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| 3/27/08: Pre-production for July
3/25/08: Owl LOLCAT 3/23/08: New flute with Botswana connection 3/17/08: St. Paddy again 3/13/08: Bamboo gate |
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March 27, 2008
Pre-production for July
Well, I did it: put up an eBay listing for a bass flute, which runs for three more days. Decided to try something I haven't done in a long time, and started the auction at a laughably cheap price just to spur some action. That can be a risky strategy if the right people don't happen to see the listing, so I figured it'd be prudent to get the word out, hence this paragraph. I suppose I could get an accomplice to "buy" the flute if it's in danger of selling for way too little... surely eBay would approve of that innocent strategy! Anyway, it's over there until Sunday evening. Why bother with a link? It's easily located if you're inclined to do so. I'm trying to plug away on flute production and slowly build up an inventory for the one major show of the year, coming in July. The plan is to NOT suffer through a mad, frenzied rush over the last couple of pre-show weeks, as has been my historical pattern-- that way I could theoretically begin the event in a relaxed state. What a concept! Hope it works. What this means is that there'll be quite a few ready-made flutes available over the next few months, since I can't just hoard all of them for the show. In fact, as of now we have several, and just off the top of my head there are an F major and a D major, as well as minor-key flutes in C, C#, A alto, and a few others I'm not remembering. We'll try to keep a running tally while the inventory grows, and as usual inquiries are welcome. --r.
March 25, 2008
Owl LOLCAT
 I visited the local Audubon Society shelter this morning to check out the new turkey vulture in residence, but the vulture was temporarily out of public sight, being prepared for a medical checkup. However, a great horned owl was sitting in the outdoor cage and this shot sprang to mind. It's a play on the LOLCAT internet phenomenon; I added digital bricks to the background and there you go... The birds permanently displayed at this shelter have various injuries which prevent their being re-released into the wild; I'm not sure whether this owl is destined to stay indefinitely, but his current confinement inspired the prison metaphor. He did seem rather content and well-fed for the moment and uncorked a few resonant hoots. --r.
March 23, 2008
New flute with Botswana connection
Since completing that first flute with an utaguchi a few weeks ago I've been rather obsessed with the concept. Just finished two others: a six-hole A-minor alto and a seven-hole D major. The A alto has an acrylic utaguchi, but on the D major I tried something different:  The utaguchi on this one is made of reportedly-sustainable gemsbok horn from a Botswana game park. Horn is one of the original materials used by the Japanese for shakuhachi utaguchi before the advent of synthetics, so it was fun to succeed in this first horn-utilizing attempt. Yep, it's an exceptional flute-- perhaps even the "best" D major I've ever made! As for the seven holes, in addition to the typical six topside holes of a major-key flute this one has an added thumbhole for the minor seventh. It's a nice addition, and makes playing in the key of G major a snap, among other advantages. In fact it's long been my opinion that just about any simple (keyless) flute should have at least one thumbhole, which is just as advantageous on a major-key flute as it is on a minor. So, anyone interested in checking this one out? --r.
March 17, 2008
St. Paddy again
Today's St. Patrick's Day, and I barely remembered to throw on the green sweater before dashing out the door this morning. I've complained about this before, but it still drives me absolutely barmy to see businesses advertising their "St. Patty's Day" parties. You may call it St. Paddy's Day, and if you insist, you may even call it St. Pat's Day. However: you must never, ever write it as St. Patty's Day! This point is simply not subject to debate, and next year I'm organizing a boycott of any businesses in town that ignorantly use the wrong spelling in their publicity materials. "Patty" = Patricia Paddy = Pádraig, which is of course the original Irish name-- Anglicized as "Patrick." By the way, I just saw this headline, which made me laugh out loud. OK, I'm off now to finish a D Major flute in honor of St. Paddy. Better get the project close to completion before cracking that first Guinness, if you know what I mean... (A few hours later) OK, that D major turned out so well I can hardly believe it! Perhaps the spirit of St. Paddy teamed up with St. Pan to inspire an especially remarkable flute... so let the Guinness flow! --r.
March 13, 2008
Bamboo gate
It's been pretty quiet around the site for over a week. Must have been the weather: we've had a pleasant stretch of mostly-dry, springlike weather that's kept me occupied with other stuff, such as moving the annual huge pile of topsoil into the backyard via wheelbarrow. I'm also working on a stretch of bamboo fence, an exciting project: it's gonna look totally kewl and will nicely frame the backyard bamboo grove, which is poised to really take off this year. Will post fence pics when that's finished, although it may take several more weeks; it's likely that I'll have to visit Seattle in order to procure the large Moso bamboo poles we'll need for the dramatic, ten-foot-high entry gate. It'll somewhat resemble those traditional ranch gates, but be more Eastern-looking. Need to sell a few flutes soon too-- still haven't settled all the bills for March. What a job! Fiddling with bamboo while creditors fume... Back later today or tomorrow; it's supposed to be rainy. --r.
March 3, 2008
C Major flute on hand
We have a rare C major flute on hand at the moment. As you may know, I make very few major scale flutes in general, and when I do D is usually the largest major size/key produced. The holes on a major-scale flute are considerably farther apart than those on a minor flute -- especially for the left hand -- and even a D can be quite challenging or indeed impossible for some people to play. There are ways around this to some extent, and many bamboo flutemakers make radical acoustical compromises in order to bring the holes within reach. A huge bore combined with big differences in hole size (that is, making some holes much larger than others in order to shuffle their relative positions and bring them closer together) is a commonly seen tactic. I refuse to stoop to that, preferring to stick with a smaller bore and moderate differences in hole size. This results in a brighter, more penetrating tone, better range and response throughout two octaves and beyond, and more balanced timbre and volume from note to note. Don't coddle the player-- make the flute play better, and if you can't reach the holes, tough luck! Get a smaller flute in that case. Anyway, I made the currently available C major on special order-- and sure enough it came back as being too difficult to play. I'm 5'-10", and although my hands and fingers are about average in span, long experience at covering the holes in all sorts of flute configurations is a big help: that is, a person with hands of the same size but no bamboo-flute experience would likely find it extremely "difficult" to cover holes that are no problem at all for me. You have to get those ligaments loosened up and the fingers trained, folks. Having said that, C major is my personal comfort limit: it wouldn't be practical to play anything bigger. In fact, I've probably made only three or four C major flutes in the past twenty years! So, if you're an NBA center or an experienced bamboo flute player who's at least five-ten or so, we have a C major for you. It'll probably go on eBay later this week if nobody speaks up to claim it sooner. Nice flute, too. [SOLD as of 3/7 or thereabouts.] --r. |
