wow what a legend , why can't we all turn away from worldly problems and hatred and turn to heavenly arts? Many don't have the heart to turn away from chaos like people like Matt do right here
Pure bliss! Back in the 70's my husband shared a flat with Matt, Dave said he was as pure a gentleman as he was a pure musician! High praise from a man who doesn't praise easily!
This video is great because you can see Matt Molloy holding the flute in a fairly standard way, much like Boehm fluteplayers, but the other fluteplayer is using the so-called "piper's grip" or Low Whistle grip. What is the name of the other fluteplayer? You can also hear Matt's finger vibrato, and his throat vibrato on many notes.
The other flute player is Cormac Breatnach, probably better known as a whistle player, and member of the the highly original trio "Deiseal", who recorded 2 CDs in the early / mid 1990s.
I like that you can hear the throat style vibrato too. I always hear about the finger vibrato over the throat, so I always feel like I shouldn't be doing it with anything other than finger, but it's just not really possible on some notes I suppose.
As a low whistle player after half year of playing Irish flute, still prefer the "piper's grip",it just feels comfortable than the standard flute fingering
How excactly is this flute called if I'd like to buy one? Sorry... I've got no clue... just have an usual metal cross flute... But this one sounds soooo beautiful...
+DalyahArani - Matt Molloy plays a "simple-system" flute, of the type used to play classical music before Theobold Boehm developed his keyed system for flute. Metal "Boehm-system" flutes are almost universally played in orchestras and by solo players of classical music today. The "simple-system" flute is preferred by Irish musicians for playing their traditional dance music and airs, and Matt Molloy is one of its' leading exponents. There are several makers of "simple-system" flutes around the world today. 2 websites which might be of interest are "Chiff & Fipple", which has a section devoted to flute-playing in the Irish tradition, and also "thesession.org", which discusses mainly, but not exclusively, Irish traditional music, including flute playing and players. Hope this helps.
Hey Freija! I noticed your question, and I think the guy who answered was on the right track: but I think his spelling is off, which may have confused things. The first name is Grinter, ok, and the second name I think refers to Patrick Olwell, an American flute-maker whom I met in Leitrim.
It's a normal D flute, I think: I just got my own and played along, it's definitely a D, as most flutes are. The only exception is that in the West of Ireland, in Connemara roughly speaking, a tradition has developed of playing things a semi-tone higher, so their flutes are often E flat. Also, you occasionally hear a lower flute, in B. Listen to another great Matt Molloy recording: "Shadows on Stone" - for which he uses a B. I did a lot of head-scratching, until I figured out why I couldn't play along. Then I went down to my workshop and made a B flute (in heavy bamboo as always), so that I could try to play along and learn some of the tunes!
It is a D flute yes, meaning that the lowest tone it can make is a D. BUT the flute is tuned in C, that is if you were to play a written C the tone it makes would sound like a C.
Hi At this time Matt was playing a Pratten Perfected ( 19th C English flute ) , Its a three piece as opposed to Rudall & Rose 4 piece flutes. The flute is in C a precursor to the Boehm flutes
