So a little while ago I stumbled across the cutest Japanese man. Heita3 on Youtube, makes all his flutes out of fruit, vegetables, broccoli, carrots, asparagus, capsicums, apples, radishes and even ostrich eggs. He seems to be able to make anything into a working instrument! Some aren't as successful as others, but he admits all this himself. But not only is Heita3 a skilled craftsman, he is also a crack up to watch. The mind boggles.....he's great!!
On further research I found Heita3 was not alone and there are many people around the world making flutes from fruit and vegetables. The best thing about this research is that I found a couple doing it right here in Perth! I'm always surprised when I find out there are awesome people like this Western Australia, I bet there's a whole lot more. You can check them out here: http://www.flutenveg.com/. It seems as though Alain Thirion and Kerry Fletcher have done a whole lot of vege flute making in their lives and I'm really keen to check them out.
There are so many people doing great things out there and it all gets me totally inspired. I'm off to try making my own vege flute! I'll let you know how I go.
Asha Henfry is an active freelance flautist in Melbourne, VIC currently performing regularly and teaching in her private home studio.
