I`m going into 8th grade and have been playing flute for 5 years. I`ve only had one flute ever (Pearl, closed hole, split E, offset G, C foot) but I`ve played on many open hole flutes with the B foot option.

I think I`m going to want to play flute all the way through high school and possibly into college.

My band director (a long time flute teacher) told me I shouldn`t get an intermediate flute, as hers was a waste of money. My grandfather has a good friend who know`s flutes very well. He has suggested a Muramatsu EX for me. Is this a good flute? Does anyone have any experience with it?

Of the many flutes I service and play-test, I like this probably the best.

In 2003 James Galway wrote that he used one as his practice flute. There would be little point in him practising on a flute that was not very close to the standard as the one he used for performance. He first played it `blind` and was so impressed he bought one `off the shelf`.

I think you would be very lucky to be playing on one of these.

From an article on http://www.fluteinfo.com (Just a short portion of a long article)

Buying for yourself:

I bought my intermediate flute in the 10th grade, which means that I had been playing for 5 1/2 years. I would suggest that you buy it no sooner than 3 years. Make sure you need a better flute. At a recent masterclass with James Galway he picked up a beginner flute from the audience and played it just as good as his $20K flutes.

At this level, as long as you buy a flute that has no mechanical problems. You don`t need to spend over $1000.

Where to Buy

I would never suggest buying a flute from a music store. I do not want to see local music stores get shut down, but when buying an instrument, they usually mark up the price by at least 200%. My Gemeinhardt was listed at $1000 at a local music store; I was able to buy it for approximately $500.

I would test out the flute you want at a local music store and then look online for a company with the same model. Here is why: Since intermediate flutes are machine made they will all sound about the same. I have suggested this a few times on web forms and have gotten the response that this will put local music stores out of business. These local music stores make a lot more money off guitars than flutes, so they will not be loosing as much profit as it seams.

"....At this level, as long as you buy a flute that has no mechanical problems. ...."

IMHO, most buyers of instruments have no idea of what mechnaical problems their instrumnet may have, until after a few years when their technician starts to make noises about how difficult (or impossible) it is to get the instrument into a reliable state.

"Since intermediate flutes are machine made they will all sound about the same."

Sorry, but I couldn`t disagree anymore on that statement.
Different brands will sound and play different for everyone. We would all be playing the same brand if they all sounded a like.

""Since intermediate flutes are machine made they will all sound about the same."

Sorry, but I couldn`t disagree anymore on that statement.
Different brands will sound and play different for everyone. We would all be playing the same brand if they all sounded a like."

I think what pico is saying is that each flute of the same model will sound the same, not different models or brands.

There is a lot on every flute that is HAND-done, and that is often the worst part of a cheaper flute, for example, accurate fitting of the pivots, adjustment of key cup alignment with tone holes etc, and the shaping of the embouchure hole.

Even for a top end flute, in a factory with state of the art equipment, many operations will be done with far more accuracy if they are done by machine.

If machines can churn out the many high-precision components of a BIC lighter, or a computer printer, for almost no cost, then they are quite capable of churning out high precision parts for flutes with an accuracy difficult to match by hand. Even for so-called `hand made` flutes, much of the work will be done by machine.

You are on to something there Arak.
I agree.

Sometimes I just feel personable.

you make me chuckle!

The Muramatsu EX is a really nice made flute, that is if you don`t mind a really dark flute that gets muddled in any ensembles. I would try the Powell Signature flute first. It projects better and is much fuller in sound. Maybe that is why more pros play on Powell than Muramatsu. Just a guess.
Now, go ahead... let`s hear it Arak. I know that you fully disagree, so that is why I am going to say that this is just MY opinion.

It`s my opinion that the EX ids far brighter and responsive than my far more expensive Muramatsu with a Lehner head. (Not that I think the body is that relevant.)
I have also played brighter Lehner heads. And yes, I find the EX brighter and more reponsive than several gold flutes I have played. I don`t know if that includes a signature or not.

No, the Powell Signature flute is only made in silver. Muramatsu flutes are known for their dark sound. I guess that I just prefer a flute that has a broader sound that doesn`t get lost in the mess of things.

Do you regard Galway`s sound as getting "lost in the mess of things."

In mkany of his recordings, I would not describe his sound as exactly `dark` either. If it is indeed `dark` then `dark` sure is a pretty popular sound!

He also plays on a gold and platinum flute. And yes, I think his sound is muddy like all the rest of the Muramatsu flutes. And YES! WAY TOO DARK!!!