I take
great pride in my work and put a lot my own spirit and personality in to
each one of my handcrafted flutes and other wood works. I make my handcrafted
flutes of many different types of wood and each wood and flute takes on
a voice of it's own.
CKenMARK flutes
come in five or six hole styles are made using the 2 part method which requires
the bore and slow air chamber to be routed in 2 different blanks of wood
and then the 2 halves are glued together with water proof polyurethane
glue which assures a tight bond where the near invisible seams meet. Once
the glue has cured my flute bodies are shaped, then the blow hole, slow
air chamber and true sound hole are formed.
CKenMARK flutes are constructed with the flue (air stream channel) that forces the air into the true sound hole, carved into the body of the flute. This allows the totems to be interchanged with little to no change in the key or tone quality. At this point I make the decision as to what totem (often called a block or bird) I am going to use on the flute. It is my preference to tune my flute with the actual totem that will be used on the flute, however totems can be interchanged. When this step has been done I begin fine tuning the sound hole and determine what the fundamental key for the flute will be. \
CKenMARK flutes range
in many keys from a very high 'E' thru the scale to a very low
'D' including all sharps available for all
keys in between each full scale key.
My flutes all are very easy to play without over blow on the lowest note, which is with all holes covered and called the fundamental note which determines the key of the flute. Once the fundamental key is determined I tune each finger hole using a chromatic tuner to obtain a pentatonic scale which each flute will play in mode 1 and mode 4. Each CKenMARK flute will also play a full DO RE ME FA SO LA TI DO scale.
If you are requesting an exotic
type of wood, I will need to check on availability
of certain woods. Woods
I keep stocked are Eastern Aromatic Red Cedar (the most popular choice)
Walnut and Birch. I have a great resource for most types of wood so if you
have a specific type of wood in mind let me know and I will do my best to
accommodate your order.
CKenMARK has designed a backpack version of a Native
American Inspired Flute with a non-removable
block in place of a bird or totem.
These flutes are also made with the same 2 piece construction but do not have a slow air chamber, making the flutes much shorter and easier to travel if you are on the move or space is limited. These flutes are tuned in the same manner as it's full sized counter parts, and also available in all key's, wood choices and finishes. Prices are approximately $10.00 to $15.00 less than the full sized flute depending on the size and key. Please contact me for more information on this new style flute.
I offer different finishes ranging from Tung oil
(satin) finish to a high gloss Polyurethane finish. Some hardwoods such
as Purple Heart and Zebra Wood require the entire inside of the slow air
chamber and the inside of the bore to be sealed to prevent moisture from
entering the pores of the wood to prevent separation at the seams.