Homemade nose flute by Steven Parkes

Steven Parkes is a British citizen and has been a nose flute fan since he got his first in the late 50's, from a mail-order company called Ellisdon's. His story is typical and touching:

« Of course, by its delicate nature, it soon got broken and I used to think how good it would be to make my own, strong version out of metal and wood, though it was completely beyond my abilities to turn my vague, childhood dream into a tangible reality.
Many years later - in the 1980s - I spotted a red, plastic 'humanatone' in a music-shop window. A different model to my earlier one, and much flimsier and more delicate, too! I entertained my children with it for a short time, but then, it too got broken into many pieces! Devastated, I tried desperately to save it by sellotaping the pieces together, but it was no use! Once again, my noseflute-playing days were over, as the shop no longer stocked any more of them. »

Then... came the internet! And Steven discovered different nose flutes, in plastci, metal or wood. He was particularly impressed with the models made by Martin and Martina Sommer in Berlin (see this topic)

« I like the fact that their air-duct is round-sided and so is their sound-hole. I am not proficient with a sharp chisel, so I would be able to make my own, similar noseflute using drills and half-round files instead. »

And Steven began the re-design and the making of his own wooden nose flute, accompanied with interesting technical and practical thoughts.

« Their design starts with a routed-out, U-shaped length of wood, however, and I couldn't copy that, so I had to come up with an alternative idea. That's when I thought of the arched fipple-plate, where the sides of the arch would strengthen the whole thing and also protect the delicate labium when carried around in the pocket, much as the Sommers' nasenfloten have their raised sides to protect their sound hole.
I made my first prototype out of a leftover piece of soft, pinewood - not an ideal material, but all I had available at the time. »

Steven took snapshots during themaking and sent them to us, for our greatest pleasure! Here are some of them:

The basic parts and the "venturi effect" air duct:
The final instrument, after sanding :


Steven made a great job there! Welcome to the small world of the nose flute crafters! And that's not all, folks! : Mr. Parkes also made a test video, playing notably... the french national anthem :).
Here it is, with my respectuous greetings to our new collegue!



Thank you Steven!

Funny performance by Mosurin

A funny performance, but with a skilful playing, by sensei Mosurin. I don't know what exactly is the little puppet, but she does like to dance on the rhythm.

The Magic Flute

I recently had the great opportunity to purchase an old tin nose flute from Scott B., a gentleman living in North Carolina. There was no difficulty at all in identifying the instrument, since it has a very perculiar shape and is stamped with... its name. Many thanks to Scott for having helped me building the collection: the Magic Flute is a real milestone in nose flute history.

This nose flute is easily recognizable by the right angle formed by the top of its air duct. Another typical feature of this instrument is the vertical rectangle shape that has had been cut for the air entrance (remember that this cut is an horizontal oval on a metal Humanatone). Also, and due to its construction, the two nose wings are convex into the nose shield, while they are concave on other models where they form a nose cup.

So, let's say that the Magic Flute is very different from an early Humanatone, but only for the top half, since the mouth shields are very comparable. It is interesting to see both intruments together to make obvious the differences:



But most peculiar characteristic of the Magic Flute is that it was made with only one piece of tin plate. As far as I know, it is the only manufactured metal nose flute that has ever been made from only one piece at the stamping press. I designed for you the template of the flat instrument :



The Magic Flute production was frugal in metal plate, since the pattern interlocking is nicely efficient:



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The Magic Flute appeared (for the 1st time?) in the music instruments Howe catalog, in Chicago, 1903 issue (which means a probable 1902 printing), meaning its production is prior to the Stivers' Humanatone [July 1903] (but the brand "Humanatone" is earlier: 1893-94).



On the other hand, the Magic Flute is stamped on the air duct cover:



Now, the patent dates appearing here refer to... Garrett J. Couchois' patents

Since we know that the Couchois' whistle was really produced, the Magic Flute was the third model of nose flute ever manufactured (afaik), just before the Humanatone. We may state that the order of appearance was:

1- The Nasalette, by W. Carter, in 1892-93 (probably launched at Chicago World Fair, maybe under the name Humanatone)
2- The nose flute by G. J. Couchois, in ±1900.
3- The Magic Flute by ??, in ±1902.
4- The Humanatone by J.J. Stivers in july 1903.

And according to this, we are able to specify that the Magic Flute was the first nose flute with a mouth shield, invention that became typical of any metal or plastic nose flute (metal Humanatone, Wunderflöte, plastic Humanatone, Schwann, Bocarina...). It was also the very first model proposing a lip rest (that is still in use on the Schwann model).

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My hypothesis - but whether I already possess "sparse pieces of evidence", I built no real "historical proof" yet - is that William Carter launched his nose flute under the name Humanatone (the patent name was "Nasalette") at the Chicago Columbus fair in 1893 (there is a 1894 record of the Brand Humanatone, plus a late testimony in a 1922 journal of the presence of the Humanatone at the fair). Chicago Fair is where Couchois (piano seller) discovered the instrument, then built his own in New York, which clearly is an improvement derivating from the original Nasalette. Did he buy/use the brand Humanatone? It is likely, because a 1905 testimony state that Couchois , as a "fakir", was playing and selling Humanatones "4 or 5 years ago", that is, in 1900-1901. This is the moment when Couchois' nose flutes are manufactured. Can we imagine that Garrett Couchois would have produced his own nose flute but sold another one? Certainly not. So his own should have been named "Humanatone".
Then, in 1902, the Magic Flute is issued, stamped with Couchois' patents numbers. (Was it produced by Couchois too? I have no idea on that point). What is sure is that the next year, the Stivers bought the rights from Carter's and Couchois' patents, and registered the trademark Humanatone. But that's not all: they also bought the brand Magic Flute (check my evidence here). It is more than likely that the shape of the Humanatone was an improvement of the Magic Flute model (but the Humanatone is stamped with Carter's and Couchois' pat. numbers). Then, both the brands Humanatone and Magic (Nose) Flute were used to sell the same instrument, depending on the "sales target" (Humanatone as an instrument, Magic Flute as a toy), and finally with no regards on the type of public anymore. In 1943, Fred Gretsch bought the name Humanatone and associated it to another model of nose flute, the plastic injected one, patented by Ernest W. Davis in 1940.


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One last word, and maybe the most important. The Magic Flute was a good instrument, with a precise and powerful sound! Here is a short sound sample:




And big thanks again to Scott B. !

Happy New Year!

FIUL 3 !

The Festival International d'Ukulélé de Lerrain took place this year in... Charmois-devant-Bruyères, a welcoming village in the Vosges region, France. Many ukulele playing, for sure, but also some nose flute, thanks to the Nosy Diva and yours truly.

Here is a short footage from Vosges Télévision (some nose flute in the middle)



And here a montage of the Nosy Diva on stage:

Frühling Konzert

Summer is almost here, so this "Frühling Konzert" (Spring concert) video, dating of April 28 is already a bit old... However, a nose flute footage shot in a church is rare enough to be noticed. The concert took place in Michaeliskirche, Hannover, Germany, with the Nosy Diva at the Bocarina.

Today is International Nose Flute Day!!

To the readers of this blog: I've been away from noseflute.org for a long time. In April, I had to face a lack of new info deserving publication and at the same time, I had to focus on the completion of my work for an art exhibition. Then I got longly sick. Finally I'm back, here, but the posting rhythm may slow a bit down, from now on. Thank you for your loyalty, and particularly to those of you who enquired about my "disappearance"

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Today is the 2nd INFD - International Nose Flute Day. The 14th of June was chosen last year as an anniversary of the registration of William Carter's Nasalette patent. Have you planned something specific? Are you going to celebrate this day?

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Here are some pictures of the exhibition « En Quête de l'Ange » ("In the Quest for the Angel"), set in Nancy, Lorraine, France, for which I built 3 composed pieces. One of those photographic compositions is called « Le Souffle des Anges »("The Angels' Breath") and is totally devoted to nose flute playing.

This collective exhibition - with great names! : Ernest Pignon-Ernest, Eric Poitevin, Dominique Petitgand ... — encounters a good success: 5,000 visitors so far, and in just more than a month. If you happen to pass by Nancy, pay us a visit!

En Quête de l'Ange
May 4 to August 4 — (Wednesday to Sunday - 10AM to 6PM)
Galerie Nancy-Thermal
Rue du Sergent Blandan - Nancy

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- The official exhibition page : En Quête de l'Ange
- En Quête de l'Ange blog
- En Quête de l'Ange Facebook page

Cardboard nose flutes, by RON

Cardboard nose flutes seems to be very hip these days! Here is a series of tests made by RON (see here and here), with different airway cap lengths.

Piet Visser's Cello-Phone: The Making of

Last week, we showed the short video made by Mr. Piet Visser while testing his Cello-Phone replica. But on the footage, one can hardly see that Piet made a stunning work...
Here are some pictures of the making, sent by Mr. Visser via Mr. Mei.

It seems that the building needed some different attempts in order to get the right curve with the brass rod.

« These pictures are about bending the brass tube, which is the hardest part of the whole of the Cello-Phone. The trick is to keep a natural curve and a fluent line. It is essential to 'anneal' the brass tube first. This is a heat treatment, which alters the microstructure of the brass material and causes changes in its properties. That allows the material to be worked and bent. Annealing is required before the next step can be applied before it can be bent, which is filling the tube with shell lime. I continuously press this shell lime firmly into the tube, which is very important: only then will the tube be fully supported from the inside, so that it won't crack or disfigure. When the tube is fully filled and firmly pressed, I seal the end of the tube by means of a wooden plug. Now the bending process can begin, which needs to be done very carefully. If not, the tube will break, which has happened on my first tries in making the Celllo-Phone. »
[thanks to Maikel Mei for the translation]




And here the work with a blowtorch, sawing and drilling:

Review: Mosurin's new CD!

Sensei Mosurin just issued his new CD: Sound of the Nose Flute V (鼻笛の響　V), and let's immediately that this fifth volume is really the best one, a real piece of nose flute jewelry... 10 beautiful tunes, 8 of them being Mosurin's compositions.



If I had to describe this CD with just a few words, I would say unity, purity, sweetness, nostalgia and wide space. Unity, because the records share all a global "color", a real consistency. Only the last tune — The Turkish March — expresses another kind of energy, but it works as a final punctuation. Purity, because Mosurin's has the best nose flute sound in the world, clean, precise, crystal clear. And the master's playing has evolved again, with perfect tremolos and a huge breath... Sweetness and Nostalgia, because it's a kind of Mosurin's trademark in his musical choices, but also because of the arrangements, that have greatly improved in quality and subtlety, from the first CDs. And finally wide space, because all of the Mosurin's compositions (8 out of 10 tunes) could be panoramic movie soundtracks, some of them could come from Western movies. Any of those pieces opens a window on a wide landscape.

01 ありがとう - Thank You
02 山河 - The Natural Surroundings
03 風花 - Dancing Snow in the Wind
04 ハロウィーン・ダンス - Halloween Dance
05 ボン・ボヤージュ - Farewell
06 シエスタ - The Nap
07 流れ(情念) - The Flow (complaint)
08 風の歌が聞こえる - Hear the Song of the Wind
09 鳥の歌 - El Cant dels Ocells
10 トルコ行進曲(モーツァルト) - Turkish March (Mozart)

Mosurin: Nose flute and guitar
Mayumi Isumi: piano
Photo by Yutaka Matsubara



Thanks a lot to Mr. Mosurin, who authorized me to insert some musical excerpts in this review.

01 ありがとう - Thank You [2:13]
This opening tune is played over synth (DX7?) arpeggios. Then some synth strings.
Simple sweet melody, with powerful sharps.

02 山河 - The Natural Surroundings [3:18]
"Sanga"is the first "landscape" tune of the CD. Played with a piano, the nose flute is grogeous. Sensei Mosurin perfectly masters subtle tremolos. The tune ends with bells notes.

03 風花 - Dancing Snow in the Wind [3:32]
"Kazahana" is one a my prefered pieces. It is what a japanese garden in Winter could be when transposed into music. The nose flute sounds a bit more windy than usual, choice that is consistent with the title. Here are 2 excerpts of this piece, the beginning, and a part which shows the infinite breath of the master:




04 ハロウィーン・ダンス - Halloween Dance [2:42]
This tune shows another kind of rhythm and harmonics, but stays consistent with the whole selection. It makes me think of some Ennio Morricone productions. Beautifully written and played, with incredibly powerful and clean sharps! It certainly deserves to be listened to in full, but here is only a short excerpt:



05 ボン・ボヤージュ - Farewell [2:50]
An evolutive arrangement, with guitar and bass, then soft drums, and a hint of fiddle sounding like a pedal steel. The integration of drums is a bit surprising, and turns the tune to a slow dance.

06 シエスタ - The Nap [2:35]
Here the arrangement is produced by a bass, a synth set on glockenspiel and some light percussions. Some remarkable tremolo endings...

07 流れ(情念) - The Flow (pathetic) [3:01]
"Nagare" is a beautiful complaint that could really be a Japanese western movie soundtrack. Guitar and synth.



08 風の歌が聞こえる - Hear the Song of the Wind [3:02] Another "outdoor" piece, but painted this time in a autumnal dress. The bass string of the guitar is lightly but incredibly out of tune...



09 鳥の歌 - El Cant dels Ocells [2:25]
Traditional Christmas song from Catalonia, dating from the 13 c. The choice of a synth among the arrangement (with guitar) is a bit strange... Beautifully played, with a real controlled strength and presence of the flute.

10 トルコ行進曲(モーツァルト) - Turkish March (Mozart) [0:53]
Here it is! Mosurin's greatest hit! And it deserves it. We all know Mosurin's live versions (on YouTube) of this Mozart march, but here is finally a studio version. This tune closing the CD is a real master piece, with a unbelievable tongue technique. In the quickest part (sorry, not in the excerpt, you'll have to buy the CD!), Mosurin sounds like a bird. Really. A distinct tongue/glottis bird sound, jumping from one note to another as quickly as a nightingale. This recording is a milestone the nose flute history.



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Well, you understand it, I *strongly* encourage you to get this great CD! Whether it is for the tunes themselves or even only the stunning techniques mastered by Mosurin, if you're a nose flute lover, this CD is a real must for you CDtheque.

Where and how to get this CD?

Go on Mosurin's website and click on the Paypal button at the end of the dedicated article.
It will cost you ¥1,500 (around US$16) plus shipping.

Cello-phone replica, by Piet Visser

Do you remember the Cello-phone? Piet Visser, the dutch whistle collector just built a replica of this incredibly baroque nose flute. It seems he totally made it in brass.

A new cardboard nose flute

Shuenping Chiou, our taiwanese friend and amateur nose flute builder, has just released a new cardboard nose flute template. It has a very nice and simple design (simple to build!) and might be printed "for real" and commercialized.



Chiou (YW) has also tested a duct tape version, which offers a better solidity (here, beside his "cat paw" home made flute.

Message from the CRAFAN

An hilarious video produced by Profglukoz. It is in French, so I have to sum up the topic for you:
This video is supposed to be a message from the CRAFAN (Comité Révolutionnaire Anti-Flûte à Nez = Revolutionary Committee Against Nose flutes) and the "anonymous" masked protagonist claims he has taken my black cat Patafix as an hostage. The CRAFAN demands any nose flute activity to be stopped right now (playing, building, modifying, etc.), otherwise, Patafix will be sold to the best-offering company to be transformed in... lasagna.

Note that Profglukoz calls our beloved instruments "tympanum massive destruction weapon"

It's a french speaking (with southern accent:) video, but the images are funny terrible and understandable.

The Death of the Swan

I think it was seriously made, but I find it very funny! (sorry)... Here is a cover of Another Brick in the Wall by the Pink Floyd, recorded by MrJogiMar with a uke, a bass, and a nose flute distorted by a synth. Well, ... also distorted by the player himself. The Nasenflöte sounds like a swan slowly dying and deeply suffering.

Lady Gaga :)

Energic video by Miss Ayano and two friends of hers, playing Born This Way by Lady Gaga. I do not know the original version, but I know I prefer this cover.

News from Chiou!

A little video (well, a recording with a still image) by Shuenping Chiou (YW), the Taiwanese nose flutist who builds his own flutes [see this post]. The sound is very unusual for a nose flute, near a bamboo flute. But I assume that YW has transformed it a little by an electronic mean [indeed, the nose flute played is the one shown below, and it was recorded with a home made microphone, that distorted a bit the sound].



Here is Chiou's last creation, with a braided design:

Lullaby by Kato Hideo

A sweet and nostalgic lullaby by Takeda Shujiro (ひでじろう 竹田) interpretated by Mister Kato Hideo at the nose flute.

Tribute to FloydBlue

« Kenny and Capt. CheezWhiz pay tribute to a noseflute legend », as described on the Youtube page. Indeed, Jas Ingram (AKA Captainukehandles/CheezWhiz holds the nose flute, wearing a mask, while Mister Kenny plays uke and dog. Great video!

Getting serious about nose flute playing - Part II

Noseflute.org is very glad and lucky to welcome Miss Birdy K. as an essayist. This text of thoughts about nose flute playing is the second part of an article initiated here. Thanks to her!



Sequel of the post Getting serious about nose flute playing - Part I

Getting serious about nose flute playing - Part II

Playing the nose-flute hands-free with other instruments

One of the great advantages of the nose flute is that since you do not use your fingers for playing you can play another instrument when you have the nose flute firmly attached with a rubber band or another similar device.


Noseflute - harmony instrument

The most commonly used combination for the noseflute is with a ukulele or guitar.
There are lots of examples on youtube, the attentive reader of this wonderful blog gets links to many great and inspired videos (like by Nosefluter, Master Mosurin, etc.)
Besides adding harmonies and a nice sound to the melodies of the nose flute it also helps, especially in the beginning, to keep trace of the intonation. For any other harmony instrument it works rather similarly, the piano, the accordion, the harpsichord, organ...
When you do a simple accompaniment with chords it is the same thing like singing along with a guitar or ukulele – you just get started. I do not know what else to say about this, it works like most noseflute tasks, mainly by intuition.


Noseflute – melody instrument

However, the nose flute certainly can also be combined with melody instruments, like any string instruments (violin, viola, etc.) or uke, lute or guitar, as well as the piano or keyboard if you play melodies and not harmonies on them.
Since I am a violin and viola player I have spent some time with that and would like to share my experiences with you – personal and individual as usual, just what I have found out works best for my playing.


Playing two parallel melodies independently

Playing two melodies synchronous and independently is a rather special task and may not interest very many of our dear readers, but who knows how many fiddle (piano,whatever) playing nose flutists hang out on this planet??

To get started it is useful to be able to play both instruments fairly well. In fact, the secret of playing two independent melodies at once is to automatize the playing of one instrument.
For a start you can try to play the same melody with both instruments in unison (I do not say this is easy so do not be frustrated if you do not succeed well when beginning :o).
When playing independent melodies I generally start with the violin because there is orientation where to put the fingers and I keep on repeating the melody until not having to think about it any more. If capable of reading music it can be easier to put sheet music and just play until you do not have to think any more.
For playing a canon, it is a bit hard to explain but I think I listen to myself playing the melody and then I imitate it with the noseflute. It requires some mental discipline but surely is a good kind of brainjogging! I practised this already with a canon singing and playing violin before knowing the noseflute, it is the same principle.

In the following video you get a little practical demonstration.



It is probably a bit easier when you play the piano or a keyboard because you do not have to worry about your intonation there.
Then – even if you succeed playing the melodies together the result might not to be as good as two people playing together, so it is more a kind of training your musical abilities and something to impress people :o))
Since we noseflute players are used to being limited in looking good and sounding great who cares?

In the end to show you what is possible with some training (yes, it took a while) we have a recording of the beginning of the 1st movement of the Bach double concerto for two violins. I did this a while ago to practice my independent playing. It is a synchronous recording.



Well, dearest reader, I hope not to have bored you too much with this rather specific task, thanks for your patience!

The incomparable Nosy Diva

The Bear Necessities (Jungle Book)

The incomparable Nosy Diva back on our screens, with a beautiful Maccaferri ukulele!

Les Champs-Elysées, by Mosurin

A great interpretation of the Champs-Elysées (Joe Dassin), by Mosurin, recorded at Monkey Forest, Shibuya, Tokyo.

Hong Kongese video

It's rather rare to find nose flute videos coming from China. Here is one by Armoredcorelok, a singer from Hong Kong. Humanatone at the beginning and at the end.

7 Hanabue in Mie Prefecture

A short article from the Asahi Shimbun Digital introducing the nose flute. There is an embedded video with 7 players blowing their hanabue, in Uneme Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, Japan. All the flutes look to be made by Mr. Takuma Ikeyama, and I guess I can recognize Misses Sanae Maekawa and Emiko Sato (President of the Ise Association), Mr. Kanetoshi Nakaya and other fellows that I don't recognize.

Here is the original article and here the Google-translate version.

A Great Picture of Dr. B. B. Bumstead!

Do you remember the photo expert Mark Osterman, AKA the Dr. Barnabus Barnabus Bumstead, performer of a vintage medecine show, selling his "Celebrated Lenape Liquid Show" and also the "Dr. B. B. Bumstead's Humanatone Musical Respirator". Check this post if you don't!

Here is another archive from Mark Osterman: a great picture showing the Dr. Bumstead and the "genuine faux indian" Screaming Weasel (Bill Enos), taken at Kutztown Folk festival in the early 1990's. Upper left, you can see an advertisement flag (kakemono) for the "musical Respirator".

Mr. Swing again!

Another great video by Hans Christian Klüver. This time, it's a crooner performance, with a gorgeous jazz nasenflöte solo in the middle (0'58"). The video is brodcast by the Weser Kurier TV channel

British archives

I didn't find much with the British newspaper research tools, but interesting facts and evidences for nose flute history.

The first mention I found is a classified ad recruiting two men for Humanatone demonstrations. Yes, Humanatones were apparently imported to Great Britain as soon as 1913!:

Liverpool Echo, Jan. 31, 1913:


In 1927, the Humanaphone, "all british make", was sold for 4 (old) pence and a half, as a Jazz instruent:

Hull Daily Mail, Oct. 3, 1927:


Was the Humanaphone a metal Humanatone copy, or a real Humanatone manufactured in Great Britain under license? What is sure is that it was the european nose flute the most similar to the american instrument. The differences with an early Humanatone look very tiny. Even the rivets and shape of the flap in which they are soldered are similar. Only the nose saddle edge looks a bit wider on the Humanaphone.



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The North Devon Journal (05/25/1933) reported a Salvation Army musical festival, at the end of which the Captain Montgomery played his "Humanotone".



And finally, a 1938 Cheltenham advertisement selling nose flutes for an (old) sixpence the piece:



4½d in 1927 and 6d in 1938 represents a 33% increment in the price. We were surprised to notice a 25% augmentation between 1927 and 1936 in the price of the french Ocariflute (3FF to 4FF) [check the end of this post], but finally, the rise was comparable on the other side of the Channel.