[Chris Peryagh]

Just saw a couple of photos on Facebook yesterday posted by Vibrato Saxophone so had to look them up for more info. They do a curved head model to low D with extended LH 2 and 3 fingerplates and a straight head low C model. Also offer an upgrade kit for the curved head model (straight head and low C footjoint plus other bits).

http://www.kurtjacob.com.au/NuvoFlutes.html

More affordable than the Guo Grenaditte flutes for young players, but what's the tuning and intonation like on them, how durable are they and what are they like under the fingers?

 

[griff136]

I saw that on FB too Chris - interesting but if theyre like the 2 vibrato saxes ive seen I'll stick with my 211 SII.

 

[milandro]

I imagine this to have something to do with Graham Lyons the inventor of the Clarineo: I know Graham he introduced years ago the first plastic woodwind, the Lyons clarinet which them evolved into the clarineo.
If Graham followed the same path as he did follow with the previous instruments they are addressed to a different public than the Guo intruments and have much more affordable prices.

http://www.clarineo.co.uk/grahamlyons.asp

 

[usefulmusic]

About the Nuvo flutes: The Nuvo philosophy is to produce instruments that do not compromise on tone or intonation but take advantage of new material and manufacturing techniques to a) reduce the cost to school children and amateurs, b) eliminate any physical barriers that make it difficult for children to learn, and c) produce tough instruments that need minimum maintenance. Just because Nuvo flutes are designed for school and amateur use (the majority) does not mean they don't sound good or are limited in what they can play. Listen to clips on YouTube by visitors to our stand at the Frankfurt Music Fair.
Check out www.nuvo-instrumental.com go to PRODUCTS - FLUTE and look at FEATURES and SPECIFICATIONS

 

[milandro]

Hello Graham or Max! I have missed you this year at the Frankfurt messe, I didn’t come!
Welcome to Saxontheweb, nice to see that you have put another arrow in your bow!

 

[Taragot]

I played some tones at the Musikmesse in Frankfurt, but wasn't impressed. Not to compare with the Guo flute.

 

[milandro]

It costs about 20% of a Guo flute....... a different kettle of fish

 

[daigle65]

I was quite impressed with the tone produced by the girl playing the Bach Partita on your website, I wasn't expecting that.

....eliminate any physical barriers that make it difficult for children to learn....

Are there any plans for a curved C soprano? My 6 year old niece has expressed interest in learning the saxophone.

 

[Mattutopia]

a plastic curved C-sop would be amazing! Very handy...

 

[milandro]

yes it would , especially if there wouldn't be the problems that the Vibrato had and the price was lower then vibrato.

In order to have any reason to be these instruments have to be targeted particularly to the needs of a special user.

Children , people with handicaps that don't allow them to carry heavy instruments (by the way a fipple or another system like a differently curved headjoint to play the flute vertically for people with bad shoulders, like me, would be a nice addition!)

and the Marching bands (playing in the rain).

Of course heavy instruments turning into lightweight ones would be a nice touch but there are definitely construction problems there.

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

About the Nuvo flutes: The Nuvo philosophy is to produce instruments that do not compromise on tone or intonation but take advantage of new material and manufacturing techniques to .... b) eliminate any physical barriers that make it difficult for children to learn...

A major impediment to children trying to learn is a flute is when the mechanical function is such that there are leaks, or leaks unless the child has to press inordinately hard on the keys to make the pads seal. A major contributor to this issue of leaks is where there is significant flex or "give" in the materials involved in linkages.

I cannot see that any form of plastic that is not amazingly expensive, is going to provide the rigidity that is needed for reliable linkage mechanisms. Unless this fundamental issue is successfully addressed, I cannot see that a plastic flute is going to catch on for students of conscientious teachers who want a child's progress to be smooth, and who does not want the child to pick up "gorilla-grip" habits to make pads seal.

Plastic is great for recorders or ukuleles, where there are no linkage mechanisms.

 

[Andy A1S]

A major contributor to this issue of leaks is where there is significant flex or "give" in the materials involved in linkages.

I cannot see that any form of plastic that is not amazingly expensive, is going to provide the rigidity that is needed for reliable linkage mechanisms.

The specs page for the Nuvo flutes say they have stainless steel rods. Hopefully that addresses that problem:

http://nuvo-instrumental.com/index.php?route=products/flute_specs

Has anyone here tried one?

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

There are many more parts than rods involved with flute linkage systems.

I did see a Taiwan-made plastic flute at the Australasian NAPBIRT convention, adn was impressed, both as a flute player and as a critical technician. I conspicuously had metal everywhere that rigidity was needed in the keywork.

 

[milandro]

that is the GUO flute that I talked about before

http://www.gflute.com/en2/

 

[Andy A1S]

I see. So we're comparing a $2500 instrument with one that costs $150, or less?

Actually, I'm thinking of the jFlute version. The full student flute with the C foot is more like $200. I'm leaning towards the J because of the size, more than anything, but I might miss the C and C# at the bottom. Those two semitones cost a lot more than the others

I can see learning to grip a flute too hard would be a big problem though. I definitely do that with my clarinet, but it doesn't seem to mind. I understand flutes aren't as forgiving. It would be nice to hear from someone who's tried one.

 

[Jazz House]

I'm not really a great flautist, but as a beginner and owner of a Yamaha student flute, I can say that although the Nuvo I tried was very easy to produce sounds on, the keys were disturbingly mushy and imprecise in feeling. It's a shame. They are so cheap!

 

[Andy A1S]

Okay. Thanks, Jazz House. That's a shame. I'll probably give it a miss then.

I recently bought a second hand Trevor James 10X student flute, and a Yamaha YRF21 plastic fife. The fife sounds pretty dreadful, but at least I'm not worried about breaking it, and I don't really feel obliged to keep wiping it out, dismantling it and putting it back in a case (it doesn't have one anyway - just a cloth bag), so I can pick it up and try to play a few notes on it without the hassle. That was part of the appeal of the Nuvo flutes, but if they teach bad playing habits, I'm not so keen on the idea.

I can recommend the YRF21 though. The fingering is different for some notes, but there's a lot that are the same. I'm squeezing the hell out of that at the moment too, but I almost certainly don't need to, so I'm hoping I'll lose that habit. They're about $10, tough and washable, so you don't have to be precious with them at all. There aren't any keys, so that's not an issue, and you can still play down to the C. The range is more like a sax than a flute though - about two and a half octaves, officially, though I've managed to get some bat bothering squeaks out of mine too.