Making A Flute
Counsellor and Cultural Advisor, David Rattray, from northern BC,
Canada, recently offered a flute-making workshop to teachers at the Mighty Peace Teachers' Convention in Grande Prairie.
NANA's Janina Carlstad, was excited to be one of the participants!
David provided routed blanks of cedar for G minor flutes and drones.
A variety of birds were available for application to the flutes. A lot of pre-workshop prepping was done by David so
that participants could experience the success of finishing their flutes by the end of the one day workshop.
David's students (us) were instructed to sand the flutes, carefully
notch out sound holes, glue the halves of the flutes together, drill finger holes, prepare the bird, and shape and sand
our new flutes!
It was a tremendous experience to learn how these amazing instruments operate from the "inside
out", and to be the FIRST one to breathe the voice into the newly formed flute!
Many thanks go to Mr. Rattray for an excellent cultural experience!
