Just thought I’d mention here that Chiff and Fipple has a NAF forum; I know there are a lot of cross-fippler’s here and I imagine some will be interested.
Thank you CountryKitty for the reminder. The Native American Flute is
a beautiful instrument. I have a beautiful woodland flute made for me by
Rick Sampson. I have just commissioned Brent Haines to make me a
flute in the key of E. There is no other sound like them, they are very
expressive instruments. I am playing my F# Minor Woodland Flute this
Sunday (Dec 31) at Unity Church here in our city.
-James
A Stor Mo Chroi…
F# Minor is a very common key for the NAF - It’s like the Low-D is to the Low whistles.
There are wide bore instruments that don’t quite have the range of their whistle counterparts, the wide bore helps give it that haunting sound. F# runs from 3/4" to 7/8" ID bore size.
Great! Good to know that! Why it doesn’t appear at the Forum Index? Is it a kind of appendix because it’s not related to ITM?
There was discussion about making it part of the big board, but opinions among the regular posters were divided. There was concern that we’d be ‘a small boat on a big ocean’–lost in the shuffle…I think there was also the unspoken concern that we’d be inundated with more of the merely curious than the truly serious lovers of the instrument.
Dale mentoned in one of his posts that he was considering adding boards for non-UK traditional instruments…things from other cultures, like Ukeleles or Appalacian dulcimers for example. I wouldn’t mind seeing sections for assorted percussion, World strings, World winds. I actually originally came here for tips on playing small 6-hole ethnic flutes that I’d picked up on eBay as functional folk art, and since so many of us have varied musical tastes, I think it would be a good idea myself.
If you noticed the URL for the C&F messageboard is not actually at chiffandfipple.com, however the NAF forum is at Chiifandfipple.com
Great! I’ve registered and browsed, now just waiting for Dale to send me the magic e-mail to activate my ID.
I got an Amon Olorin PF-series set for Christmas. Taking it to music rehearsal tonight.
Mark
Uh? Is it necessary to register besides the usual register we already have at C&F?
Hey Mark,
I also have one of Ken Light’s PF flutes and love it. Very durable and portable, and sounds very good for plastic IMO.
My only slight problem is that the octave is noticeably sharp in both keys, but it can be corrected by a different fingering.
Jason
I met a Peruvian flutist here in Greece a few weeks ago who gave me my first NAF. Wow! I have been really missing out on not having such a teriffic flute. Will I suffer another episode of WhOA or will one NAF be enough?
Romulo,
I tried my C&F login, and it didn’t work over on the NAF forum. It appears to be a separate login.
Jason,
I’ve noticed that some of the notes do require different fingerings to sound right. Also, the NAF seems to be more subject to pitch bending with air - very cool for effects, but I have to listen carefully to myself.
Adrian,
Hee-hee, MORE FLUTES!
It’s a totally different system, you have to register.
hey are those end blown? and do they have 2 octaves?
Yes, they’re end-blown. The block or fetish on the top along with dual air chambers and a cutting edge is what makes the sound.
Generally, they will not play two full octaves. Also, they are based on a pentatonic scale (it’s basically the blues scale). So, there aren’t any “wrong” notes - they all sound good together in no particular order. With a six-hole flute, more notes are more easily available though (with cross-fingering and half-holing).
There has been talk about building a two-octave NA flute, but I don’t know of any maker who is actively producing one.
Jason
who makes a good one for around 80 bucks?
As far as bang for the buck, I’d recommend a Butch Hall. I haven’t actually played one, but I’ve held one and heard it played in person. They have a very nice tone and Butch has a reputation for quality and intonation.
The most popular keys are G and F#. Go to the website and listen to the samples.
Even though they’re not all on the website, he makes the B, A, and G in two styles. One is the starter, and one is concert. The starter A is shown on the website as the Little Horse. If you can spring for it, I’d recommend the concert series. They have a brass plate spacer, which makes for a clearer tone. I believe the starters are all wood. I haven’t heard one of the starters in real life, but I’ve heard mixed reviews. However, I don’t think I’ve heard any negative comments about the concert flutes.
You can find cheaper flutes online, but of course you get what you pay for. Butch Hall has a good reputation. If you go to his site, you can see how many artists have used his flutes on their albums.
High Spirits also makes good flutes ( www.highspirits.com ), but they’re more expensive (more decoration). I have a High Spirits Golden Eagle. I love it and it sounds great, they’re $175 now.
Jason
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You can also check out the Amon Olorin PF flute that we mentioned earlier. It’s plastic, but it’s a good player and comes with two keys for around $75 shipped.
As I mentioned, the octave is noticeably sharp with the recommended fingering, but can be overcome with alternate fingering. Being plastic, it’s obviously not quite as warm sounding as a cedar one, but it’s durable and portable, and does sound better than I expected.
I did a review on the NA flute forum, and posted a sound clip.
You can get them from Ken Light at Amon Olorin flutes. He also has a very good reputation and in fact is the main flute maker for R. Carlos Nakai. Nakai is by far the most popular NA flute player. Ken’s website is:
Jason
The Butch Hall’s are beautiful. I want one. They’re really reasonable too. 