[JMac]

I just saw an episode of 'How it's Made' on the Discovery channel showing the manufacture of Emanuel flutes. I was impressed with the amount of hand crafting. The program led me to wonder if anyone has tried one of these all but unknown works of art?

Wish I could send one to Gordon for an eval....

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

First, I have not yet encountered these flutes.

They may be wonderful works of art.
They may have high precision mechanism and adjustment.
(Both of these as for a certain manufacturer I know whose flutes play no better than an average student flute. So a little caution is warranted)

But what is on the web-site includes the typical stretched-truth hype that is associated with the marketing of most flutes, from the very top to the very bottom. A shame that this happens.

As a general comment, the test is how they (not just a couple which may be unrepresentative) impress advanced players who have absolutely NO business, reimbursement, or social pressure to say nice things, and how they ACTUALLY pan out in the maintenance department.

It takes a long time to make a flute to the precision touted, so if they are as good as he says, then he will soon have a long waiting list and delivery time, or have to reduce his personal input.

 

[bruce bailey]

As I recall, Emanuel is the brother of Arista. They both are making similar flutes in the Boston fashion. Pretty decent BUT the resale on them is terrible so look for a used one. Most of the ones I have seen are gold. The keywork is not up to the usual Boston style.

 

[Emanuel flutemaker]

I just saw an episode of 'How it's Made' Emanuel Flutes

Dear Forum,

My name is Manuel Arista and I go also by the name of Emanuel of Emanuel Flutes.

To my surprise, I came across this posting and I would like to clarify a couple of points. First, I am not in any way related to the program portrayed on the Discovery Channel, neither were my brothers. I'm not sure where you made this connection.

While my brothers have their own flute business, the Arista Flute, other than a family connection by name, our businesses are entirely separate and are run accordingly.

I do not have a factory and all the instruments that bear my name are handcrafted entirely by myself in my home workshop. Also, all the tooling, processes, and components required for the manufacturing were and continue to be made and designed by myself.

In all, I have produced 158 Emanuel flutes and a number of headjoints since 1991 when I started my business. Of all of my flutes, only about 5 have been resold due to personal reasons. The remainder continue to be played by professionals and students all over the world.

If you would like to know more about myself, you can go to my website www.emanuelflutes.com, read my bio and look closely at the pictures of my work. I don't pay any flute player for their comments or endorsements about my flutes.

My objective is to provide the artist with the best instrument that money can buy, an instrument of beauty, precision, reliability and warm sound that will allow the artist to express himself or herself fully.

Thank you very much.

Best regards,

Emanuel

 

[atoriphile]

I believe that the How It's Made episode shows the making of a Brannen Brothers flute ( http://www.brannenflutes.com/ ).

 

[JMac]

I'd like to apologize to Mr. Arista, to the Brannen brothers, and to the forum members for my mistake. I will be making an appointment to visit an optometrist as soon as I can find my front door :fftheai:

 

[jmartin]

I thought that was really cool of Mr. Arista to log on and post in this thread. I hadn't heard of his flute before but, because of his response, I checked out his excellent website. The flutes are absolutely beautiful, I would love to try one out.

Mr. Arista, if you are still monitoring this thread maybe you would be kind enough to answer a couple of questions. In what price range are your flutes? How long does it take to make one of your flutes? and will your flutes be on display anywhere that I might see one close up?

 

[gary]

,,, because of his response, I checked out his excellent website. The flutes are absolutely beautiful...

I agree. Usually I just click on the "skip intro" buttons on web sites, but this time I just sat here mesmerised- what beautiful instruments, and their parts.

In what price range are your flutes?

I would suspect it's like shopping on Rodeo Drive. "If you have to ask..."

 

[jmartin]

I keep getting this "if you have to ask..." comment. It was even PMed to me. I withdraw the question.

Most manufacturers freely post their prices on their website or have a price list available, including Haynes, Powell, Miyazawa, Muramatsu, Pearl, Sankyo, Trevor James, etc. I don't know what the big secrete is. I guess I'll just call him.

 

[woodwindNYC]

I've played three Emanuel flutes (one I had for six weeks, the others I had for three-week trials), and one of my closest friends (who is a phenomenal conservatory-trained flutist) just bought a 14K gold Emanuel. I think they're consistently fine instruments, and are VERY well made. They are very comparable in price to other similarly hand-crafted fine flutes, and the Arista brothers are consummate craftsmen who also seem to care tremendously about their clients. My friend has had nothing but great things to report about his transaction with Mr. Arista, and I've heard similar things from other flutists I know who play Emanuel and Arista flutes. (Arista heads, in particular, are quite wonderful.)

And yes, that episode of How It's Made was about Brannen flutes. They very clearly zoomed in on a closeup of the barrel engraving, and it was most definitely a Brannen. You can watch the segment at