A New Bunswick man living along the shores of the Bay of Fundy is turning old dried up pieces of driftwood into instruments he hopes will fill people’s hearts with meditative music.
Brian Townsend, owner of Fundy Flutes, said he started crafting the style of instrument called handmade native American style flutes, made out of driftwood, about two years ago.
“Walking up and down the beach, I am constantly picking up pieces of driftwood,” said Townsend, who crafts the flutes from his home and workshop in Alma, N,B.
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He said that finding a piece of driftwood that is uniform and smooth enough to make a flute is not an easy task. The wood is often damaged and cracked, which won’t make for a proper sounding flute.
“I find maybe one of a hundred is actually usable,” he said.
Townsend says the first flutes were made more than 2,500 years ago and were often used as courting instruments.
“So the young man would take his flute and he would part himself somewhere nearby where the woman of his desire was staying and then he would start playing,” hoping she might be drawn in by his melody, he said.
Townsend’s partner Fabiola Robichaud said he didn’t court her with the flutes. But she said he is a real romantic at heart, which could be why he spends hours lovingly crafting each flute by hand.
“It is pretty awesome,” she said.
Townsend has even started making flutes out of old sticks he finds around the yard.
“Alder bushes around here are the sorts of things that most people consider to be weeds,” he said.
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He says he loves, “making music out of a stick” and puts a little of himself in each one. He equates the sound they make to peaceful “meditation.”