Anybody play a quena (fippleless S. American vertical flute)? My music director at church is looking for an “Andean” sound (Maybe she said, “And Ian”). It is for one particular song: “Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace” in “F”. Anyway, recommendations would be much appreciated.
Ian
[ This Message was edited by: bassnwhistle on 2002-07-05 17:18 ]
You could try Lark in the Morning… they have all manner of interesting instruments…
Or you could just go to an import store. That’s where I picked up (or rather, my Mom) an interesting Peruvian Flute that sounds pretty good…
What a coincidence. I am selling some of the flutes I no longer play much. I have a Quenacho (a large quena) that has the same range and fingering as a low D whistle (+ a 7th C Nat hole in the back). It plays nicely and was not too hard to learn to blow. You need to use piper fingering to play it though unless you have large hands. Check the eBay link below.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=891047622
Chris Roberts
Quenas are generally pitched in G and have very large finger holes (plus a thumb hole in the back). You essentially use a flute embouchure to blow one.
Elderly Instruments (www.elderly.com) sells some, which are probably pretty good, given the quality of their other merchandise. They also have brilliant customer service and good prices (and they sell quite a few whistles and whistle related products).
I got a wonderful bamboo quena from Erik the Flute Maker. Check out his web site at:
http://www.eriktheflutemaker.com
Craig
I always buy them from the state fair. I love the sound of them.
Thanks so much for your responses. This gives me a way to start looking intelligently. I knew that the truth was out there…
Ian
I bought a quena from an Andean group in San Antonio. It’s simply made but looks nice, and the seller got a lovely haunting sound from it, but I have major trouble getting any sound out at all. I attribute it to my small mouth and thin lips, which need to close off the end to blow across the blade.
Here’s a site you might look at to make your own: http://www.dynalogic.com/andina/kenamake.html
I also just bought a quena from a group in San Antonio (Andean Fusion). It took me a while to get a sound out of it. I can now but it’s not very consistant yet. I ordered the larger version quena (quenacho) from the site of another group I found:
They also sell quenas, andean panpipes, etc.
-Joe
A better site (at least better instruments)
but I haven’t ordered from them in a couple years. Someone from the band I play in (Kusi Taki) makes a semi annual trip to Bolivia to buy instruments (and you think getting good whistles is hard!)
No offense but the quenas pictured on the Andeanation site are tourist instruments you can usually pick up for under $10 at state fairs etc. I’d avoid them unless you want to do some major tweaking.
Quenachos are awesome instruments but you need pipers grip or large digits to do it right. The smallest hole on a standard quenacho is still bigger than most low D whistle holes. I’ve got large enough hands to play them without pipers grip and my pinkie finger easily slips into the largest holes. They also take a tight embouchure and loads of wind. Once you get it the sound you can produce can shake the walls or quiet a 3 month old, at least it did last night 
MarkV.
resident Andean music guru
My first was a tourist model with paintings on it. It broke quickly. I later got a pro model that sounds great. But they cost a lot more. I sent my sister money and told her to buy me all the quena books they had. I now own a bunch of books in Spanish that I can’t even read–and paid $30 or $40 for them. Of course, you can figure it out. All the notation in them is Do, Re, Mi (not standard notes).
So, presently, I have a touristy one that is pretty to look at, and a professional one that is pretty to hear.
After the last post, I pulled out my $9 cheap model quena, and made a recording of the tune Restoration. It had been a long time since I’d played a quena, so my embouchure is rusty.
My sister was watching the movie Geronimo the other day, and noticed the background music was this same tune.
Quena](http://free.gentle.org/users/gospelhymns/Restoration.mp3%22%3EQuena) MP3 (less than 340K)
On 2002-07-08 17:32, markv wrote:
No offense but the quenas pictured on the Andeanation site are tourist instruments you can usually pick up for under $10 at state fairs etc. I’d avoid them unless you want to do some major tweaking.
No offense taken, but the quena I bought in San Antonio would probably be considered a tourist model and looks a lot like the ones on the site I mentioned. I paid $20 for it and it sounds pretty good. I just wanted to get a taste of this kind of instrument/music and I think these provide an inexpensive and not so bad sounding opportunity.
Joe
I had been toying with the idea of making a quena style head for the PVC flute in G I made recently and so made one on Sunday. It sounds very nice, better I am afraid than my flute head. Since it’s a cross between a quena and a flute, I think I will call it a ‘qute’. 
Walden,
The MP3 sounded great. I think I’ll look around for a decent cheapie just to “wet my whistle” - so to speak - for quenas. At this point I am struggling to become mediocre on so many different folk instruments that I pick up here and there that I don’t have time for the important ones. I really need to start concentrating on the whistles again. Thanks for you help.
Ian
Oh, maybe just one more, they’re small and cheap.