How its made
clay, water, fire and air
Building flutes
I always loved the the sound of clay instruments. That’s why we accept the unique challenges this material brings with it during the manufacturing of our instruments. Clay shrinks during drying and firing and it asks for a never-ending focus on getting our instruments to sound clear and perfectly in tune after firing. We only know if a flute is fine after the very last process… To ensure every instrument is in perfect pitch we combine traditional craftsmanship with modern technology. Combining our old-school skills and 3D printers to create precise cast molds, we create instruments with unique shapes and perfect tuning. This blend of old and new ensures our instruments are both authentic and well-tuned, making them truly special.
Our goal is to create beautiful, great-sounding instruments that are easy to play and enhance the relaxing and healing benefits of sound.
Decoration
We use our own specially designed techniques to decorate our instruments, avoiding any use of chemicals. Our instruments are made from pure clay, and we decorate them with several layers of homemade Terra Sigillata. This very fine milky clay solution is made from the finest clay particles we gather from different spots along our nearby river, providing us with a range of natural colors after firing. Next, we use a soap bubble technique, which involves several different colors of Terra Sigillata, infused with gold or copper colored Mica which creates unique patterns and a mother-of-pearl effect when light shines on our instruments.
Firing
Finally we fire our instruments again using a specially developed smoke fire process that changes the colors under reduction which gives our instruments a beautiful, ancient look.
Tuning
There is no bigger challenge than tuning a clay instrument! As the clay shrinks during drying and firing, the volume of the instrument decreases and the pitch of the instrument will rise. So to get an instrument in tune, we need to tune it out of pitch before firing by calculating the shrinkage of the clay. It took us many years to find a working method but now we get every instrument in the desired pitch! After firing all flutes are tuned twice again, first to get it in perfect pitch and tune and finally to fine-tune it by ear to make every instrument come alive, anticipating on the sound qualities of every particular instrument. In request of many of our customers we now offer our instruments in both 440 and 432 Hz.
