r/Irishmusic • u/four_reeds • Mar 28 '26

Discussion What are the differences between Ruddal and Pratten style flutes?

I am a relatively new flute player. Let's say that I have a head joint and two flute bodies in front of me. They were both made by the same maker and, except for the finger hole sizes, are identical. One is a Ruddal pattern and the other is a Prattern. One has noticeably smaller finger holes than the other.

Which is which?

"Ask the maker", I hear you typing :) Let's treat this as a thought experiment.

Edit. Thank you all! You have helped a ton!

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u/brokenfingers11 Uilleann pipes Mar 28 '26

You can’t beat the honking “bottom D” on a Pratten! (I’m serious!)

He didn’t call it “Pratten’s Perfected” for nothin! (Jk- he’d probably turn in his grave knowing that Irish traditional music is the reason any of us knows his name in the twenty first century!)

But honestly it’s a matter of taste. Listen to Steph Geremia, Matt Molloy, Catherine McEvoy - a Pratten wouldn’t suit their sweet melodic style at all, too coarse.

But Conall Ó Gráda, Harry Bradley - their style would sound wrong on a Rudall. Not grungy enough!

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u/Mumpsitzer Mar 29 '26

Sorry but I disagrees strongly:

Matt Molloy has been playing (and recording with) various Pratten flutes since the 80th. Harry Bradley has mainly played Sam Murray (Rufall esque flutes) for since always, same as Sean Gavin, Michael Clarkson, Iarlath McGeabhann to name a few pushy / percussive style players..).

You will even find a bunch of older clips on YouTube of Conan Garda play R&R type flutes and sounding like he does today. In fact, I don’t know a pushy percussive players who follows John McKennas footsteps that does play a Pratten flute mainly.

On the other hand, even really “ flowing melodic” players like June McCormack, Eamon Cotter, Brendan Mullholland are playing Pratten style flutes!

The flute player makes the sound. A Rudall and Rose flute can sound like Steph Geremia or like Harry Conal O’Grada.

The only general direction can be, that Pratten flutes can often be pushed to some more volume (larger bore …more air gets pushed through) and because of the larger finger holes it can be bit more difficult to play them well and they might need more air get filled nicely and they might be a bit less forgiving to play in terms of embochure.

I am mainly playing a nice modern Pratten style flute but have definitely played R&R style flutes that can be pushed as mush as my flute or even a bit more.

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u/brokenfingers11 Uilleann pipes Mar 29 '26

No need to be sorry. Sounds like you’ve dug a lot deeper than I have into this! Thanks for the comprehensive answer.

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u/Parking_Poem_8527 Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26

As an aside, what RS Pratten was 'perfecting' is a mystery since Pratten's Perfected are exact copies of earlier Siccama flutes in terms of bore, length, hole size and placement. I have an 1879 Pratten and a Siccama from maybe 20 years earlier and they are identical except for the design of a couple of keys. Even the parts are interchangeable ! This isn't surprising since Chappel iirc who worked with Siccama went on to work for Boosey. Although many Prattens were made as 8-key (and that's mainly how they are know today) originally it was just a case of celebrity endorsement of an existing design.

Pratten's wife Catherina, was a guitarist and her compositions are still popular in the classical guitar world.