Fallenbranch branch flute G by Ozarkguru

John Suttles is a native to Southwest Missouri, and is retired, and able to devote a large amount of energy to his favorite craft - flutemaking. He started making river cane flutes, and moved on to make wood flutes. He has much experience in making the 1 piece bored and turned flute. He also makes branch flutes, 2 piece, hand gouged. John likes to use "recovered" dead wood of the local region, as he feels a living tree or limb should not be killed to make a flute, rather bring a dead piece of wood back to like as a flute, thus restoring the spirit of the piece of wood. John is of "mixed blood" part white, part Cherokee, and is proud and respects the heritage he receives from his early settler, and native American ancestors. He comes from a long line of hand crafters. He has exceptional skill at tuning flutes of many configurations, and does much prototyping of flute designs, both for himself and others, when requested. He is often referred to as "Ozarkguru" among the flute community.

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While Dale is moving, and setting up his new shop, I will be offering some branch flutes for your bidding. Dale will soon be back to making and offering his wonderful creations. In the meantime, I will offer a variety of my flutes, wood and stalk plant flutes. Some, will be rather different from what I normally offer, and some will be what you have come to expect from the Fallenbranch flutemakers.

This flute is a beautiful, yet exotic looking and playing flute. It has simple clean looks, with a very slight curvature. It is a small branch of our Ozark red cedar, well seasoned with no flaws. It is made and tuned to mid G, modes 1 & 4. It is NOT concert tuned. So, let's call it grandfather tuned. I liked the raw tuning so well, I simply could not change its wonderful voice. So, it is a solo flute. It is flat of mid G, but sharper than F#. It plays softly or boldly, however you wish to play. It is 19" long, with 6 equally spaced and sized finger holes. The spacing is 1 1/8" apart, and all sized to 1/4" diameter. I have slightly countersunk the finger holes to allow instant sealing of the notes, allowing a very quick responsiveness. If you prefer concert tuning, I will be offering some shortly, so keep a watch for them.

John

We like branch flutes because they are always unique, in their sound, appearance and spirit... With one of these flutes, you are more closer to earth and the gifts it provides to you, more happy to make music and express yourself...You feel the spirit of the tree.

Wood

We use only local woods, trying to gather branch fallen from the tree, given to us by mother nature. We don't cut living wood. We take care as much as possible, to keep the branch shape and aspect, just adding some work with our hands and tools , giving it the chance to live again.

Construction and finishes

Our flutes are made with hand tools , from start to finish, and they show it. We split the wood and gouge the bore by hand, we shape the flute using knives, rasp and files, trying to avoid electrical devices during our work , to stay free to create or feel what we do...We take as much time as needed for each flute. Every flute takes at least two days to be made. We take care to keep the wood as natural as possible, thus using only natural finishes. Usually our flutes are sealed inside with oil (for the soft woods which draw moisture), and with a harder product for hard woods. Outside, we use oil, shellac and waxes. We like our flutes to be safe and stay as close as possible to the branch given by mother nature.

Sound

Each branch flute has is own sound and spirit...So it's difficult to define how a fallen branch flute sings...Some flutes play with a loud voice, other need just a baby breath to come to life. Some have big holes, and other smaller ones. Some are made in the woodlands style, and other in the plains style. Some have a round sound hole, other a square...In other words, each flute is truly unique, with its own voice, and needs to bond with its' owner...
On the other hand, speaking of "sound quality", our branch flutes sound as good as a "regular" one...We take care of the sound holes and tuning to get the best result, and conform to the music standards...There is no difference during the sound making process, except our branch flutes need more care and time, because they are made only by hand. If you need a sound file, just ask us by email, we'll be very happy to send you a scale sample of the flute you wish.

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A PROUD MEMBER OF THE FALLEN BRANCH TRIBE

The Fallen Branch tribe is a group of flutemakers and artists , trying to work with their spirit...We are making above all, native style flutes, but also walking sticks, drums, drawings, paintings and other crafts.

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"All begins with a fallen branch , given to us by mother earth...It's the most important. After, we just have to reveal the flute inside."