hello,

i have always wanted to be able to play an instrument and so i have finally decided to do something about it as i am feeling that this summer requires me to be sat in a field, taking journeys and playing a flute in the sunshine.

I have decided to learn to play a wooden flute but i have no knowledge of flutes.

My questian to the flute players amongst you is how much difference is there in the sound of wooden flutes? im guessing quite alot. Ideally i would like one that was of a lower tone, more basey for want of a better word.

i am not planning on spending a huge amount of cash to start with but if i get into it i would like to buy a nicer one, so recomendations for a basic starter instrument and maybe a slightly nicer one for if i advance would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

I really like the way native american flutes sound personally..

Hey there! I have been playing the flute for almost my whole life, among many other wood instruments, such as the NA wooden flute and an ocarina.

I spent about $40 dollars on my NA wooden flute, and I bought it at an actual pow wow of sorts. If you want a bassier one, then look for a longer one that is bigger in diameter for the end hole.

It is amazing to play and hear during waska sessions.

Cheers guys, I have just been listening to some NA flutes on YouTube and I'm sold. I found a reasonably priced one so I will be ordering one next week.

I've just started to play the NA flute, and it's a great instrument. Ocarinas are fun too

I bought a flute about a year ago, and I love it. It has such a haunting sound; it will chill you to the bone while lifting you to the Heavens. I've spent quite a few nights getting lost in a flute session while on mushrooms.

This is it. Zen Buddhist Flute

You can hear it played here. Tune

Can you suggest me a cheap/good ocarina? I always loved the sound of it.

Sorry 3rdI for the OT!

no thats fine, im also gonna pick up an Ocarina.

I was only after 1 flute now i have to get 3, an NA flute, a zen flute and an Ocarina

I got mine from STLOcarina, just google it. They have a wide range of ocarinas, cheap to very expensive.

I have the Zelda edition and the Nightingale They play beautifully.

I don't play any instruments but I listen a lot to the bansuri, or bamboo flute, especially played by a master like Hariprasad Charasia. Technically, it's not wood but grass but hey, it's a plant part made of cellulose

There's an extra-large version, like this played by Ronu Majumdar on Hollow Bamboo!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg07k3VDF0c

I will 2nd Diox on the stlocarina! They are awesome. You can even order books and stuff from them for music. Very good company, I got my ocarina from them as well.

My good brother Dioxippus turned me on to this thread. He's becoming quite the flutist these days! Of course, his seasoned expertise with the penny whistle, wooden recorders and wooden Irish flutes, makes him a natural on the transverse flute. My very first silver-plated Gemeinhardt concert flute, crafted in the early 1970's, has been reincarnated within his enlightened care (and nothing could make me happier)! It certainly answers the question raised by Jimi Hendrix, "Are you experienced?"... in rainbow-colored spades.

If you dig a deep, resonant tone, you'll want to go for longer and larger-bored flutes. As tryptographer wisely eludes, Indian bansuri flutes can get quite enormous, as can Japanese shakuhachi. I'll second his admiration for the brilliant virtuosity of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and Pandit Ronu Majumdar. Those cats can blow!!!

I'd also recommend my very favorite flutist, from any cultural context or musical genre, the incomparable G.S. Sachdev. Along with Ronu Majumdar, he was taught by the legendary Pandit Vijay Raghav Rao. His playing is perhaps slightly less complex and vigorous, now a man in his eighties, but the pure spiritual bliss and musical absorption he exuberantly expresses, is what keeps me reaching for the stars! Truly ecstatic and most sublime.

http://www.youtube.com/w...gHNU&feature=related

In a nutshell, playing flutes and/or whistles, facilitates certain shifts in human consciousness. Said shifts attune us to the nature of sound in general and particular internal sounds, in specific.

I personally feel that the carrier wave we hear when we voyage with Spice is the expression of higher consciousness, playing it's own variation of the flute (or is it that we craft flutes to mimic this cosmic tone?). Yogis often refer to the Celestial sound of Lord Krishna's flute, which draws the awareness of the seeker into the blooming expanse of eternity, itself.

BTW, my wife was reading over my shoulder and joked about my "in a nutshell" statement. She giggled to herself, "and just how big is that nut, the size of a Volkswagen bus?" It's true... I am a looooooong wind blowing cosmic dust.

I will add that for those who choose to play any woodwind or brass instrument, there is a benefit beyond merely musical... blowing air through an instrument is paramount to pranayama. When we learn about the intricacies of breath, it's control and it's release, we lean about the most fundamental aspect of our existence.

We only exist because we breathe. We are organically and rhythmically enraptured within this circular phenomenon, until we drop our material bodies and move to another level, altogether. :idea:



Cool!!! Kudos to you, friend. The journey of a thousand flute toots starts with a few good tools in hand. Native American flute is probably the most amiable of all flutes. Easy to produce embouchure, gentle, quiet and quite charming. One of my very favorite NAF players is R. Carlos Nakai, but of course.

http://www.youtube.com/w...BQxg&feature=related

Now, when you say, "Zen flute", do you mean the Japanese Shakuhachi? It is literally created for the prayer of the Zen Komuso monks (Priests of Nothingness), who initiated the art of Honkyoku. Which is basically, musical meditation in action.

I've been shattered by the sublime tonality and mysterious depth of pitch, which these lovely shoots of bamboo elicit. Check out master player, Yokoyama Katsuya. The filming was a tad weird and disjointed... but this performance is absolutely mind blowing!

http://www.youtube.com/w...1&feature=plpp_video

I've got to include this lovely performance by the gorgeous Chinese xiao player, Chen Yue. So melodious, beatific and peaceful... sigh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-pjlgQhcqc

I really like your native flute idea. Here is a video with two drones attached. It would be like 3 instruments in one! Very nice when alone. I think they call them spirits, but not positive.
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=nn68rq__RxQ

The other flute I like is this kind

I really like bamboo flutes, some side blown/transverse Japanese ones can be had for about 10$ and are really nice.

thanks for all the replies everyone, i appreciate it. I have recieved my Ocarina and will be ordering my NA flute when i get paid.

happy days



That is indeed the one i was talking about, i think its my favourite sounding one so far. just need to find one for a reasonable price.

thanks again.

This guy is a fine maker on eBay, who crafts wonderful shakuhachi at extremely reasonable prices.
Plus, his flutes are lovely, sporting intricate root-ends, available in a Chinese black bamboo species (tiger bamboo or "torachiku" in Japanese) and a blond-colored Chinese cousin of Japanese "madake" bamboo. The very best shakuhachi are considered to be made of Japanese madake. Genuine madake bamboo is expensive, though.

Whistlehead Shakuhachi has an auction every week, so you will get to pick from a wide variety of good instruments, on a consistent basis. I've bought several from him and he is a really descent person and IMO, far too modest.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/...ipg=25&_trksid=p3984

Another good maker is this fellow. He charges a lot more, though... but his flutes are acceptable by most teachers for traditional lessons and he's quit schooled, despite being young. I've 3 of his shakuhachi and am delighted with each of them, despite being an unschooled player myself.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/...ipg=25&_trksid=p3984

Remember, there are many different lengths. The classic shakuhachi is 1.8 shaku in length and is pitched in the key of D. Essentially, a "shaku" is one Japanese foot, which = 11.9 inches. They can be as small as 1.2 and as long/large as 3.2 shaku and each length variation also has an alternate key.

Now, all shakuhachi have deeper voices than recorders, Irish or N.A. flutes. And keep in mind, the longer and larger-bored ones are the ones capable of producing the deepest tones. They, in addition to the booming timbre, do have a greater finger-stretch to reach the holes. It might be wisest to gradually get accustomed to larger variants like: 2.5, 2.7 and 3.0 or even longer?

So, this makes the fingering tougher for a neophytes shakuhachi player. Also, much more difficult to blow, as it takes a larger volume of air, more forcefully blown, to give voice it's own unique character. No two shakuhachi are the same, even when nearly identical in size and key. :idea:

My advice for beginners is to pick one that is not too big for starters. I'd suggest 1.8 in D, 2.0 in C, 2.2 in B. I don't read music, so other than the different fingering per key/length, I generally just improvise on them, that is, play form the right hemisphere of my brain.

Of course, if you click with this type of flute, you'll want to explore all of them, G, F, E, D, C, B, A, low G, low E, etc... eventually.

Enjoy the sonic voyage friend, R.S.

Cheers RS, very helpfully.

Personally i like native american flutes. but i own and play many different kinds including a sweet egyptian. I get most my flutes from eriktheflutemaker.com Theres something magical about flutes, you will find yourself lost in a 40 min trance

Sorry, I thought I already said thank you! Oh well, better late that never... Thanks a lot!