North American Indian Flutes
I found North American Indian [style] flutes as part of my healing journey, as part of a need to activate my throat chakra. I purchased a few flutes of different types and playing them became quickly wonderful. No two are alike with different tunings, scales, auditory qualities, musical strengths and so on.
The flute is an ancient instrument and the earliest known example is over 50,000 years old, made of bone from an animal femur. This means mankind has been playing flutes 30,000 years longer than we have been wearing trousers! There are many different sorts of flute all over the world and this transcendental instrument creates a whole range of fascinating vibrations. These are not necessarily tied to typical instrument tunings where ‘A’ is tuned to 440 hertz, opening up a whole range of interesting alternatives.
It was so expensive getting them made and sent to the UK from North America and Canada that I started making them for myself and have been doing so as a hobby for about two years. So I want to use this page for demonstrating different flutes, purchased and home-made, in order to share my enthusiasm for this wonderful instrument with you via the media of YouTube.
This piece of music is improvised on my first home-made, concert-tuned flute. It is a six hole, North American Indigenous style flute tuned to ‘A’ at 440 hz. It plays A,C,D,E,F,G,A accurately with a sweet tone. With bending notes and half covering there are many other sounds you can create. It is made from yellow pine, with a mahogany block. Due to the dampness where I live (Cornwall UK) the block is held to the nest by elastic rather than leather, allowing for the regular removal of the block for mopping out, making the flute suitable for vegans also! Credit due to my Boss Micro BR BR-80 Digital Recorder for the backing track.
With a world population of 9 billion, about 25 million people have a birthday every day. So Happy Birthday Y’all! This famous tune originated in about 1893 and is played here on a ‘D’ flute tuned to Diatonic scale rather than Pentatonic. These flutes are made by Northern Spirit Flutes based near Saskatoon in Canada, in consultation with indigenous tribes, to integrate indigenous style flutes into the educational curriculum. They are made from FDA approved ABS plastic. They are highly portable and great flutes for the outdoors, being very resilient. They are interchangeable with Irish style flutes or Celtic whistles tuned to D. I have imported a few to the UK so message me at simonthescribe if you are interested in getting one…
I always loved the song ‘Nature Boy’ and view it as a personal theme tune in my expansive imagination. It was written by composer Eden Ahbez, the LA outdoor lover who changed jazz history. The song “Nature Boy” was a number one hit for Nat King Cole in 1948, selling 1 million copies that year. It has been covered many times since then. This piece of music is played on my first home-made, concert-tuned flute. It is a six hole, North American Indigenous style flute tuned to ‘A’ at 440 hz. It plays A,C,D,E,F,G,A accurately with a sweet tone. With bending notes and half covering there are many other sounds you can create. It is made from yellow pine, with a mahogany block. Due to the dampness where I live (Cornwall UK) the block is held to the nest by elastic rather than leather, allowing for the regular removal of the block for mopping out, making the flute suitable for vegans also!
Jimmy Davis made this flute and he makes some real beauties, see them at JDFlutes.com. This is a Low ‘D’ in aromatic cedar, with the ‘A’ tuned to 528 hertz. I just love it. I spontaneously played this piece of music in my caravan and the noise of rain dropping onto the roof seems to add to the feeling of rain. I push it a bit and some of the notes flatline, I was getting used to my recorder! What a great opportunity to integrate some of my flower photos.