Kill Bill II

Irish Flute
1

I mentioned to some co-workers that I played wooden flute, and they said “oh, like David Carradine in Kill Bill II?” I haven’t seen the movie, what are they talking about? Is it a bamboo flute like he had in Kung Fu?

2

I think it may be a native american flute or a walking stick flute…either way, it sounds very cool and a classic movie, but I guess all of Tarantino’s films have the classic aura about them.

3

I’ve read that Carradine made the flute himself. I seem to remember him playing the flute in “Kung Fu” and “Circle of Iron” aka “The Silent Flute”.

4

On the “Special Features” of the DVD I think Carradine says it’s the flute from “Kung Fu.” I rented it from netflix so I can’t go back and double check. It’s like a bamboo, walking-stick flute.

Cheers,
Aaron

5

I thought it was either the Kung Fu flute, which I seem to remember being of the walking stick type, or one of those fat Japanese end blown ones.. Thanks for the replies. Wow, Circle of Iron! I forgot all about that one, good movie. The one with Eli Wallach disolving himself in a vat of oil right? Carradine played all the adversaries to the lead character?

6

Hi,
Ya, Carradine said it was the same flute that he used in Kung fu.
Romy makes a replica of this flute, he was selling them on ebay a while back.
Jon

7

I didn’t see the movie, but did the flute look like this one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3769880522

Bill

8

It’s been a while since I’ve seen the movie but it seems very close.

Now I’ll have to watch it again. :smiley:

9

I just watched the movie - WOW!!!

The DVD, Behind the Scenes, mentions that Bill’s flute is one of the flutes used by David Carridine for the Kung Fu series.

The flute he plays is indeed like the one on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3769880522

Bill

10

Geez,
I said Romy was making them… :roll:

11

Watching the flute sequence, in Kill Bill 2, I noticed that the flute’s embouchure hole is about in the middle of the very long flute. I wonder what affect this has on its timbre, i.e., compared to being at the more traditional position?

Bill

12

Probably nothing. There is probably a bamboo node (“wall”) just to the left of the blowhole, which has the same function as the cork stopper in a wooden flute. The rest of the stick doesn’t matter. I guess putting the blowhole in the middle makes a more balanced instrument, in this case.

13

Ralph Sweet makes walking-stick flutes, the embouchure hole
far down, relatively. These sound quite good, IMO.
Functional as walking sticks, too.
But I sooner or later lose walking sticks.

14

Anyone have experience with this maker’s flutes?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3771917012

Unlike the RomyB KB flute, this one has a thumb hole, so it can be played like a Shakuhachi.

Bill