This material is harvested from peat bogs in New Zealand where these trees rested after falling over, approximately 50,000 years ago. These trees may be older, but Carbon 14 dating gets a little sketchy beyond 40,000 years. The material is expensive, and not a good candidate for flute building experimentation. For example, Eastern red cedar can range from $.25 to $5.00 per board foot, while Kauri sells for between $70.00 and $140.00 USD per board foot.

This instrument is 22-1/8” in length and as indicated, tuned to Fm. Woods used in addition to the kauri, include macassar ebony and SE Asian amboyna burl at the mouthpiece, while fetish wing overlay also includes a layer of systemically dyed blue maple wherein the tree was fed colored water during growth cycles before harvest and veneering. The fetish itself is cut from the kauri, bonded to a base of Oklahoma red cedar for moisture control, with wing overlays of amboyna burl and paua abalone as well.

Inlay begins at the mouthpiece, with a 10x15mm Mexican boulder opal flanked by 4mm turquoise dots. Each side of the compression includes dome cut 6mm labradorite cabs as well as 19mm disks of the amboyna burl, The sound chamber includes a round 16mm labradorite cabochon while the finger holes are accented with four 5mm abalone dots and an additional 6mm labradorite cab. Lots of labradorite. Lastly, the fetish has a faceted 4.76mm Brazilian mystic topaz set to the crown, and 2mm Sri Lanka orange sapphires set as eyes………

The flute also has a 1mm permanent rawhide wrap, because it’s fun to do.

The flute was tuned at a wood temp of 77°F,….an ambient temp of 72.1°F, with a humidity factor of 57%, at sea level.