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Dear Jerry,
Happy to tell you that the Drone Flute arrived and I played as
if we are old friends, just wonderful!! I love the sound!!!
thank you very much, and indeed it is a very easy and comfortable
flute to play.
loving lightblessings
Sarah-Maria C. Gijben
the Netherlands |
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Picture:
~~ Gina
Benson
Internet Customer
U.S.A.
See
more Customers
Click
Here |
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"Dear Jerry,
I relieved the two flutes you made for me a couple months ago.
One is a river cane in D and a drone in Bb. They both have worked
out wonderfully, I have already performed publicly with them
and they have been received with very positive remarks by listeners
afterwards. I am playing a powwow with them in May and will let
you know how it goes and maybe send a pic or two. In my 28 years
of playing flute I have never had the honor of playing through
two finer flutes. They have clear sound and perfect intonation.
I look forward to having fretwell flutes see to my flute needs
in the future.
Thank You."
~~ Gina Benson
Internet Customer
U.S.A. |
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"Hi
Jerry and Lisa,
Thank you SO
much for my drone flute! It arrived this week and is even more
beautiful than I had imagined. The tone is amazing and it really
was a case of love at first sight! I am enjoying learning from
your book too! I have found it invaluable for getting to know
my flute - and I love that there are songs I recognize so I can
get used to reading and playing and then transfer that to the
other beautiful songs you’ve included."
~~ Ruth Ingham
Internet Customer
Australia |
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Click
Here
Who was
Chief
Eagle Friend?
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Drone Native
American Flutes
 Listen to sound samples
below.
Jerry Fretwell
Your Drone Flute Maker & Performer |
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Jerry
is playing a large Zebrawood Drone flute in the serene gardens
of the Douglas House in Key West, Florida. |
Listen to the Large Zebrawood Drone ~ Key of G - Click
Here
Flutes in the
Picture
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Left: Sassafras
Center: Zebrawood
Right: Red Heart
Available Lengths: 26"-14"
Available Keys: F, F#, G, Ab, A, Bb, B, C, C#, D, Eb,
E, F, F#
Price Range: $250 - $550
Drone
Flutes
are flutes that have two voices. You play your melody
and the second voice accompanies you producing a surreal experience.
Each voice of the drone flute has its own air chamber giving
you the option to add the drone tone at your preference. Listen
to the sound samples below to hear them.
We can make your
Drone Flute in any of the three sizes and use any type
of wood that calls to you. See wood grain closeups below.
You choose
the size of flute you want and you choose the type of wood
you want us to use. Your Drone Flute will be made especially
for you when you place your order. Listen to the flutes below to choose your key.
Our Prices
The price of your flute is based on the size of your
flute and the type of wood you choose.
 Cedar is our least expensive
wood choice
 Gabon Ebony is our most
expensive wood choice. |
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Mahogany Drone Flute
Medium Size ~ Key of A
Each voice
of the drone flute has its own air chamber giving you the option
when you play to use the drone tone or play as
a single voice flute. Listen to the example below.
Click
Here to Hear |
Flutes in the
Picture
Left to Right:
Piano
Wood, Curly Bubinga, Purple Heart, Mahogany
Piano Wood: We re-cycled this piece of wood from
inside of a 100 year old disassembled piano. We think it is English
Oak. We weren't sure so we call it "Piano Wood". It
made a lovely flute.
Purple Heart: This piece of purple heart was the
deeper rich purple color as opposed to the bright pink/reddish
purple color. We have worked with both shades and they both make
lovely flutes. |
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Custom Made For You
Your
Drone Flute will be made especially for you. If you need
help deciding which flute size or wood type is the best choice
for you, call (Phone:
417-535-6032) or
email. We'd love to hear from
you.
5 Hole Flute vs
6 Hole Flute
We can make you a 5 hole flute but we prefer a 6 hole flute.
The basic fingering pattern for a 6 hole flute, is exactly the
same as a 5 hole flute. When you first start playing your 6 hole
flute, you will leave the 3rd hole from the top, covered all
the time. As you progress in your playing, you will want the
benefit that the additional hole on a 6 hole flute will give
you. Our book "Getting
To Know Your Native American Flute", will teach you how to take care
of your flute and how to play it.
Tone and Wood Choice
The tone of a Native American Flute is determined in part
by the type of wood used. The softer woods (cedar,sassafras etc...)
produce a warmer tone. The harder woods (red heart, osage orange
etc...) produce a brighter tone. Tone is not volume. It is the
texture of the sound. We offer you a large selection of wood
choices.
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Cedar(s) |
Hard Woods |
Exotic Woods |
Curly Woods |
Rare Woods |
Concert Quality,
A440 Tuned
Your flute will be tuned using an electronic tuner to ensure
that it has concert quality pitch. This will enable you to play
along with other instruments.
Not electronically altered ~ Flute Sound Samples
The natural rich warm sound of a Native American Flute touches
the soul of all those who hear it. It is our experience that
each individual responds to different keys. Discovering which
key calms you, is easy on our website. Our sound samples DO NOT
have any effects added to them. Our flutes sound exactly like
this naturally (Clear, Crisp, Loud, Non-breathy, & No air
hiss). Our
flutes will sound this way for you when you play them at home. Your flute will produce this rich, clean
quality sound and have tremendous volume, without a microphone.
Your Internet Access Speed and Flute Sound Files
Aol, Prodigy, etc... Dial Up Internet Access
is very slow... Be patient ... Sound Files are big and take awhile to download
to your computer.
Listen to these flutes.
Choosing a Key
Click on a blue letter below to hear that key. |
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Large Flutes
26"-20"
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Medium Flutes
19"-17" |
Small Flutes
16"-14" |
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About Your Wood Choice
  
The Joy of Wood
Shopping
"Most
of our hardwoods and exotics we purchase from a speciality store
about an hour away from our home. We hand pick each piece. We
look for unique and beautiful grain patterns as well as exceptional
color.
I have a blast when we go wood shopping. I'm like a kid in a
candy store. Soooooo... many beautifully grained pieces of wood
to choose from. We always come away with much more wood that
we went to buy. Some pieces of wood, I "just can't resist".
They just beg to be made into a flute.
For our Eastern
Cedar and Sassafras wood, we buy it from a local Ozark man. We
trust his judgment and he always sends us beautiful pieces. Some
of our rare and exotic woods, we purchase from other sources
around the country and Hawaii.
I just "love"
to go wood shopping." ~~ Lisa Fretwell
Availability of Unique
Woods
Most
wood will make a wonderful flute. Email or call us (417-535-6032) about the availability
of woods not shown on our website such as: Koa, Curly Koa, Honey
Mesquite, Black Mesquite, Quina, Wenge, Spanish Cedar, Redwood,
Sapele, Quilted Sapele, Rose woods, & Quatersawn woods.
Pieces of Wood Special
to You
We encourage
you to do some internet window shopping for unique wood. If you
find a piece of wood that you like, we will make your flute from
that piece. If you have a piece of wood that's special to you,
send it to us and we will make your flute from that piece.
FYI - Wood - Natural
Colors and Grain Patterns
We have taken
great care with our website images so that they are a good representation
of the "true" color and grain patterns of the wood
choices we offer. Wood naturally varies from piece to piece.
The grain pattern and the shade of the color are things that
vary slightly from piece to piece. We do not stain our flutes.
The colors you see in our website images are what the wood looks
like naturally.
3 Commonly
asked Questions and Answers
Q: What woods are
the softest and produce the most warm tone?
A: Eastern Cedar, Western Cedar, and Sassafras. |
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Q: What woods are
the hardest and produce the most bright tone?
A: Purple Heart, Osage Orange, and Gabon Ebony. |
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Q: Do the curly
woods really shimmer naturally?
A: YES - They shimmer and glow and look as if they were wet all
the time. |
 
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The images below are what
the wood looks like naturally. |
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Order Your Drone
Flute Today
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All
Rights Reserved http://www.FretwellFlutes.com - Phone:(417) 535- 6032