The Scott August Signature Mojave 6 Flute
A look at the
2009
Scott August Signature flute
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The
Mojave-6 flute THE
MOJAVE-6 THE
MOJAVE-6 The
type of flute was the easiest part to answer. I had
recently obtained a Mojave flute from Michael
Graham Allen and was enthralled with it's exotic
sound. It's limited range of notes, however, was
some what frustrating. The Mojave replicas that
Michael makes has only four holes and could not
play any notes above the 5th in any given octave.
This is not to say that Michael's flutes are
lacking in sound or soul, I just wanted more notes.
FINGERING PITCH INTERVAL All
holes closed B Root Bottom
hole open C# Maj
2nd Bottom
2 holes open D Min
3rd Bottom
3 holes open E Fourth All
holes open F# Fifth So
Geoffrey and I decided early on to extend the
number of pitches by adding holes. I knew that the
next note I heard in the scale was a minor 6th, a
half step above the 5th. Above that, to match the
top note of a Native American style flute, we
picked the minor 7th. The flute is based on the
note B. Geoffrey
had been exchanging emails with Frankie Sierra
regarding a five hole version of a Mojave flute
that he was working on, the fifth hole being a
thumb hole. Personally I like to avoid thumb holes
if possible so we decided to move the thumb hole to
the front of the flute to get the min-6th along
with another, higher, finger hole for the min-7th.
A total of six holes. This led to the name
Mojave-6, or M6. The spacing of the six holes is in
the same style as an Anasazi flute: two groups of
three. THE
DESIGN The
final inspiration for the Scott August Mojave 6
Signature flute came from the cache of 114
cylindrical pots that were found in room 28 of
Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon. This was part of the
cluster of rooms in the oldest part of the
structure where George Pepper found eight
prehispanic flutes, including a painted one. This
is also the section where most of the burials of
the pueblo were found. These cylindrical pots with
their unusual shape and design were only found in
Chaco Canyon and are thought to have a special
place in the Chaco world. After
several mockups and prototypes of painting flutes
it was decided to go with a wood burned design for
a more visceral and tactile design.
To help achive the look of pottery Alaskan Yellow
Cedar was picked since it's ligher color simulates
the white slip that was used as the pots background
coating. These
flutes are 25" long with a bore width of 7/8". The
bottom hole is 4-3/4" from the distal end of the
flute. (All measurements are approximate) The
design wraps around the body of the flute in a
constant changing pattern that melds back into
itself. THE
MOUTHPIECE THE
MOJAVE-6 FLUTE SCALE Below
is a hole by hole breakout of the notes produced by
the Mojave-6. (Note that the first five of the
seven pitches are the same as a four-holed Mojave
flute) FINGERING PITCH INTERVAL All
holes closed B Root
(and Octave) Hole
#1 open C# Maj
2nd Holes
#1 & #2 open D Min
3rd Holes
#1, #2, #3 open E Fourth Holes
#1, #2, #3, #4 open F# Fifth Holes
#1, #2, #3, #5 open (Note hole #4
is closed) G Min
6th Fourth
hole closed, all others
open A Min
7th The
second octave follows the same pattern as an
Anasazi flute. Notes produced by uncovering holes
#1, #2, & #3 produce clean notes (root, second,
3rd & fourth). The 5th in the second octave is
played by overblowning with all holes closed as is
the root note of the 3rd octave. ©
Cindy Green The
Mojave-6 can sound very exotic, yet is in a natual
minor scale. If
you do not see the QuickTime player above click
here
to
play the sound file. THE
MOJAVE-6 FLUTE SCALE IN TAB Here
are all the fingering in TAB: For
a printable version click here CULTURAL
USE The
Yuma have a strong flute tradition which can be
found in some of their origin storys. There is a
version in which one story involves supernatural
twins whose mother has made flutes for them. (Twins
are a commom ancient Pueblo and Meso American
theme.) While playing their flutes two girls are
attracted to the sound and follow it. After
encountering several imposters that claim to be the
flute player they find the boys. When the girls
return home, the boys follow them and are killed by
the girl's father. MORE
INFO HOW
TO PURCHASE A SCOTT AUGUST SIGNATURE MOJAVE-6
FLUTE Scott
August Signature Mojave-6 flutes sell for
$385.00 Scott
August Series Mojave flutes sell for $235.00 You
can also order Scott August Series Anasazi flute
for $235.00 To
order your Scott August Mojave-6 flute send an
email to info@cedarmesa.com
with the following information: ©
2009 Cedar Mesa Music.
DESIGN
MOUTHPIECE
THE
MOJAVE-6 SCALE
LISTEN
TO THE
MOJAVE-6
THE
SCALE IN TAB
CULTURAL
USES OF THE MOJAVE
FLUTE
MORE
INFO
HOW
TO BUY A SCOTT AUGUST MOJAVE-6
FLUTE
Once Earth Tone flutes had completed the line of
the 2008 Scott August Signature Anasazi flutes the
big question for me and Geoffrey was "What do we do
next?"
Here is the range of notes available on a
Mojave flute replica (4 holes):
Picking
the design was the hardest part of putting together
this flute. I had mentioned to Geoffrey years ago
that it would nice to have a flute that mimicked
the pottery designs of Mesa Verde and Chaco
Canyon.
Front
View: Scott August Signature
Mojave-6
Side
View: Scott August Signature
Mojave-6
The
mouthpiece on these flutes is the same as the
mouthpieces on all of Geoffrey's Anasazi flutes.
Thees are designed to help make the playing
experience easier, relatively speaking. The shorter
bore of the Mojave flute allows the player to not
have to create as long of an air stream as is
required for the Anasazi flute. This makes these
flute slightly easier to play. However, they are
still a challange.
Mouthpiece
View: Scott August Signature
Mojave-6
The
main notes of the M6 are B-C#-D-E-F#-G-A, plus the
octave. It is a Hemitonic pentatonic scale as it
has half steps. This is a diatonic scale as there
are seven notes. The placement of half steps in the
scale make this a natural minor scale, also known
as the Aeolian mode.
In
addition to being used in the Mojave culture these
flutes (four hole version) were played in the
cultures of the Coco-Maricopas, and Yumas, or
Cuchans; tribes of the Colorado River. Like modern
plains style Native American flutes young men would
serenade their female friends with them for
entertainment, for example during corn grinding,
and courtship. Although this modern recreation is
notched to play over the top an historic photo
shows a member of the Yuma culture playing their
flute to the side.
If
you want to learn more about the Anasazi and Mojave
flutes check out these articles
The
Basic Scale of the Anasazi
Flute
The
Minor Scale of the Anasazi
Flute
The
Extended Scale of the Anasazi
Flute
The
(Four Hole) Mojave flute
The Scott August Signature Mojave-6 flute comes
in the Signature version as shown above and a
Series version that does not have the pottery
design. You can find a photo of the Series version
on the Earth
Tone Flutes web
site.
These flutes are made from Alaskan Yellow Cedar and
is decorated with a pottery design.
These flutes are made from Aromatic Cedar and
decorated with burn rings and the Cedar Mesa Music
logo.
Name
Mailing Address
Phone Number
Email
Which type of flute you want: Signature Mojave-6,
Series Mojave-6 or Series Anasazi.
Which hand you use to cover the bottoms holes of
other flutes.
Currently the Mojave-6 flutes are only available in
the key of B. Scott August Series Anasazi flutes
are available in Ab, A, Bb, and B.
This
article and all images and sound files are the
property of Cedar Mesa Music. All rights reserved.
Unauthorized duplication (copying) in any form with
out written consent from Cedar Mesa Music is
illegal and is a violation of all copyright
laws.
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© 2007 Cedar Mesa Music. All rights reserved. |
Recordings
by
Scott
August
