So, I think that I am the first one on the US tour. I received two open whistles in the mail about a week ago. I looked at these whistles because I have a quena, a xio(sp), a shakuhachi (well more than a few), and anasazi (rim blown flutes). So, the open part of the whistle intrigued me.

First, the gauge of the metal (not sure what metal it is) is very nice and solid. I was worried about the part that sticks between your chin and bottom lip (you have to make a seal) would irritate or even cut your skin. Well, that isn't an issue.

The flutes were well finished. No tool marks. There were rings that were cut into the flutes. Like burn rings in NAF flutes. Very nicely done.

I did some measurements as well. The emb is U shaped. More like the xio that I have. Certainly not shak or rim blown. Quena's that I have seen are V or some U shaped. I measured one at 11mm wide and 10 mm long. The other was larger and made the total length longer and the hole spacing different and the holes larger especially in r1,r2,and r3.

The sounding length was 540 mm with an ID of 20 mm and 2mm thick walls.

As for the holes and spacing, you would need piper's grip or pinky for r3. r2-r3 was 42 mm. The other whistle appear much more. Thus, with my small hands, I did not do much with it.

I put the whistle on the tuner and it was in tune and with itself. As with the flute, emb is crutial. In addition, the seal and techniques with rim blown,shack, and quena techniques are critical.


The hole sizes.
L1 11mm
L2 9mm
L3 9 mm

R1 8mm
R2 11mm
R3 8mm

I will be sending the flutes to the next person in the next few days.

Thanks for the report. Since you also play quena, I'm curious how long you think it'd take for someone who has never played flute or quena to learn the embouchure and get a good sound out of it?

How did it compare to your quenas?

You are welcome. The key for the emb will be the seal first. Then, the emb is crutial. It took me about 3 months. I bet with a teacher. It would take less. I learned alot from a teacher about a flute. But, my work with shak, rim blown and quena helped me with the flute. With the flute, I did not have to make the same kind of seal as with the quena, etal.

Hard to compare with my quena. My quena is a higher key. I think a lower key is a different term. My spelling is horrible. So, I won't even try. My quena has a thumb hole. Makes the upper register easier. With this whistle, the challenge in the second register is the same as with a flute (my humble opinion). But, the tone of this whistle is very nice. I did not push into the second register. I think others will be a better judge for that than me.

Can you bend the notes with the angle of the flute and vary the sound like a shakuhachi?

I did not try that. The thought occured to me. Sorry.

ps. the whistles are on their way to the next member on the list. Mailed today.

Clarification,
For a nice sound, the tongue behind the lower lip is very important. Otherwise, you will have problems to play the two octaves and more.

I'm trying to make one out of PVC but it's very difficult to make a sound. Can someone explain how to make the notch? I'm not sure how wide and how deep and if I should bevel it.

Google is your friend.

That was really helpful. Thank you.

A Cunparis,
Moi aussi, j'ai commencé avec des tubes en PVC. Pour que ça fonctionne bien, tu dois prendre un tube d'une épaisseur de 1 mm, ensuite l'encoche doit être en demi-cercle avec une profondeur de 10 mm (quelque soit la largeur). Pas besoin de biseau, un léger ponçage sur les bords de l'encoche et c'est tout. Comme je le disais plus haut dans les messages, c'est la manière de souffler qui importe le plus.
Pour avoir plus de puissance, l'énergie du souffle ne doit pas être absorbé par le corps de la flute, c'est pourquoi je suis passé à l'aluminium d'une épaisseur de 2 mm.

[Translation: I also began with PVC tubes. For that to work well, start with a tube of 1 mm thickness. Then the notch should be semi-circular with a depth of 10 mm (whatever the width). No need for beveling. Lightly sand the edges of the notch, and that's it. As I said to you in my above post, the blowing technique is what matters the most. For more power, the energy of the breath must not be absorbed by the body of the flute. That is why I switched to 2 mm aluminum tubing. - MTGuru]

... (whatever the width)

I measured one at 11mm wide and 10 mm long. The depth was 10 mm and the width was 11mm. Hope this helps.

Did not know that. Thanks for the tip. I wonder if this applies to shak and rim blown. I am going to try it. I always pushed my tongue to create an initial seal. Do you leave the tongue in this position?

I play Shakuhachi and I would say not. For me most of the work is in the tension and shape of the lips. With my tongue I work on getting the rear of it out of the way to create a more resonant mouth/air chamber (what my teacher taught me...). But try it and see what happens. I believe Eric says on his site that the technique is more transverse flute-like...but try it and tell what happens...

I am going to try it on a quena style, a rim blown and a shak. I have a tendency to agree with you about the shak.

Thanks for your input.