Author Archives: Admin

New Business Card and Brochure

In keeping with the spirit of improvement and newness, and to reflect Martin Doyle‘s high standards of craftsmanship, a new business card and brochure has just been created for Martin Doyle Flutes.

The new business card and four panel A5 brochure are of course available in hard copy and, for anyone who requires them, printable PDF versions have also been added to Martin Doyle’s website and can be downloaded here: Contact »

Credit and gratitude for the graphic design and creation of the the new business card and brochure goes to our good friend Asankita in New Zealand – thank you brother!

2008: A new business card and brochure for Martin Doyle Flutes.

2008: A new business card and brochure for Martin Doyle Flutes.

Three Testimonials Added

Website Updates

Three new testimonials have recently been added to Martin Doyle’s website. The first two are from flute players in Japan who are involved in the Irish traditional music scene there. writes:

“I am very pleased with the two flutes Martin! I played the D flute for the set dancing with my friends last Saturday evening. I was pleasantly surprised at the excellent responses and the great capacity of the tone colours. For me, these flutes are saikou — the best!” – Yusuke Usuda.

Bridget and Paddy Moriyasu.

Bridget and Paddy Moriyasu.

The second testimonial is from Isao ‘Paddy’ Moriyasu who, with his wife Masako, aka ‘Bridgit’, spend time in County Clare each year and have made several CDs of Irish traditional music. Paddy has this to say about his Martin Doyle flute:

“Martin is a great friend of mine. He’s not only an excellent flute maker but also (believe it or not) a master of the Japanese martial art of Aikido!! He regularly visits Japan for intensive Aikido training. I started working on a recording project called ‘The Complete Works of Turlough O’Carolan in 2007 — 7 CDs in all and have already finished recording 3 of them so far. I’ve decided to use Martin’s D and C flutes for the recording as his instruments always give me loads of inspiration and freedom. With his lovely flutes, I can explore a whole new world of Carolan music. Thanks Martin!! Looking forward to playing some tunes with you in Tokyo.”

The third testimonial is from David Thompson who is and member of The Belfast and District Set Dancing and Traditional Music Society from Bangor, Northern Ireland.

“The Celtic style flute without tuning slide is the most satisfying flute I’ve ever played. It has a crisp and full low register, and the low D really honks! I love the simplicity of this flutes appearance, yet the tone I can get out of it is truly awe inspiring and it’s always in tune. This is ‘flute minimalism’ at it’s finest!”

More comments from flute players all over the world can be viewed here: Testimonials »

Martin Doyle, Sri Chinmoy And The Royal Albert Hall

Martin Doyle has not performed at the Royal Albert Hall, but he has been on the stage – and so have his flutes…

Martin Doyle presents Sri Chinmoy with a three keyed flute.

Martin Doyle presents Sri Chinmoy with a three keyed flute on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall.

On October 17, 2003, Sri Chinmoy offered a peace concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London and Martin Doyle went to see the Master perform. One of Sri Chinmoy’s students from New York had commissioned Martin to make a flute for Sri Chinmoy and he was invited to stay behind for a private post-concert function and an opportunity to present the instrument to Sri Chinmoy personally. It was a special order D flat three-key flute made of African Blackwood.

After the concert Sri Chinmoy remained on the stage while his students – several hundred in number that had come from all over the world to be at the concert – were seated in the auditorium. Martin assembled and presented the new flute to Sri Chinmoy and the Master played it for a while. He was very pleased to meet Martin and very grateful to him for the care and effort that went into creating the one-off flute. For his part, Martin was very honoured to have met Sri Chinmoy in such a way and commented that it was a unique moment in his life.

Martin Doyle watches as Sri Chinmoy tries the new flute.

Martin Doyle watches as Sri Chinmoy tries the new flute.

Audio tracks from Sri Chinmoy’s 2003 concert can be heard here:
Sri Chinmoy at the Royal Albert Hall, London »

The second event connecting Martin Doyle with the Royal Albert Hall was also a concert but not one that he personally attended. Two of his flutes were present though.

Continue reading →

Martin Doyle Flutes Updates

Website Updates

Martin Doyle Flutes has been enhanced with the addition of a Flute Information Quick-find panel to make important information more accessible. We have also made a few other minor modifications in other area of the homepage in order to enhance the experience that visitors have when visiting Martin’s website.

Quite a number of new images have been added to Martin Doyle’s Flickr album:
Flute Maker Martin Doyle »

And we have also added a page that deals with the care and maintenance of wooden flutes:
Wooden Flute Care »

Introducing Gwenn Frin

Gwenn Frin

Gwenn Frin

Gwenn Frin is a wooden flute player who has been assisting Martin Doyle for the past few months and learning about the art of flute making. Originally from Brittany in France, a cultural region that has historic ties to the Celts and also has a very strong culture of folk music, Gwenn fell in love with the simple system wooden flute (also known as Irish flute) at an early age. The instrument has been an major part of her life ever since and has brought her to many countries around the world including Ireland, Korea and the United States.

Gwenn first performed with the Cercle Celtique de Rennes (who are coming to Cork in July of this year) where she was introduced to the traditional music and dances of Brittany before playing for the dancers themselves. Her true professional debut were with the band Beaj Iskis in the early 1990s, which toured the Fest Noz scene in Brittany for four years. Gwenn moved to Galway, Ireland in 1998, drawn to the roots of her passion, and took classes with renowned flute player Harry Bradley.

Gwenn Frin working at the lathe.

Gwenn Frin working at the lathe.

In 1999, Gwenn moved to Dublin to concentrate solely on her flute playing while completing a Higher National Diploma In Traditional Music performance (Ceoltóir) directed by flute player Paul McGrattan. This last experience led her to doing a Master’s degree in Music and Media Technologies in Trinity College, Dublin. These amazing two years transformed her musical understanding and experience and opened up her musical horizons not only to contemporary and electroacoustic music, but also to composition.

Continue reading →

Irish Flute From New Zealand Wood

Martin Doyle playing the Kanuka flute.

Martin Doyle playing the Kanuka flute.

Here I am in County Clare, Ireland, and staying with my friend Martin Doyle for a few days. I have brought Martin three sticks of Kanuka wood that were kindly given to me by Paul Whinray – a recorder maker who lives in West Auckland, New Zealand. The Kanuka wood was cut, bored and turned into round sticks by Paul in the late 1980s so it is well cured.

Martin set me to work on preparing the sticks and with the kind guidance of his son Ógi, and Martin doing all the critical work, we produced a wonderful flute. It has a lovely tone (milder than the hardwoods like African Blackwood and Cocus) that I am sure will develop nicely with playing. The end cap of the flute is made of Cocus wood. Here’s a look at it:

Martin Doyle Irish flute made from New Zealand kanuka wood.

Martin Doyle Irish flute made from New Zealand kanuka wood – click the image to see a larger version.

Recently Added: Wooden Head Joints

Website Updates

A new page has been added to Martin Doyle Flutes which offers information and prices on the thin-wall wooden head joints hand-crafted by Martin Doyle for concert flutes.

That page can be viewed here: Wooden Headjoints for Concert Flutes »

A Martin Doyle wooden head joint for a concert flute made from cocus wood.

A Martin Doyle wooden head joint for a concert flute made from cocus wood – click on image to see a larger version.

Wooden Headjoint Images On Flickr

More images can be viewed here: Wooden Head Joints for Concert Flutes »

Sitemap

A sitemap has also been added to Martin Doyle’s website: Sitemap »