I am looking for what I was told is a shepherd’s flute. It is a double flute that plays harmony. I was at a dulcimer shop and they looked in their Lark in the Morning catalog and found something that looked like what I want, but I can’t remember what the actual name of it was. The dulcimer shops price was $75. Can anyone help?
Well, lots of folks are reluctant to get things through Lark in the Morning (some folks call them Shark in the Morning…).
Several makers sell a double whistle or double flute. You can get one from Erik Tullberg (Tully whistles) in all sterling silver. It is set up as a standard whistle on one side with a drone on the other. Nice work and a great guy. Also a regular participant here. http://www.tullberg.com/tully
Daniel Bingamon makes one that is set up a bit differently. His has half the scale on one pipe and the other half on the other. http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/kadima/whis-himetal.htm
Erik the Flutemaker also does one that appears to be a modified pair of Susato whistles. 4 holes on one side, 3 on the other. http://www.eriktheflutemaker.com
Or you can try the concept out for yourself by getting two identical whistles and using some tape to cover some of the holes. Use a piece of scrap wood to keep the whistles spaced apart a comfortable distance. Fun to play with and it won’t cost any more than the two cheap whistles. And if you don’t like the concept, take them apart and keep one in the house and one in the car. Don’t play whistle in the car. This is just to make it convenient to always know that you have a whistle around when you go somewhere.
Play with it. Have fun. Enjoy making music.
-Patrick
(Edited to fix a URL.)
[ This Message was edited by: Patrick on 2002-11-27 14:46 ]
You may also be referring to an Eastern European instrument, generally made of wood, with one drone pipe and one melody pipe. Sounds sort of like a bagpipe, almost (but it’s a fipple instrument, not a reeded one, so it’s not exactly like a bagpipe. . .).
I know them as “dvoyanka”; I got mine at Lark in the Morning, but I live near San Francisco and was able to go to the store to play several and choose the best one (and for a good price, really). Getting it mail-order is kind of a crap shoot. It’s fun to play, and exotic-sounding.
You can also try searching E-Bay for “dvoyanka”; I’ve seen them there from time to time.
Good luck!