New to music and need help from experienced flute players

[Mohsen]

Hey everyone.
Ive never played any instrument before and I would really appreciate it if you could find it in your time to help me with what i'm looking for.
Basically, i'm very new to the idea of learning how to play any instrument, never mind a wind instrument.

What got me interested into the idea is the episodes 213-215 of Naruto, where a guy called Menma plays an ocarina every now and again.
I have to say that that is one of the most beautiful things i've ever heard and it got me well interested in wind instruments.
The song is "Loneliness" on the naruto soundtrack and here is a link of a video including it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik8uPUs2AqE
Basically, I want a wind instrument that produces the exact kind of sound as is played in the anime linked above.

I did a fair search on ocarinas and did not find the sounds i was looking for. I listened to quite a lot and to be honest I didnt like most of what I heard.
Im pretty sure I wont find the sound im looking for in any ocarina, so i'm pretty sure that there is a flute that makes the exact sound.

I emailed Erik the flutemaker with my query, and he personally recommended the A bamboo penny whistle he makes. He said he managed to play along to the Naruto tune with it.
http://www.eriktheflutemaker.com/Pennywhistles.htm

What do you guys think? =)
I would love any form of input and really appreciate your time put into reading this.
Can you help me pinpoint what I want?

Mohsen

[FluteDude]

You'll not achieve the exact same sound.
But you can get fairly close to it.

[MTGuru]

Sounds like either a shakuhachi, or an alto recorder played like a shakuhachi. With lots of reverb and DSP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakuhachi

[Mohsen]

The same guy (erik the flute maker) also does his version of the shakuhachi: http://www.eriktheflutemaker.com/Oriental_good.htm

What do you make of it?
I was surprised he suggested the bamboo penny whistle instead of his shakuhachi.

I was kind of willing to go forth with his recomendation, but I thought i'd ask the flute guys round here.

[Tim2723]

Hi Mohsen and welcome,

As the others have said, you might get something close to that sound, but you won't completely achieve it with any flute. What you're hearing on the anime soundtracks is fully synthesized. It's actually a combination of synthetic flute sounds that are heavily processed with special effects like reverberation and echo. Consequently, it's a sound that can't exist outside of a computer. The relationship with the ocarina is a simple one. The Zelda game producers noticed that the buttons of the game controller resembled the finger holes of an ocarina, so they wrote Ocarina of Time around that. In the game, you move from level to level by mastering songs using your controller like an ocarina. It's pretty cool. A number of ocarina manufacturers are producing 'Zelda models'. These have given rise to a new interest in the ocarina, and anyone who learns all the songs from the Zelda series is given demigod status among the gamers. But even a Zelda model ocarina won't provide the sound on the game or the soundtrack of the anime.

I'm familiar with Erik's work. He makes nice bamboo flutes of all kinds.

[mutepointe]

Here's my two cents. I'm an amateur who plays for fun. I'm also not into Irish Traditional Music. I just happen to like the sounds of the instruments which is what brought me to the website. The people are what got me to stay.

Different materials make different sounds. I think bamboo gets the best "haunting sound". Erik probably chose the whistle because it's one of the easier instruments to learn to play. It transfer to other instruments too, including the flute, so it's a gateway instrument. Step 1, learn the fingering on the whistle. Step 2, learn how to make a flute sound. If a person jumps right into the flute, they have to learn both things at once and the rewards are longer coming. He chose an "A" because it's a midrange whistle. Not too high that people will find it annoyingly shrill while you are learning and not too low that the finger stretch between the holes will be too much of a challenge.

Lots of music you hear on the internet is going to be torqued with reverb and stuff. Even what you hear youself playing is slightly different from what other people are hearing you play. How you sound in a wide open space and how you sound in a cave or stairwell are immensely different. You will die of pleasure when you hear yourself play in a stairwell.

Quit fussing over which instrument to start with and buy an instrument already. A bamboo whistle is not that big an investment compared to other instruments. You can always buy a flute or an ocarina later once you master this one instrument. Mastering more than one instrument is easier than it sounds (no kidding) but remember that the left-hand goes on top if you're going to master more than one instrument. About 7 years ago, I bought a whistle. I now own and play more whistles, a low whistle, a simple flute, a silver flute, 2 types of fifes, an ocarina, and a concertina. I even made a couple PVC flutes but I gave them away. I know a guy who has a complete workshop with drill press so I plan to make some more again.

Take that first step. Please let us know how it goes.

[Mohsen]

AWSOME REPLIES!!!

Thanks for all that.
Lol, I needed that much info to be honest. I feel comfortable now.
Really, really thanks loads people.
Much appreciated.

With the awsomesauce info provided, I think i'll probably go ahead with the bamboo penny whistle.
It sounds fantastic. I'm just gonna listen through all of eriks instruments again, and i'll hopefully order soon.