Shepherd's flute
In Slovakia, the shepherd's flute is one of the most widespread traditional musical instruments. Every proper shepherd carried a flute with him. Either a holeless overtone flute, a flute with three to seven holes or a different flute. As well as other objects for daily use, the shepherds often made their own flutes, as they were very skilled and had extensive experience in preparing, processing and preserving wood, skins and other natural materials. I produce overtone flutes and six-hole shepherd's flutes.
I make the following two types of flutes
The first type is the six-hole shepherd's pipe, for which it is necessary to master playing techniques and fingering. The second type is the overtone flute which, on the other hand, does not require any special musical knowledge or experience and is ideal for instinctive, intuitive playing. Both types have in common that they are mainly made from elder wood, the six-hole shepherd's flutes I also make from ash or maple wood.
Six-hole shepherd's pipe
This flute is one of the most widespread and oldest instruments in the world. It has six tone holes and the individual tones are produced by covering the holes and by the so-called overblowing technique, i.e. by increasing the blowing power. This means that higher notes are played with the same fingering but with stronger blowing. This simple instrument therefore offers a wide range of playing possibilities, and a skilled player can play the entire chromatic scale on a six-hole shepherd's flute.
2010 - present
2010 - present
Overtone flute
The overtone flute is a simple pipe without side tone holes. Individual tones are therefore not produced by covering the side holes of the flute, but by changing the strength of the breath and air blowing. You don't need any musical knowledge, skills or experience, anyone can sound the overtone flute, and that's for the first attempt in a short while. The stronger the blowing, the higher the tone. By carefully changing the strength of blowing and covering the bottom hole of the flute, even more complex melodies can be played. However, this requires some training time.