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31 Jul 03 - 03:43 AM (#993998) Subject: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: GUEST,Nathalie Reginster Someone please help. Years ago (6 to exact) I bought a beautiful wooden flute in the key of G. I use it with a couple of my folk groups. I love it. It recently broke and I need to find Jacob to buy a new one from him. He used to sell them at a booth at the REC Northern Rennasance Pleasure Faire. Does any one know who I am talking about? Do you know how to contact him and if he is still making wooden flutes? Or do you know someone else who is making good quality wooden flutes? With open holes and no metal key equipment? Please email as well as post as I have lately been having trouble finding posts on here. ~Nathalie |
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31 Jul 03 - 11:05 AM (#994196) Subject: RE: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: Uncle Jaque I don't know of this "Jacob" chap, but I have made a flute just as you describe out of black walnut about 3 years ago; it's sort of like a "Tenor Fife" actually, but set up to play in the lower register. There is not a bit of metal on it - not even end ferrules which would actually not be a bad idea for split prevention - and I use a cork salvaged from a wine bottle to stop the breech. The bore is big - nearly 3/4" and parabolically "jugged" under the elliptical ambrochure as a resonating chamber. There's a little trick to doing that with primative tools! It is also in the key of "G"; I call it "Old Gillead" as many of the tunes I play on it are circa early 19th Century Hymns and Gospel tunes, with slow Celtic aires on occasion. It is featured on my CD and just yesterday it was used in a "gig" at a local Old-Folks Home; they particularly loved "Danny Boy" on the Ol' Gillead. The only finish I use on a wooden fife is hand-rubbed oil. I have developed a penchant for dark sesame seed oil for several reasons, not the least of which is it's resistance to rancidity and it's pleasing aroma. Mineral oil will serve in a pinch. I made the holes a little on the large side and chamfered them to allow for haunting roll-on/roll-off slurs and slides. With a little practice you can go up and down the scale with no transitions, like one of those slide-whistles used for the "Whoooooop" sound effects. On things like "Mary's Dream" or "General Wolfe" I darn near scare myself! You'd think that Ol Gillead was spitting ghosts out of it's muzzle like a bean-blower! Animals and birds are frequently attracted to the playing of it out in the wilds, which can be a little weird - but at the same time utterly delightful! (See related earlier MC thread). Gillead can yodel like a loon, and it drives 'em banannas out on the lake at night! If you would like a scanning of it (I don't have a digital camera, and the flute is too long for our scanner bed, so it's in two parts) drop me a line @ unclejaque@netscape.net I had plans to make a few "Gillead clones" to sell; one Music Shop in NH appraised it at around $300 retail (after I played it for them), and will sell them on commission for me - when and if I get sufficintly organized to make some. So I promptly started turning one out of mahogany (I use whatever I can get, sometimes scrounging old table legs out of the dump to turn whistles or fifes out of) and it sounded really sweet after I opened the ambrochure - but alas, when I set up the tone holes identical to where I placed them on Ol' G., the first hole was way too sharp for some unknown reason. By the time I opended it up enough to bring it down to pitch, I could stick my thumb into it! So into the kindling bucket it went, along with several other less-than successful experiments. I might try again someday, but wrecking a potentially good instrument like that really whacks the old self-esteem hard, and I need to do something that works for a while. If I get a lot of feedback that there is a short supply and long demand for this sort of thing, I might be induced to fire up the old 1915 belt-driven Frasse lathe down in the "Laboratory", sharpen up some tools and have another crack at it. |
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31 Jul 03 - 12:01 PM (#994239) Subject: RE: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: GUEST,.gargoyle One tube on my wooden Peruian Pan-Pipe split...not wide...just a 3 inch long split in one tube that destroyed its ability to play that note. A long thin line of super-glue (without pressure) restored it to perfection.
Sincerely, |
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31 Jul 03 - 02:07 PM (#994363) Subject: RE: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: Uncle Jaque When you say "broke" here, Nathalie, are we talking "split" or "Crushed; mangled; mutilated; destroyed to smithereens" - or something in between? I got a really good deal on a little 1864 CLOOS fife in "C" ($40) because it was split pretty obviously and would only play about 4 notes, and those poorly. I have learned that at least on a wooden instrument like a fife, that gobs of glue are not always the way to go when healing splits. Wood splits when it's natural moisture and resins evaporate, dissipate, and dry out. The cells collapse, causing a cumulative shrinkage in the wood. Something's got to "give", and that is usually a seperation between the grain - ergo, a split. So after cleaning the accumulated dust and spider-webs off and out of my cutie CLOOS, I merely did what I routinely do in the maintainence of my other fifes; SOPPED it in sesame seed oil, and rubbed as much of it into the grain as it would stand. Pretty soon,the dry, porous wood (ebony or blackwood, by the looks of it) "drank in" the oil, expanded back to it's original dimensions... and "Violla!" the crack disapeared, and the sweet, clear voice that had been lost for a Century or so came back to life! Now had I glued the split, and then the fife got wet or properly annointed with oil, the glue would have kept the split from closing and acted like a wedge against the expanding wood, setting up potentially destructive stresses in the thin, delicate wall of the instrument. Not to mention what adulterants like glue can do to harmonic resonance! Now in the case of that (Peruvian?) pan-pipe; most of the ones I've seen are constructed of a bamboo or reed-like material which is thin but very dense. Shrinkage in a naturally hollow-core stem does not tend to cause splitting as solid-stalked wood will because of the arrangement of the cellular structures, so your super glue might actually be the best option in this case. It seems to work, anyway, and I for one am a big fan of stuff that works! Given the time, opportunity and inspiration (a really precious commodity among us "Creative" types) I could probably repair or replicate said "Jacobs" flute, but even he (providing that he can be found) might not be able to garuntee that it would sound or play exactly as it did before it's lamentable "accident". There are so many subtle and mysterious variables in the art of flutecrafting that even the Masters of the art are challenged to make a number of them exactly alike. That's why only a very few of them have, and even fewer still do, make a set of fifes for an entire Corps that will be in tonal and harmonic synchrony. |
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01 Aug 03 - 03:41 AM (#994805) Subject: RE: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: GUEST,.gargoyle Thank you for the oil tip. I will try it this weekend on a squeaky, rebellious, long-time-favorite, recorder. Its been in rivers and lakes and subjected to terrible conditions....but because it was "The First" there is a nostalgia.
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02 Aug 03 - 10:29 PM (#995749) Subject: RE: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: Uncle Jaque I hope it works for ya, Garg. Oiling will also increase the density of the wood, which in turn will increase it's harmonic resonance. When wood is dry and spongy, it absorbs a lot of the sonic impulses - vibrations, if you will - sort of like a... well,.. a sponge! When oil replaces the air inside and beween those parched cellulose structures, things start to respong differently. Oil, of course, unlike most gasses (like air) is pretty much non-compressable. That's why it's used so much in hydraulic systems like bulldozers, for instance. When an impulse hits one side of an oil-saturated wood cell, it gets transmitted right on down the line essentially as it arrived, instead of being cushioned and dissipated by a microscopic "air-bag"... actually millions of 'em. It can take a while to adequately permeate a wooden instrument with oil, and no doubt some Concert Oboest out there will take me to task for reccomending a practice that is generally condemned by conventional woodwinds wisdom - but it works for me! In the Summer I have been know to lay my well oiled fife on some paper towels (to sop up the excess) on the dashboard of my van and give it a good solar baking to drive the oil even deeper into the grain. On my "Sweetheart" Bb Military Fife, if it drys out too much not only will it sound a little dull and "off", but hitting the high register "B" (that's as high as I go!) becomes difficult if not impossible. In my musical kit-bag I keep a little plastic squeeze-bottle (recycled; came with dishwasher drying agent) of mineral oil, and another of dark sesame seed oil to assure that my fifes stay regularly lubed up. A section of shotgun cleaning - rod tipped with a .410 or 28-guage shotgun bore swab (depending on the instrument's bore) keeps the bore oiled as well. Sometimes I stick the oily swab down into the breech end as far as the cork (carefully so as not to knock it sharp), unscrew the rod from it and store it right in there. There is usually room for a bottle cork to stop the end if you like, corking the swab right in there ready for the next greasing, and the oily swab does not get oil all over my kit-bag (and stuff therein, like sheet music) when the rod is stowed. Some old wooden shotgun rods come in short sections which can be taken down into a couple of pieces and stowed in a haversack while on parade, etc.. - these also come in handy if you need to re-tune somewhere along the way. For people to say that wooden flutes etc. should only be "lightly" oiled, I have this retort; What is one of the most popular kinds of hard, dense, resonant exotic wood for building wind - driven musical instruments? Ebony, right? It seems that ebony is getting so scarce and expensive that it's classified as a "semi-precious wood" these days, if not an "Endangered Species" and like ivory, verboten to use after a certain date. Does anyone know about that? Anyway...; do you know how ebony is prepared for market? From what the Sawyers at our local exotic-wood Supplier tells me (I pop in to scrounge scraps and cutoffs from time to time), they haul the cut ebony trunk in, rough-saw it into beams about the size of railroad ties, and submerge them "racked - up" in big vats set into the ground underneath the surface of a pool of - OIL!!! Nice black, crude, tarry oil. Apparently they are not above using used motor oil for the job, in a pinch. Then they leave them in there for several YEARS to soak up all the oil they can, to the point of total saturation, before moving on for export and processing. Might that suggest anything about how much oil you might want to annoint your wooden flute, fife, or (as far as I know) recorder with? I rather opine that it does, actually! Let us know how much of a difference it makes, won't you? |
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03 Aug 03 - 09:46 AM (#995890) Subject: RE: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: *daylia* Hi Nathalie -- here's a link to Odell Borg's High Spirits Flutes, makers of high quality Native American style instruments. Don't know what "genre" of flute is your preference, but if you click on the model names you can hear these instruments -- I think they are fantastic. I just bought a nearly-new Kestrel at a great price from an American friend of mine, it should be arriving in a few days, and I can hardly wait! I've been learning to play the penny whistle over the last few weeks, using it to help me with the cravings as I'm trying to quit smoking (again). Aug 27 -- the New Moon -- is my target date for throwing the cigarettes away completely, and I sure hope the Kestrel arrives by then! If I could learn to play it like the demos at the site I gave you, it'll sure beat the sound of my cheap little penny whistle! Uncle Jaque, thank you so much for all your info about the "care and feeding" of a wooden flute. I'm copying your posts out now -- should prove very useful! daylia |
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04 Aug 03 - 12:40 AM (#996228) Subject: RE: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: Uncle Jaque My pleasure Dayliah! Here's a link for you to check out while you are going through withdrawal, to provide, perhaps, some alternative focus: THE CHIFF and FIPPLE Which will address about any furthur questions you might have about whistles! Here's one about Irish Flutes: R. Greenway's Irish Flute Page And flutes in general: MARK SHEPARD'S FLUTE Page There are others I have on file for Native American Flutes, making your own whistle or flute etc., or surf & seach; there are some doozies out there! A lot of the AN "Love Flutes" are on a pentatonic scale, with 5 holes or some other odd number. Some have a hole on the back like a recorder or pipe chanter, and the fingering is not at all like a pennywhistle or fife. Our Daughter has one we made, which sounds great - but darned if I can play much of anything I know on it! It lends itself well to "ad libbing", which I guess is how they are often used - playing spontanously "as the Spirit leads". As an aside; (and this may be terribly sexist, for which I mean no offense) - I personally find that there is little that can instantly transform an otherwise attractive, beautiful - even gorgeous Lady into a repulsive and repellant creature, and that is a smouldering cigarette dangling out of her mouth. Chewing a wad of gum the size of a tennis ball or prominently displaying grotesque tattoos will do it for me too. Don't know if other fellows feel this way or not, but I rather suspect that some might. Irregardless, I have no doubt that your beauty will shine forth in renewed, radiant abundance while playing the old Indian "Love Flute" - much more so than while enslaved to nicotine! This may represent a significant transition in your life - who knows? Enjoy! };^)~ UJ |
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04 Aug 03 - 01:59 AM (#996238) Subject: RE: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: Musique174 Its Nathalie. What I mean by "BROKEN" I mean, gone and will never come back to life. No it wasn't trampled or burned, it was stolen to be exact. I am looking for a good one peice wooden bore flute, keyless, preferably in the key of G, and in the price range of $50, because thats whatI originally paid for it. A fellow musician who has one of Jacob's flutes told me that its "Jacob Slavoda" or something remotely close to that... I'm not looking for anything really fancy, just something that will make a good tone and can preferably take the abuse. ~Nat |
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04 Aug 03 - 11:43 AM (#996508) Subject: RE: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: Amos Perhaps this is the Jacob you seek. A |
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04 Aug 03 - 10:30 PM (#996809) Subject: RE: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: Uncle Jaque Gosh, Amos; I'll bet that's him indeed! If he can make a living off of selling handmade wooden flutes for $50 bucks a pop, my battered old Stetson is off to him! You will be a Daisy, Nathaile, (to coin a popular 19th Century American phrase) if you can get this fellow to make you another one for that! If he is the fellow featured on Amos' link, then it seems that he has gone on to "bigger and better things" business-wise since he made your flute! I could try to ressurect that mahogany "G" with some wood-putty/epoxy and take another crack at locating the holes if you want a real bargain - but it would probably look about as charming as the South exposure of a Northbound water-buffalo with bad acne! **{8^Q ! Hey; isn't the Planet Mars supposed to be in historical proximity to Earth about the same time as you get your flute and finally divorce the cancer-sticks? You can howl at the moon, marvel at Mars, and croon a sweet, mystical tune to the stars about midnight, when they say Mars is really gonna shine! Can't you just feel the Cosmic harmonics already? We sincerely hope that your Neighbors, if proximal to your habitation, are not prone to throwing things at Midnight Seranaders and Solar Celibrants! |
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04 Aug 03 - 11:16 PM (#996831) Subject: RE: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: *daylia* Uncle Jaque you are so very helpful and sweet too! Thank you so much -- it'll take a bit before I can digest everything that's in those great links! I'm gonna check out the Chiff and Fipple forum in more detail tomorrow. I've been having fun with the penny whistle, but I've sure heard that instrument played a LOT better than I've been able to make it sound. First time I tried to hit the upper octave I nearly broke the windows -- well, my ears anyway. Sounded like I was strangling a chicken-hawk ... A lot of the AN "Love Flutes" are on a pentatonic scale, with 5 holes or some other odd number. Some have a hole on the back like a recorder or pipe chanter, and the fingering is not at all like a pennywhistle or fife. My friend who sold me the flute told me that by moving the leather fetish on the flute, I can change it from the pentatonic scale to the full major/minor. He also explained how to get the sharps and flats, and how to get the upper octave. (Something like blow a little harder?) I printed out his instructions cuz it's useless to try to memorize all that without the flute to try it on. He also sent me a video and a fingering manual that came with the flute. It's called a "Love Flute"? Wow, he never told me THAT! Hmmmmmmm ... As an aside; (and this may be terribly sexist, for which I mean no offense) - I personally find that there is little that can instantly transform an otherwise attractive, beautiful - even gorgeous Lady into a repulsive and repellant creature, and that is a smouldering cigarette dangling out of her mouth. Chewing a wad of gum the size of a tennis ball or prominently displaying grotesque tattoos will do it for me too. Don't know if other fellows feel this way or not, but I rather suspect that some might. Well I don't think what you've said is sexist at all. I think it's the truth. I hate it when I catch a reflection of myself with a stinky ugly not to mention EXPENSIVE cigarette dangling out my mouth. It looks so tough and "hard" and that's not really how I am at all. Repulsive and repellant is right. I have to let it go, and I'm pampering myself all the way through this -- with new flutes and new music and new friends and all! Irregardless, I have no doubt that your beauty will shine forth in renewed, radiant abundance while playing the old Indian "Love Flute" - much more so than while enslaved to nicotine! You are so eloquent and such a dear, Uncle Jaque! I sure hope you're right too, because nothing feels uglier than a dragged-out nicotine fit. The penny whistle -- and a few other little "inner" tricks -- have helped out a LOT with this. I can hardly wait to get the Kestrel! Thanks again so much for your help and encouragement~! And good luck with finding Jacob, Nathalie! daylia |
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04 Aug 03 - 11:43 PM (#996839) Subject: RE: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: GUEST,.gargoyle If it is chimes - I believe .... the Jacob you seek is in Israel ... he uses a pentatonic scale.
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04 Aug 03 - 11:46 PM (#996842) Subject: RE: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: GUEST Don't you love these threads from GUEST poster who check-in, make-a-request, and disappear never to return......BUT they point to URL's you have visited lately? DhuuuuhDa, DhuuuuuDa, DhuuuuuDa.
Sincerely, |
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05 Aug 03 - 01:04 AM (#996877) Subject: RE: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: JohnInKansas The NA "Love Flute" tradition requires that the young (male, usually) suitor make his own flute. Tuning to any scale is not generally attempted. The notes produced are "whatever happens" with the holes the builder makes. The suitor then composes his own "love song" using whatever tones his individual flute can produce - and hopefully impresses the object of his courtship sufficiently to induce her to run off to his tepee and become his mate. The courting tunes created in the traditional manner are unique to each player and his own unique instrument, and cannot generally be played "authentically" on a typical "westernized" instrument with a uniform (pentatonic, or otherwise) scale. Similarly, the authentic NA "Love Flute" can not generally be used to play "the tunes we know" satisfactorily. Aside from the courtship thing, some NA Shamans use flute music in ritual - and again, compose unique "tunes" suited to their individual, unique instrument. The Shaman did not play "Turkey in the Straw" at my wedding ceremony (although that may be what the goat and rooster were singing in the background). Some makers have attempted to adapt the "primitive" construction of the traditional NA flutes to instruments with more-or-less "westernized" scales. My own feeling is that anyone who wants to play "westernized tunes" would be better off with a nice Irish flute. My native friends are somewhat divided on whether the "commercial" Love Flutes show respect and appreciation for native traditions, or are a rip-off and "callous bastardization" of their traditions. Respect for the tradition would not try to force western scales from an authentic instrument - IMHO. John |
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05 Aug 03 - 07:43 AM (#996997) Subject: RE: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: *daylia* Hi John -- thanks for those interesting stories about the "love flutes"! If making an instrument and composing your own original tune on it was still a prerequisite to marriage, I bet there'd be far fewer divorces these days! A lot of "hearty" effort, creativity and devotion would be required of the male, instead of just having enough $ in his wallet to buy a ring. Regarding " My native friends are somewhat divided on whether the "commercial" Love Flutes show respect and appreciation for native traditions, or are a rip-off and "callous bastardization" of their traditions. Respect for the tradition would not try to force western scales from an authentic instrument - IMHO." Well, I understand the angst some people feel about the "bastardization" of tradition, but I don't think it's very productive to get upset about the natural "evolution" of this or any other instrument. WHen cultures mix these things are bound to happen. I wonder if the Spanish feel the same way about the electric guitar and Jimi Hendrix?? Meanwhile, I am not going to let other people's "issues" stop me from enjoying my new flute, or from playing whatever I care to on it when it arrives -- from Amazing Grace to eagle-calls! (Actually, I'll be pleased if I can just produce a few tolerable notes!) Yours musically --- daylia |
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05 Dec 03 - 10:04 AM (#1066052) Subject: RE: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: GUEST,Mato Nupai The courting tunes created in the traditional manner are unique to each player and his own unique instrument, and cannot generally be played "authentically" on a typical "westernized" instrument with a uniform (pentatonic, or otherwise) scale. Similarly, the authentic NA "Love Flute" can not generally be used to play "the tunes we know" satisfactorily. Aside from the courtship thing, some NA Shamans use flute music in ritual - and again, compose unique "tunes" suited to their individual, unique instrument. The Shaman did not play "Turkey in the Straw" at my wedding ceremony (although that may be what the goat and rooster were singing in the background). ----- Ahem: Where did you get your information about Native American flutes? The Native American flute was used for all kinds of purposes. Some WERE used for courting. Some WERE used by Shamans. SOME were specially decorated with a totem animal, and used in ceremony to honor that totem animal SOME were used by people just because they enjoy playing the flute. If someone buys a NA flute, and wants to use the flute to play the song Turkey In the Straw, Amazing Grace, Greensleeves, etc. It is none of your or my business. No matter whether they are playing tunes from the heart as the Native Americans did; the person is STILL using their breath of life to create music and lift the mood. Two Bears |
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05 Dec 03 - 09:52 PM (#1066482) Subject: RE: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: Melani Amos, the Jacob you linked to most certainly used to sell at Northern, but he seems to only have windchimes. I have a black bamboo flute I got at Northern a few years earlier, but I'm not sure if that's the same guy. If so, he doesn't seem to be making flutes now. |
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06 Dec 03 - 09:50 AM (#1066660) Subject: RE: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: GUEST,Sarah the Flute on a different computer If you want an indestructable flute that is easy to play and available in a variety of keys I would recommend the M&E polymer flute made by Michael Cronnolly 100%. I bought one and asked him to fit keys and it only took a week to arrive. It's got a brilliant tone and being resin it won't crack or get upset in climate changes or if it gets dropped etc etc. I bought it as a replacement while my old wooden flute is being repaired and I am thrilled with it. Havn't stopped playing it! Sarah |
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06 Dec 03 - 11:46 AM (#1066719) Subject: RE: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: GUEST I make plastic flutes in G and D - 2 piece same top part. They sound fine, and compare very well with the sound of the flutes I used hear in my teen years - thats way before the Chieftains arrived. Then there would be dozens of them about our house - an Irtrad lunatic asylum - and at the time I used run a mile to get away from it. Later my pennywhistle pretty beat up I decided to get a tootler. The price about made me fall through the floor - there used be a black ebony two piece in the cupboard of my parents house for decades, and as I recall instruments would manya time be traded for half a weeks wages - today 150 maybe. So instead of throwing more money away I decided to make one out of waste pipe. It was horrible and I had to remake it several times but in the end I had a low Bb that sounded very nice but was real slow I lager graduated to finer things.. Price umm around the 47 buck range for the G and the combo would be close to 100 - combos have both the G and D stick so are real neat for the beginner who wants to ease into mainstream Irtrad. The sound is about the same as the ebony flute but IT MUST NOT be oiled or messed with. In fact just rinsing these instruments with water is more than enough. |
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04 Aug 17 - 06:22 AM (#3869872) Subject: RE: Jacob's Wooden Flutes From: GUEST,Ellen It sounds like you are looking for Jacob Sokoloff. We have some of his G & D wooden flutes. They are amazing. We have one that is 20 years old and still plays beautifully. You can find him thru www.jacobschimes.com The flutes are not listed here, just his chimes. You could ask him about the flutes if you contacted him directly. |