Ecstatic to become a flute, and not a birdhouse or whatever folks build with poplar, it is not one of my favorite tone woods….because it sounds too much like, ..well…..poplar, and by extension, red cedar as well. I’m trying to get over it. The material is best known for making paper and cardboard boxes.

This instrument is 20.5 inches in length, with a 7/8” bore diameter. The woods used, beginning at the mouthpiece include twice dyed/stabilized box elder burl between layers of amboyna burl, and capped with the poplar. The matching 19mm disks to each side of the compression chamber are cut from the same material, with subtle hand colorizing of turquoise. The fetish block is cut from the poplar, bonded to a base of Oklahoma red cedar for moisture control. The fetish is not a bird. I wanted it to look like a bear, reminiscent of the outstanding fetish creations of Miguel Medina of Singing tree flutes…. I’ll settle for a gopher or possum, your choice. It’s accented by rock and powder turquoise from the Sleeping Beauty mine in Globe AZ.

Inlay begins at the mouthpiece with a 9x16mm Australian opal flanked by 4mm turquoise dots, again from the famous Sleeping Beauty mine The sound chamber is set with a 16mm round dome cut labradorite cab, and beyond that, the finger holes are accented with four 5mm abalone dots, and a 6mm dome cut labradorite crystal cab. Lastly, the fetish has a 6mm turquoise cab set to the crown, and 2.8mm hematite beads set as eyes.

At the time of tuning, the wood temperature was 78.2°F, while the ambient temp was 72.3°F with a humidity factor of 66%. At sea level.