This month I realized something. While I’ve tried to do a good job of paring down my flute collection, selling or gifting flutes that don’t feel just right to me, I’ve still ended up with more flutes than I ever thought I’d have.
My collection is modest compared to many other people I know with the same interest in flauting, but it’s still far more than I intended; my goal was to have one “perfect” flute that suited my needs for all circumstances…which turns out to be potentially impossible.
See, I started with the Native American style flute, but wound up with two complaints:
- range limited to ~1 octave
- can’t play long in cold weather (I play while I hike) because the flue quickly builds condensation and has to dry to sound its best.
So I started playing quenas, which solved both of these issues, and sounded beautiful…but after about two years I did grow to miss the sweet whispering tones of the native flute.
I suppose one is best for winter and the other prefers warmer days and nights, which isn’t too bad.
Anyway, as you can see the collection grew beyond one or two, and I noticed some were getting overshadowed by others. If they’re really not a good fit for me that’s fine, but it means they should be sold or traded since I don’t want a large collection personally. This led to flute of the month (FotM).
FotM was originally an idea I had for myself. The idea was to choose a single flute and play it exclusively for one month, then to switch to another for the next month and so-on. Through this I hope to learn more of the nuances of some of my less-played flutes, and maybe determine which flutes should be re-homed as well.
…but since I suspect many other flautists could enjoy such a challenge, a s could learn more about flute makers and styles through sharing in this exercise, I wanted to open it up for others to join.
I’d love to hear/see what flutes other people are choosing each month, and to learn about their experiences as they limit themselves to a single flute for a month at a time!