- Hand Made Ira Cuthair "Ute" Replica of circa mid 1900's Courting Flute. Key of Bass C#4. Ira Cuthair was Southern Ute and one of the last of the traditional flute makers. His flutes are becoming highly collectable. Length of 25 3/4" with 1" diameter bore. Body of the flute has been left the natural wood color with hand painted symbols similar to the original flute. Has 6 finger holes and the tuning is minor pentatonic. It is a great sounding Bass flute with a mellow tone. Ira's original flutes are beautiful, but are known to have "indifferent" tuning. I did not know any dimensions of the original flute, so I decided to make it a Bass C#4 key. Bass flutes are not as common as mid range flutes. Has hand rubbed satin shellac finish. Made from Aspen with white leather bindings to match the bindings of the original flute. I re-created the unusual block/fetish that has a long chimney, as seen on the original flute. If you don't have any replicas in your collection you are missing out. They look, play, and sound amazing.
- All my flutes are hand made and one of a kind. I use only traditional woods in the construction of my replicas. Native Americans used woods like Pine, Cedar, Aspen, and Redwood because they were softwoods and easier to hand carve. I use the same woods. I research antique Plains Style Native American flutes in museums and private collections. Replicas are a real challenge to build as I usually have limited information about each flute. Most times I may know only the length or key or only have photos, but rarely do I have more than this to go on. Because of this limitation, I make my replicas as close to the original flute as I can, but they are rarely an exact replica. I call it "creating the flavor of the original."
- Almost all my flutes are completely hand built using no power tools. I carve the sound chambers with a scorp chisel and shape the exterior with antique hand planes that I inherited from my Master Craftsman Grandfather. I torch the interior sound chambers and apply shellac to seal them from moisture. I also tune the flutes with burning rods in the sound holes.
- I hand sand using 3 different grits and hand rub on the non-toxic shellac finish.
- Native Americans hand carved their flutes and most have many imperfections. I leave a few imperfections in the wood to give the flute a more authentic look. Native flutes also did not have high gloss finishes like many flute builders use today. I use only all natural shellac or Odie's Oil to create a realistic natural finish. If you are looking for a perfect flute made on a computer controlled lathe and sprayed with high gloss lacquers, you probably want to look elsewhere. I take pride in that my flutes look like real native flutes from over 100 years ago. Besides playing very nicely, my flutes make great display pieces.
- To visit my Ebay store to see every flute I offer currently go to: ebay.com/str/zionwindflutes
- To visit my website and see every replica I have made Copy and Paste this Link: davewhitakerphotography.smugmug.com/Replicas-of-Native-American-Style-Flutes
- To hear audio of this flute Copy and Paste this Link to my Youtube channel: https://youtube.com/shorts/Dxis5l4yeqI?feature=shared