tubular flutes

Top L photo: the front side of the 3 flutes; the top R. photo is the back of these 3 flutes; note that the flutes with 6 front finger holes also have thumb holes; the middle flute with a wide blue stripe also has a beeswax thumb rest. The bottom flute with a simple blue squiggle also has a tuning hole at its end.

Please note that in the lower L. photo, the two bottom flutes were exchanged. The two outer flutes in the lower R. photo have notched mouthpieces; this technique was discovered in the collection of West Mexican prehispanic flutes at the University of Wales, Bangor. The notch adds a subtle high whistle sound to many of the lower primary tones, and sounds somewhat as if a quiet ghost is playing along. The top flute has a larger bore, with 4 finger-holes and a beautiful quiet tone; it ends in a small cone, also discovered the Wales Collection. An end cone lowers the fundamental somewhat, and depending on its construction, can alter the flute's timbre & harmonics slightly; this property still needs more research. Found in the middle of two top photos, the middle of the lower R photo, and on the bottom of the lower L photo, the flute with a wide frontal blue band has 6 finger-holes, and a thumb hole on the back; the tube ends in a small cone. It doesn’t have a notch but does have a somewhat angled air duct & aperture edge which can really alter the timbre of some pitches with air pressure changes. The remaining flute with a blue squiggle does not end in a cone, but does have a notched aperture, 6 frontal finger-holes, with one thumb hole & a tuning hole on the back.

The two flutes on the left were inspired by prehispanic flutes; the edge & the airducts are angles to create interesting timbres that can be adjusted with air pressure. They can be played beautifully together, either separately with 2 players or one player. On the right, this flute has the same mouthpiece type as the other two; it has six finger holes on the front, & one in the back, and plays into the 4th octave.

These 3 flutes play beautifully together.