That’s quite a detour from a transverse flute!
I suppose it’s keyless 
Yes James it is. I’ve actually had experience with NAF’s and irish low whistles. Then I looked at rim blown flutes first. Then started looking at transverse before finally finding a deal on a rim blown I likes. I still may try a transverse sometime.
Steve
What’s a rim blown flute? Thanks
I love rim blown flutes - they have a very difficult character from transverse flutes.
My favourite rim (end blown) flute is the chinese xiao flute. It would probably be the shakuhachi, only I have such a poor memory for shak music that I just get into a muddle over it.
Francois on this forum sent me some rim end flutes to review. I’ll work on getting the reviews up in the next month here.
Like this: you blow through the end of it (not like a transverse flute where you blow through a hole along the axis of the flute), to strike an edge on the rim. It differs from a whistle or a recorder, in that there is no fipple or labium - just a ‘free edge’ that you have to form an embouchure (mouth aperture) around, to control the air flow.
Kavals, xiaos; shakuhachi…quenachos…lots of ethnic Bali flutes and African ones…
The one Steve Hatfield is talking about is a Native American end blown flute patterned after ones found in a cave in Arizona dated to about 1300 years ago. Several makers do variations of them labeling them Anasazi, Hopi, Mohave, etc depending on the tuning. The mouthpiece looks like this
and you blow across the end to get the tone, somewhat like a Shakuhachi or a quena.
Best wishes.
Steve
Pretty nice Steve. That actually looks like the end of the one I’m getting. Is that Box Elder??
Actually it’s just an image I grabbed from an internet blog as a rather generic illustration of the mouthpiece of an end-blown tubular flute.
The blogger describes it as “an English Anasazi” that he “wouldn’t recommend” (didn’t say why). Looks more like cedar to me but the site didn’t specify.
Best wishes.
Steve
Here are a couple of pics if it works right…
It’s in the key of A and it’s made of flamed box elder.
Steve
Looks like it’s quite a long rim end flute?
How does it sound?
James it has a haunting low sound. It’s about 28 inches in length. I don’t have it yet. It’s coming in the mail after the holiday. If you look up anasazi on youtube there are many clips.
Steve
Yes I like the sound of these of these a lot. 28 inches isn’t quite long enough lol. Yours is a one piece too - I wonder how the tuning accuracy across the octaves is?
Recall that these are patterned after 1300-year old instruments. Doubt that there were tuning meters back then or that there was much interest among the Native Americans about European tunings…
That being said, the overtones on the ones I have are pretty well in tune as might be expected with a smooth bore. The more rustic versions (e.g., made from river cane/bamboo or elderwood with the pith pushed out) tend to have a much less consistent bore and so some of the overtones can be off a bit (according to a European scale, not necessarily to a pre-contact Native American).
Best wishes.
Steve
Thanks Steve.
What’s the lung volume required for this like?
Not all that much lung volume. The issue is more the need for a very focused embouchure. There are some smaller rim blown flutes (check Coyote Oldman or White Crow flutes under “Hopi” or “Mojave”. These have a smaller diameter bore and so are a bit easier to get started with. On the other hand, if you’ve played a shak or a quena, shouldn’t be much of an issue.
However, this part of the thread is probably better discussed on the “World/Folk Winds” Forum. Very hard to play ITM on any of these. There is also the Yahoo "AncientNAF email list.
Best wishes.
Steve
300 to 500 bc. Anasazi lived in that area. There is a great article about them. I can find the link if anyone interested. I’ve made some. They are usually 3/4 inch bore and faily long. About 28 inches long. Usually Ab, A, B, Bb. Scale is very different than a pentonic or diatonic. The walls are usually 1/8 to 3/16 inches. The rim or emb can be made in many different ways. The second octave is achieved by the length to bore ratio and the emb and the player’s abiliy to obtain that with their emb. The holes are usully offset for right and left handed players because of the distance from the mouth (that is you got to have long arms). The stretch isn’t too bad but the offset helps with that. They are bass type flutes as you can see from the keys above.
Scot August is the one to listen to. He is the premier Anasazi player. Cayote Olman is another resource.
Hello
Just for the record.
The Cocus wood Low D Irish flute on the www.angusfifes.com is indeed NOT made by Angus Fifes.
This Flute is an imported flute from the East and the wood is probably their own form of Cocuswood.
The flute is quite inexpensive and would be intended for learners.It is however in tune and very playable