3rdI said:
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.
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. :d
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.
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. :lol:
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:
3rdI said:
I was only after 1 flute now i have to get 3, an NA flute, a zen flute and an Ocarina.
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.
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!
I've got to include this lovely performance by the gorgeous Chinese xiao player, Chen Yue. So melodious, beatific and peaceful... sigh.
