Awakening
 
Spring is just around the corner here in the UK and this flute is inspired by all that energy and new life just waiting to awaken!!!  On  the morning I started to create this flute I was outside and noticed that something felt different. I looked around me. On the ground everything seemed as it did the day before. Snowdrops, Crocus and Daffodils were all glowing in the morning light and the sweet smell of Spring was in the air. Still faint but delicious. The Sky was a bright blue, also as it had been the day before and always a welcome sight. What was it though that had caught my attention? I gazed off in the distance and there they were. The Trees, not as they had been the day before. They were all dancing in what felt like the slightest fo breezes. Not enough to make trees dance but dancing they all were!! Glowing as well in this glorious morning light. I called out to them. Good Morning and welcome back!!! I hope you rested well through the Winter! I could hear and feel the morning stretches and yawns of the Trees all around me. This was a moment. It was a certain moment that must happen every year but not one I had experienced and witnessed before. The time when the Trees are aroused from their winter slumber. So in honour all trees upon Mother Earth as they journey through their own cycle each year I name this flute Awakening.
 
She is in the key of A tuned to 432Hz and is 50cm (19 1/2”).  She is made of Hazel that was gifted to me by the forest here in Oxfordshire, UK. I use a combination of burning, sanding and polishing which gives each of these flutes a wonderful smooth finish and unique colour pattern. The stone inlay at the top of the flute is Turquoise which represents the bright blue sky. The Inlay further down is of Malachite which honours the Trees themselves which this flute has been inspired.  The block is made of Beech that I foraged from a forest near by and is held in place with leather lace from North American Whitetail Deer hide. Finger hole #4 is also covered with the same lace. This can be slid up and down at any time to change this flute between a 5 hole and 6 hole configuration. The lashing at each end is artificial sinew and the feathers are Buzzard and Magpie which as always were found while I am walking with Mother Nature or gifted to me by friends.
 
Find the music within yourself