Description
Box Elder Shown, Bb Minor
Size 1″ X 27″
Audio Sample courtesy of Cornell Kinderknecht
Our Anasazi style flute, “Rainmaker”, is a reproduction of the “cave” flutes found in Northeastern Arizona on an expedition led by Earl H Morris of the Carnegie Institute of Washington in 1931. It has a Bb minor tuning as well as the artifact. His team unearthed thousands of artifacts, among them flutes constructed between 620 and 670 AD. They were later transferred from the Institute to the Arizona State Museum in Tucson in January of 1957. These flutes were made from box elder, a hardwood. They are rim blown, 6 hole, multi-octave instruments. These are very challenging instruments to learn to play, but well worth the results. Some will spend days and/or weeks getting their first sound. I think of it, however, as learning to ride a bicycle, whereby once you’ve gained the skill, you will always have it. Our reproductions are exact, true to the small 3/4″ bore, 1/8” thin wall design, built in hardwoods. I haven’t changed the tuning at all, so these are going to give you the sounds heard hundreds of years ago. The small diameter, thin wall design is very difficult for modern flute makers to build. I can only imagine the challenge the cave dwellers faced in building these flutes some 1200 years ago. Our authentic 3/4” bore and 1” diameter will fit your chin and lips better than the larger bore flutes. Also, our smaller bore flute reaches the upper octaves easier. Our authentic 1/8” thin wall has a greater resonance than the large bore flutes. We also shape our rim exactly as the artifacts were, which were a simple round shape with a gradual radius on the edge, rather than the Shakuhachi styled flat edge found on some modern flutes. This gives you a very smooth, soft, wind-free tone. My standard wood is box elder, which gives you a beautiful, durable, and sweet sounding flute.
Jeff –
I received my butch hall rainmaker today and it is amazing. Perfectly crafted and true to its origins. It has the sweetest sound in the low octaves and equally beautiful in the upper octaves. This one is a keeper for sure, great work butch hall and family!
Christian –
I own a Rainmaker of Bubinga, and it is a lovely & sweet toned instrument, which I am fully appreciating now that my skill is improving. This is not an easy flute to play, especially if like me you have never played a rim-blown flute before ! The payoff is totally worth the time in practicing – The Rainmaker’s voice calls to the core of your being and whispers of old, peaceful times. Truly a flute to sit in a quiet place and give voice to your heart. These guys are really helpful and lovely folk, when I was hoping to buy one none were available but Laura did some searching and bingo – My new companion was found 🙂
Jason –
Among my favorite styles of flutes are the rim-blown’s. This is a fantastic instrument which is beautifully crafted and plays both sweetly and darkly. Simply out, I could not be happier with this sonic treasure.
Peter Phippen –
A really amazing instrument that can be played with three styles of embouchure. Shakuhachi style, oblique or inter dental … Sounds wonderful all three ways.
Joseph McConnell –
This flute—a birthday present—is my first flute from Butch Hall. After Googling pictures of ash wood and canary wood to compare, I decided to choose ash wood, and, upon opening the package, was blown away by look of the the flute. The flute also included a beautifully-designed fleece bag that I had not expected to get. After repeatedly practicing day after day, I was finally able to get a decent sound out of the flute, and after a little over a month, I am now able to play the flute with decent skill. The skill level of this flute, as others have stated here, is truly difficult, but once you get past the difficulty, the playing experience is truly rewarding. As a caution, the spacing of the flute holes (six in total) can be a bit apart, so there may be a little stretching of the fingers to play (the sixth hole, in my case). Otherwise, I have no complaints about this flute. Thank you, Butch Hall, for making this wonderful and unique instrument!
Stephen Kusch –
The Rainmaker has become one of my favorite flutes to play (the other being a Butch Hall F# m flute). I have not had success playing it “shakuhachi style”, but the oblique method works beautifully, and when I get the embouchure just right, the flute seems to come alive in my hands (i.e. I feel a vibration). The low and middle octaves are easy (of course, after practice!), and with a little overblowing I can play about half of a higher octave. By starting one note up from the root note, or higher, you can produce really interesting scales or modes. It is a wonderful flute for playing really free, meditative improvisations.