by a Victorian English poet living in Italy. where the word for flute is flauto.)

[Father Bill]

An interesting analysis and opinion on the two words is found here: https://writingexplained.org/flutist...autist-correct

[OC Richard]

Hmmmm phrasing it as "the word flautist first appeared" hints at more legitimacy than the word has, as if it was in circulation.

It was coined by the poet. For some reason literary people who were outside the world of music picked up on it.

As far as I know it's never been used within musical circles.

Well it's like the term "bagpipist". Nobody in the piping world would use such an absurdity. But several times over the years I've found myself listed as that in programmes.

Pipers just say "piper".

The press does have a tendency to either coin or pick up on words that they think have a nice ring to them, and use them despite their not being recognised in the fields which newspeople apply the words to. There's a common example here in the USA that the rules of this site don't allow me to mention.

[WildThistles]

Hmmmm phrasing it as "the word flautist first appeared" hints at more legitimacy than the word has, as if it was in circulation.

It was coined by the poet. For some reason literary people who were outside the world of music picked up on it.

As far as I know it's never been used within musical circles.

Well it's like the term "bagpipist". Nobody in the piping world would use such an absurdity. But several times over the years I've found myself listed as that in programmes.

Pipers just say "piper".

The press does have a tendency to either coin or pick up on words that they think have a nice ring to them, and use them despite their not being recognised in the fields which newspeople apply the words to. There's a common example here in the USA that the rules of this site don't allow me to mention.

That's an interesting history. Personally, most flute players I've interacted with haven't had issues with the term, but perhaps that's a result of its normalization over time. I did always feel a bit self-conscious with the term "flautist," so it's nice to have alternative options that are also somewhat standard.

[OC Richard]

Perhaps the pipes have travelled less easily than the fiddle due to the large amount of reeds required for the instrument? I had a friend who wanted to get into piping with an old one his family had, but his largest barrier was the price of the reeds.

In the old days I think it was more common for pipers to make their own reeds.

In the 1980s we had a pipe band here in Los Angeles that had three reedmakers in it! That's quite rare nowadays. I did play for a couple years in a pipe band that was led by a super piper who is also an excellent reedmaker. It made a huge difference in the quality of the band's sound.

For sure a Scottish piper immigrating to Cape Breton Island or North Carolina a couple hundred years ago would have to make his own reeds, and make his own bags too.

Would a fiddler be able to make his own strings? I never thought about it.

The flute travels better than either pipes or fiddle! No reeds, no bags, no strings.

[OC Richard]

By the way what sort of flute do you play?

When I got into Irish fluteplaying (around 1977) all the Irish guys played on vintage wooden flutes.

These were flutes made for "classical" or orchestral use.

Irish players preferred London-made flutes from between around 1830 and 1880.

These generally had 8 keys, either block-mounted or pin-mounted, giving a full chromatic scale of three octaves.

But the traditional Irish players usually only played the six open holes (the same six holes an Irish whistle has) and would often remove the keys and fill the holes.

In the 1970s and 1980s when there was a huge increase in the number of people taking up Irish flute it became obvious that there weren't enough antique flutes to go around. So a new species of flute was born, a flute specifically made for Irish traditional music.

These neo "Irish flutes" were/are usually copied from great-playing originals, but modified somewhat to favour the lower range because trad Irish fluteplayers generally don't play up in the 3rd octave.

They're often made keyless, though keys can be ordered.

There have been a small number of trad Irish fluters over the years who have used the Boehm flute, either in silver or in wood. So if somebody already plays Boehm flute they don't have to go out and buy an "Irish flute" in order to play Irish flute music.

Probably the most well-known trad Irish Boehm-flute player is Joanie Madden. Here she is playing with Conal O Grada.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ76XyoN000

[WildThistles]

By the way what sort of flute do you play?

When I got into Irish fluteplaying (around 1977) all the Irish guys played on vintage wooden flutes.

These were flutes made for "classical" or orchestral use.

Irish players preferred London-made flutes from between around 1830 and 1880.

These generally had 8 keys, either block-mounted or pin-mounted, giving a full chromatic scale of three octaves.

But the traditional Irish players usually only played the six open holes (the same six holes an Irish whistle has) and would often remove the keys and fill the holes.

In the 1970s and 1980s when there was a huge increase in the number of people taking up Irish flute it became obvious that there weren't enough antique flutes to go around. So a new species of flute was born, a flute specifically made for Irish traditional music.

These neo "Irish flutes" were/are usually copied from great-playing originals, but modified somewhat to favour the lower range because trad Irish fluteplayers generally don't play up in the 3rd octave.

They're often made keyless, though keys can be ordered.

There have been a small number of trad Irish fluters over the years who have used the Boehm flute, either in silver or in wood. So if somebody already plays Boehm flute they don't have to go out and buy an "Irish flute" in order to play Irish flute music.

Probably the most well-known trad Irish Boehm-flute player is Joanie Madden. Here she is playing with Conal O Grada.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ76XyoN000

Looking it up, my flute seems to be similar to the Boehm flute? It's silver in coloration, and keyed, allowing for a bit over a three octave range from my experience, though I've never had much need to push even further above, or below, the staff. It's three pieces, with a detachable foot and head joint, and is the type typically found in American band classrooms. Would that be "classical"? I'm not too familiar with the terminology, but I largely played it in concert band and marching band settings.

This is a really valuable overview, and I really do appreciate the resources for how people utilized each kind of fluit. Admittedly, I do enjoy the middle and lower octave the most, so that's exciting to hear that the same was largely favored by traditional players. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the full range of flutes that can be made, but the alto and base (and contrabase and so on) flutes are truly beautiful instruments with beautiful sound. There are orchestras that are purely made out of flute players (fluters), covering a full range of notes, between the subcontrabass and the piccolo.