Flutes

Here are the flutes that Todd Green performs and records with:
* ^{= Recommended listening}

-- DOUBLE-CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE --

Bansori Flutes (India)
These are diatonic bamboo flutes built for me by an excellent flute maker in California, Jeff Whittier. As you can see, they come in a variety of sizes and can have six or seven holes. The different sizes allow you to play in diffent keys and in different ranges. Even though these are technically one-key flutes, you can play half-tones and quarter-tones by partially covering the holes with your fingers. The seven-hole flutes enable you to bend notes into the octave. The seventh hole is played with the pinkie of your right hand and is generally only used on smaller flutes. Although these are simple flutes, by rolling your fingers off the holes, you are able to bend notes like a string player. East Indian players use this technique to imitate the qualities of the human voice. All bamboo flutes in this section are wrapped with nylon cord (see close-up) and periodically oiled with mustard seed oil or walnut oil to prevent cracking.
* Hari Prasad Chaurasia, G.S. Sachdev, Steve Gorn

Dizi (Dudze) (China)

These are side-blown bamboo flutes (bottom and left side of photo), similar to the Indian Bansori flutes. They are believed to have originated in central Asia over 2000 years ago. Their characteristic sound is created by an extra hole with a very thin piece of rice paper over it, which vibrates and creates a buzzing sound.  The rice paper is affixed with "lupichao", which is donkey skin that has been cooked to a hard, brown glue (see close-up). Like on the Bansori flutes, notes can be bent by rolling the fingers off the holes.
* Pan Jing, Guo Yue

Xiao (Shao) (China)
The Xiao (right side of photo) is a traditionall end-blown.bamboo flute similar to the Japanese Shakuhatchi.. 
Hu Lu Si (China)
The Hu Lu Si(center of photo) is a dual reed instrument with the reeds inside the dried gourd body. One side plays a drone and the other plays a melody. The sound somewhat resembles a Scottish bagpipe or an Indian Shanai.

Shakuhatchi (Japan)
A traditional Japanese end-blown bamboo flute. It is believed to have originated in Egypt and to have migrated through Asia before entering Japan in the sixth century A.D. Through the centuries, it has been closely identified with Zen Buddhism. End-blown flutes are held the same way you would hold a Western Oboe or Clarinet and the sound is created by blowing over a wedge-shaped cut in the embeture. Most Shakuhatchis are five-hole flutes, creating the pentatonic scale, which is very popular in the Orient. As on other bamboo flutes, one can bend notes by rolling the fingers off the holes. The highest quality Shakuhatchis are made from the root end of the bamboo stalk, and can cost up to $2,000.
* Tadashi Tajima

South American Pan Pipes (Sikus or Zamponias)

The Andean region of South America, which includes Bolivia, Peru, Equador and Paraguay, has a long history of music played on pan pipes, dating back to the Aymara, Kechua and Inca indians. They consist of one or two rows of different lenghts of hollowed-out cane. The bottom of each cane is sealed and the player blows across the top to create the note. All of these flutes are in the key of Gmaj/Emin.
Ecka--The Ecka is the smallest pan pipe in the photo, with 14 reeds in two rows.
Malta & Zanca--These flutes on the right side of the photo have medium length pipes and can either have two rows or one long row. Semi-Toyo and Toyo--The Semi-Toyo (center of photo) and the
Toyo (top of photo) are the large base flutes. Even though they consist of two rows, they are never attached like the smaller flutes. The reason for this is that it takes a lot of air to get the notes out, so two musicians will play alternating notes to create one melody. The pipes are tied together with string or gut (see close-up.)
* Sukay, Chaskinakuy

Antara and Rondador (So. America)
The Rondador (bottom of photo) is a chordal pan pipe with the notes arranged in thirds. The Antara (top left in photo) is bi-tonal, blowing from the center to the right it's in Gmaj and blowing from the center to the left it's in Dmaj. The last flute in the photo is a single-rack Siku.

Quena and Quenacho (So. America)
The quena (center of picture) is a notched, end-blown flute, which is made out of cane, in the key of Gmaj. The Queanacho (left side of photo) is pitched lower than the Quena in the key of Dmaj. The mouthpiece can be made out of bone or wood (see close-up)
* Sukay, Chaskinakuy, Jorge Alfano

Mocseno (So. America)
The mocseno (right side of photo) is a base flute, made of bamboo, with a double pipe..

Tarkas (So. America)
The Tarkas (bottom of photo) are three primitive flutes, roughly tuned in fifths. Players will generally play two of them at the same time. Usually played with the Wancara drum.
Ocarina (So. America)
The Ocarina (round, blue flute in photo) is decended from the clay whistles of Pre-Columbian South America. The modern Ocarina can range from the very small, Sopranino to the very large Great Base. They can be in a variety of keys and be made out of wood, clay or stone. During World War II, the U.S. Government issued plastic Ocarinas as morale boosters for its soldiers.

Western Orchestral C-Flute and Alto Flute
Your standard open-hole silver flute (right side of photo) with offset G and B-foot. The Alto flute(center of photo) is pitched a fourth lower.
* Jean Pierre Rampal, James Galway, Richard Warner
Tenor and Soprano Recorders
These instruments are both C instruments, with the tenor (left side of photo) pitched an octave below the soprano (bottom of photo). A lot of music was written for recorders in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. However, I mainly use them to imitate Irish flutes in Celtic music, the Quena flute in South American Indian music and the Persian Ney flute in Middle Eastern Music.
* Marian Verbruggen, Michala Petri

Ney (Middle East)

An ancient end-blown cane flute used throughout Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and parts of NW India. It has a lovely, breathy sound. In the photo, the flute on the left is a six hole Turkish Ney. It has a flanged mouthpiece. The center flute is a six hole Arabic Ney. The flute on the right  is a Persian Ney. It has a metal mouthpiece (see close-up) which enables the player to get a third octave of notes. Traditional Persian flutes have five holes, but some modern players drill a sixth hole. This instrument is considered one of the most difficult to master.
* Ali Jihad Racy (Arabic), Hossein Omoumi (Persian), Kudsi Erguner (Turkish)

Dvoyanka (Bulgaria)
The Dvoyanka (right side of photo) is a wind instrument originating in Bulgaria. It is a simple, dual-chamber flute, with one chamber being a drone, which creates a hauntingly beautiful sound.
Satara (India)
The Satara (left side of photo) is a dual flute from Rajastan. One flute is used as a drone by filling the holes with wax. The diffuculty in playing these flutes, like the Dvoyanka, is that the drone needs to stay at the same note all the time and the melody flute will chage octaves. When changing octaves, you have to blow harder on the melody side and keep the airstream the same on the drone side.

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