Native American Flute
The
Native American flute is made from cedar with a cherry totem on top.
The body of the flute features the head of a slamon in
a Northwestern Native American motiff. The totem is an eagle
with a northwestern
motiff as well. Each flute is individually hand made with the
minimum use
of power tools. All will differ slightly from flute to flute.
The Native American flute is the only flute in the world
constructed with two air chambers - there is a wall inside the flute
between the top (slow) air chamber and the bottom chamber which has the
whistle and generally 6 finger holes.
There are many stories about how different peoples discovered the
flute. A common character in these stories is the woodpecker, who put
holes in hollow branches while searching for termites. The wind would
blow around these branches, creating sounds that the people noticed and
sought to recreate. The actual development of the flute probably did
not follow this pattern. The theory that it was developed by the
ancient Pueblo People based on Mesoamerican designs is
the most common solution.
Modern Native American flutes are generally tuned to a variation of the
minor pentatonic scale (such as you would get playing the black
keys on a piano), which gives the instrument its distinctive plaintive
sound.
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