Yes. Up there in the banner ad. “Fretwell Native American Flutes.”
Anyone ever seen/played/heard of these? They look pretty.
Banner ad gone…did I dream this?
If you did, we had dream synchronicity…
Ever see the Northern Exposure episode in which all the residents of Cicely, Alaska had someone else’s dreams? Typical funky NE. I loved it.
I am happy to say that it was no dream.
http://www.fretwellflutes.com/
These things sound even better than they look. 
Will O’Ban
Yep, I checked out the site too. And maybe I missed a link or something, but would a 6-holed D flute (for example) finger and play the same scale as a whistle, or are they tuned to an alternative Native Am. type of scale?
You and I are tuned into the same frequency tonight. I had intended to ask that in my earlier post.
Will O’Ban
Hey at last I can give some advice!
I own a Fretwell Native American flute. I´ve played NAF for about 5 years now and own about 20 or so. My Fretwell is one of my favorites. I have a high C purpleheart. It has the most backpressure of any NAF I own (which I like, some might not). The tuning of most NAFs is to mode 1 and 4 minor pentatonic.
My C, for example, going straight up the flute renders:
C Eflat F G A B Dflat
Many (most?) NAFs are made and most players are accustomed to learning by keeping the T3 hole covered (at least initially) so that the basic NAF scale is truly pentatonic (for a C flute, anyway):
C xxx xxx
Eflat xxx xxo
F xxx xoo
G xxx ooo
Bflat xox ooo
C oox ooo
On most NAFs you can get a chomatic scale starting on the B2 hole, so I can go from Eflat to Eflat. Total range is about an octave and a third, again depending on maker.
NAFs are great fun. I´m in the process of setting up my business now for selling them and giving workshops. Please ask if you have any questions!
Some links for more info are:
http://www.flutetree.com/
http://goss.rho.net/flute/index.htm
http://www.worldflutes.org/
Sheryl
I love the sound. Sometimes though I think there’s too much reverb. For example you go to a craft fair and someone’s playing either this or a Quena or Pan flute and they have so much reverb that you can’t really tell how the instrument would sound in your living room.
I wouldn’t mind trying one but I admit I don’t understand Native American music. My mind set is too european oriented musically.
Aye, as is mine.
Those do indeed look like nice NA flutes, although I was not able to listen to the sound clips for some reason. The mini flute looks like special fun.
I’d like to steer people to the site of a good friend of mine, Eric Marczak. Eric makes fantastic NA flutes. Although of Polish heritage, he studied flutemaking with several NA masters and is deeply steeped in that tradition. He’s a superb craftsman and musician. His website does not have info on flutes for sale, but you can find contact info there and contact him directly. His flutes are reasonably priced and are superb.
Of special appeal to people on this board is the fact that Eric will make flutes tuned either pentatonically, or diatonically like a whistle. I have a double barrelled flute of his in apricot wood. The left barrel has no fingerholes and plays as a drone, while the right barrel is just like a whistle (low F I think). I call it my bagpipe whistle! Here’s the site:
As with ITM, there is something about the NA sound that resonates well with my spirit.
Will O’Ban
There is a certain amount of “letting go” needed, especially if you´ve been classically trained. Many who play the NAF do mainly improvisation as a form of relaxation. It´s also a great instrument for those who have been musically “abused” somewhere along the line and made to feel they have no musical ability, since you can´t go wrong sticking to the basic pentatonic scale.
btw… on you can play with the basic NAF scale on the tin whistle (a D one, anyway) by only playing E G A B D E.
Sheryl
I wrote the first tune (the air) in the following recording in the minor pentatonic scale on a d whistle. I love that scale. I prefer shakuhachi over NA flute, because it has two+ octaves.
http://jessiekislin.com/music/Mary_Jane.mp3
(I wrote the second tune in a regular scale, but it has C and C#, so I’m not sure what to make of that. I recorded the tune before it was really in my fingers, and it was a few years ago - I can play significantly better now. I am posting this clip to illustrate the minor pentatonic scale as played on a whistle.)
The first tune is gorgeous.
Oh my goodness…Jessie, if you can play significantly better now, I don’t think I am EVER going to share a clip of MY playing. It’s not even a fraction of what I just heard. 
Absolutely beautiful, Jessie!
Love the air! Very nice.
Thanks, Sheryl.
Will O’Ban
Is Butch Hall (butchhallflutes.com). I have two of his, and they have a wonderful haunting quality to them.
A while back I put a couple of the tunes that I´d written originally for NA flute, on a web page here http://www.geocities.com/sheryl_coleman/ arranged for tin whistle. One day I´ll get a mic and try recording myself…not that anyone will be real impressed, but just to give you an idea of how I play them.
Sheryl