New Materials for Folk Flutes, and My Terracotta Recorder
by Howard Fosdick © FolkFluteWorld.com
Ever heard of a terracotta recorder? Or a recorder made of any kind of baked clay or ceramic?
They're incredibly rare. But I can attest that they do exist. As the above photo shows, I own one.
The instrument has different tonal qualities than other recorders. It voices a softer, sweeter sound than many.
Which set me to thinking... what other materials might be useful for making folk flutes?
How about a recorder made from metal, like a tin whistle or concert flute? How about a baked-clay penny whistle? Or what about a carbon fiber Native American flute?
Would any of these materials offer unique sounds or other benefits?
This article explores this idea of innovative materials. But first, I'll describe my terracotta flute. It serves both as an exemplar of the possibilities, as well as a musical instrument of interest in its own right.
The Terracotta Recorder
The above photo shows how this recorder looks. The instrument features an intricate, hand-crafted design in the clay, adorned by a fourteen small stones. The stones are not precious but they certainly are colorful. To my untrained eye, some appear to be black obsidian, quartz, jasper, and tigers eye.
The recorder is a standard C soprano with German fingering. It disassembles into three parts, as this photo shows.
This photograph lets you can see the color of the underlying clay. It's pinkish tan, which is why I call it terracotta. But for all I know, it could be some other sort of clay or ceramic fired at a higher temperature. As with identifying the stones, I'm sure an expert could tell better than I exactly what sort of clay was used and how it was hardened.
I wish I knew who made this recorder, and when and where. The instrument has no identifying marks of any kind, indicating that it was probably made by individual craftsmen.
All I know about its origins is that I bought it at a street fair in Chicago from a group of Spanish speakers. They told me it was handcrafted in Peru. They said they were Peruvians who were roving between summer fairs in the U.S., selling their wares along the way, and going home at season's end.
Playability
The recorder pitches notes as accurately as any I've played. As is typical with German fingering, one must always breathe accurately to pitch low C.
Like all German-fingered sopranos, it is relatively soft-spoken. I can play a full two octaves with it, which is about what I attain on my other recorders (I'd call myself an experienced amateur.) The instrument has a beautiful mellow voice.
Sound
Click on the photo of the UK's Cleveland Hills to hear a sound sample. It's a recording of Cleveland Hills, an original composition by Geoff Walker. (The sample has not been audio-enhanced in any way.)
Can you hear how the choice of ceramic subtly influences the instrument's tonal quality? It lacks the power or edge one hears from many sopranos; it sounds softer and more rounded on the extended notes.
How much of this results from the clay, and how much from the German fingering scheme, is hard to tell. Having played many different recorders over the years, I do believe the terracotta affects the sound.
While the instrument is made from clay, like many ocarinas, I find it accumulates less moisture than they do. This may be due to the fact that this is an open-ended flute, with an exit for one's breath to blow out. In contrast, ocarinas tend to trap moisture inside their enclosed chamber.
Clay weights a bit more than my wood recorders, but not so much that you notice it when you play it. My wood sopranos range from 3.2 ounces up to 3.9. The clay recorder taps in a 6.0 oz, a bit less than twice the weight of the wood instruments.
The cost of my clay recorder was about the same as many common plastic or wood recorders. It cost $20 USD in 2000, which due to inflation, is the equivalent of $36 USD today.
New Materials for Folk Flutes
This oddity -- a clay recorder -- got me to thinking about the different materials used in making folk flutes. I researched the web and this is what I learned.
Recorders -- nearly always manufactured from plastic or various woods. One big debate among enthusiasts concerns whether wood or plastic is superior. Another centers on which wood is best. (The choice of wood means little to most of us hobbyists but is very important to serious musicians.)
My terracotta recorder is an anomaly. While there must be others beyond the one I own, I've never seen another, nor has anyone else ever told me that they've seen one. Even web posts haven't yielded any sightings.
Ocarinas -- typically ceramic. Plastic is popular, too, of course. There are even some wood oc's, though they're rather uncommon. And there have been some metal oc's made over the years, most of which died out as historical flukes. (You can get an idea of the rich variety of oc's over at Jack Campin's ocarina photo gallery).
Ocarinists mainly differ over whether they prefer ceramic or plastic.
Tin whistles (aka penny whistles) -- made from various metals, plastic, or wood. I've never heard of a clay one. Discussion about materials often centers on which metal one prefers.
Native American flutes -- traditionally wood, but some plastic models exist. Musicians primarily differ about which wood they prefer.
Irish and Indian flutes -- nearly always wood. As with recorders and Native American flutes, aficionados often focus on which woods are superior.
This chart summarizes which materials are commonly used for folk flutes:
What the chart points out is that there may be opportunities to make traditional folk flutes from new or different materials.
There may be room for further exploring some rarely used materials, such as metal for recorders or ocarinas. Or perhaps carbon fiber will become more popular for all kinds of folk flutes. Let's discuss a few of the possibilities ...
The Clay Recorder
The proof-of-concept for this idea is my clay recorder. Given its musical qualities, I'm surprised an ocarina maker hasn't extended their business into this opportunity. It would certainly be as easy and as inexpensive to make as ocarinas.
As I'm quite pleased with my clay recorder, I believe there would be a good market for these.
The Metal Recorder
The chart highlights the metal recorder as another possibility. It might sound brighter, handle condensation differently, and have other interesting characteristics. (On the downside, it might also be more challenging to manufacture.)
There have certainly been a few metal recorders made for experimental purposes, but very few sold to the public. One model that actually sold some fifty years ago was the Silberton model descant from Hopf. Their instrument was developed in the early 1970s by Gyula Foky-Gruber in Vienna, Austria. It was made of nickel-plated brass and weighed so much it included a thumb rest.
Not many could have been made as they rarely pop up for sale. Needless to say, they go for a premium price. You can hear what it sounds like in this forum thread.
There have also been experimental attempts in metal recorders by Moeck, Koszmosz, and perhaps others. If someone could come up with a well-designed instrument at a reasonable price, this might be a opportunity to commericialize new territory. I'd argue it would have to retail for under $100 to garner mass sales.
Foky-Gruber Playing His Metal Recorder (Courtesy of an old brochure)
Native American Flutes
Given the history and culture surrounding the Native American flute, I imagine many would consider it anathema to make one from metal, clay, or carbon fiber. After all, natural wood underlies the instrument's soulful, haunting sound. For many, that's the essence of the instrument.
But who knows? It would be fascinating just to see what experimentation with avant garde materials might yield.
The Clay Penny Whistle
Another interesting possibility is the ceramic penny whistle. Here, we might have a real winner.
Based on my experience with a clay recorder, I very much like this idea. Ceramic could dramatically alter the texture of the sound compared to the traditional metal. It might provide a softer, more pure, mellow tone, while avoiding the breathiness of many wood whistles. I imagine that it would be as easy to manufacture as ceramic ocarinas.
Carbon fiber whistles appear to be becoming ever more popular. Anybody willing to give it a go in ceramic?
Carbon Fiber Folk Flutes
In my research, I found carbon fiber examples of recorders, ocarinas, tin whistles, Native American flutes, Irish flutes, Indian flutes, and tabor pipes. These instruments are not particularly common but are being produced by various makers.
A company called Carbony Celtic Winds makes several of them. You can visit their website to see their current offerings.
I enjoyed discovering how carbon fiber flutes sound. Here are a few sound samples.
- Penny Whistle by Erik the Flutemaker reviewed by CutiePie
- Carbony Penny Whistle reviewed by CutiePie
- A Low D Penny Whistle by deQuelery of the Netherlands
The future looks bright for carbon fiber folk flutes. Already it's become a popular material for penny whistles and Irish flutes.
To learn more about the advantages of carbon fiber, click to watch this useful tutorial video from Vāyū Flute:
Conclusions
My rare clay recorder proves that there may be opportunities to make folk flutes from non-traditional materials. And that these experiments might offer worthwhile benefits.
I would love to try a clay penny whistle. The difference in tonal qualities to metal might be striking.
Similarly, I think metal might underlie an interesting development in recorders. A sharper, brighter sound could provide an interesting contrast to traditional wood, if it could be offered at reasonable cost.
Carbon fiber offers some unusual properties. It's already popular for penny whistles and Irish flutes. We're just beginning to learn how it might apply to other kinds of folk flute.
What do you think? Drop me a line if you know of unusual or non-traditional materials already used in making folk flutes, or if you know about materials or instruments I've overlooked.