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PRICE LIST
Susan playing a big harmonic flute.
Price List for the Instruments of Susan Rawcliffe
This price list is for the limited production and unique ceramic flutes, pipes, ocarinas, whistles, trumpets and sound sculptures of Susan Rawcliffe. Within the guidelines, the price of a particular instrument is determined by that instrument. Special pieces deserve special prices. An instrument already made will cost less than one created especially for you. Scales can be diatonic/chromatic, prehispanic, chance, or specified by you. The more aspects you want to control - pitch, interval relationships, scale, tone color - the more an instrument will cost. Price is also determined by visual appearance - decoration, glaze, size. Being handmade from clay, my instruments intrinsically have subtle variations from one to the other. Merlitons or membranes can be added to some flutes.
Additional information and photos are included on the flute link.
A remastered cassette Personal Ethnic, 1989, with percussionist Alex Cline is now available on CD. The eponymous CD of my trio MANY AXES, 10/98, and the CD 2 MANY AXES, 2003, are also available. MANY AXES is Scott Wilkinson and myself on exotic winds, and Brad Dutz on percussion. Please check out the link to the MANY AXES web page. All CDs are $10 plus S & H.
Copies of my four articles on prehispanic flutes are also available; one article is web based; two include CDs of the sounds of these ancient flutes; contact me for prices.
LIMITED PRODUCTION INSTRUMENTS are individually constructed using designs developed over my years of making and playing clay instruments. A series is produced in steps: constructing the body, the mouthpiece, tuning if applicable, firing, decorating, firing again and sometimes tuning again. Their quality ranges from very good to excellent.
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Necklace ocarinas have six finger holes, and are tuned to a chromatic ninth. They look like tiny fat pillows or large ravioli; for decoration, each has a unique painting of fired on colors. In size (and thus pitch), they range from about 2.5" x 2.5" to 2.5 x 4".
1.5 hrs. $70 - $100
Larger ocarinas or ones pitched to almost any key are available upon request. Individually priced.
T whistles have a tubular body that ranges from 4-6" long, with a perpendicular mouthpiece about an inch long, and a hanging loop. Played by blowing harder and softer, and by rolling the thumbs over each end to open and close their holes.
.5 hr. $27
Y double whistles play a range of pitches and combination tones by blowing harder and softer, and by using the thumbs to open and close each end of the two whistle tubes. The whistle tubes are about 5-8" long and form the arms of the Y.
1-1.5 hrs. $70 - $100
Tuba flutes: The hand slides the end of a fat tube open and closed, while blowing harder and softer. Vocal sounds can be added. Two or more make beautiful chords. 2.5" diameter X 8-18" long. Easy and fun to play; excellent for beginners.
1-2.5 hrs. $70 - $150
Primitive trumpets are conical, with the mouthpiece on the side; a merliton or membrane on the tip alters the sound. 16"-22" long. They are played by buzzing the lips, blowing harder and softer, and by partially closing and opening the open end; singing, fluttering the tongue, and more makes the merliton come alive, and a wonderful 'trumpet kazoo' sound is produced.
1.2-2.6 hrs. $80 - $175
UNIQUE FLUTES are made using a previously developed design or a new one; they are all more complex to make and/or tune than the above. It is frequently necessary to make several flutes simultaneously to produce one or two great ones.
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Whiffle ocarinas : The single mouthpiece feeds into two acoustically joined chambers, allowing for complex interactions between the two. Adding vocal sounds extends the possibilities. A very versatile flute. 2.5" or 3.5" in diameter; 5-11" long.
2.1-6 hrs. $150 - $400
Polyglobular (ball and tube) flutes flutes play lovely, individual melodies. They have from two to five hollow chambers interspersed with none to four tubes. Because their shape is irregular, their harmonics and scales are also irregular. The end blown saddle-shaped mouthpiece is similar to that of a bass flute. To play, a flute embouchure is required.
1.5-7.5 hrs. $100 - $500
Water flutes are are played by physically moving the flute to move its internal water, while blowing harder and softer to bend the tone and access various harmonics. Adding singing creates interesting interactions between the sung and blown tones. Their size ranges from 8-22" long.
1.5-6 hrs. $100 - $400
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Hooded pipes have a hood over the aperture, or mouthpiece, to deflect the air stream back into itself, causing a wonderful reedy, rough timbre or tone. The tuning is typically from a West Mexican prehispanic design with four holes. Other tunings are possible. Wonderful in pairs or in fours.
1.2-2.4 hrs. $80 - $160
Multiple pipes and ocarinas are complex to make and play; they require extensive tuning of the intervals, and the air pressure needs of the mouthpieces must be balanced. Ocarinas are round flutes; pipes are tubular. Multiples require airduct or recorder-type mouthpieces. Priced by sound quality and playability, size & appearance. Some doubles are made in pairs for two players; the intervals of all four instruments must be tuned together. These instruments are not for beginners.
Individually priced. Occasionally, good seconds, or ones that have been tuned by a chance process are available.
Double: 2.1-9 hours $150 - $600;
Triple: 4.5-15 hrs. $250 - $1,000
BIG harmonic flutes are individually priced.
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Y whistles: see above
Space whistle sets are designed for small groups. The field tone or lowest fundamental pitch of each whistle can be played in unison with other whistles of the set by using the correct air pressure; typically, a vibrating, buzzing sound is produced. The pitch of the single finger hole may or may not be tuned. Sets are priced according to their sound and decorative quality, whether whistles are double or single, and tuning properties. Each whistle is then individually priced to give the set's total price.
Single whistles can be ordered in sets for almost any number; depending on the players, the more whistles in use, the more the sound produced can be chaotic and overwhelming.
.6-1.2 hrs. $40 - $80 ea.
Double space flutes: The intervals must be precisely tuned in order to play perfect thirds, fourths, fifths, and unisons along with their combination tones; this creates a wonderful contrast with the dissonant intervals. These are potent instruments.
4-8 hrs. $200 - $400
- 1.5-6 hrs. $270 - $600
Sculptural chamberduct flutes are individually priced as sound sculptures.
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Primitive ceramic trumpets: see above.
Polyglobular trumpets have a collection of balls and tubes with a shaped trumpet style mouthpiece and a bell. They produce a powerful, breathy and deep sound, and can be played like a didjeridu.
3-6 hrs. $200 - $400
3.5-7.5 hrs. $250 - $500
PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS:
Due to problems with clay availability, musical bowls and tubular ceramic xylophones are currently not being made.
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Musical Bowls are played with mallets, producing lovely, delicate sounds. They are sized from small to extra large. Musical bowls can only be tuned through selection from the pool of available bowls. Glazing seals the surface so that modest amounts of water can be used for fine tuning. Bowls have fired on underglaze decoration and are priced unglazed, depending on size and quality. Let me select an array for you.
.6-3.5 hours $40 - $250 ea.
Tubular ceramic xylophones have a wonderfully crisp and melodic quality. As with the bowls, they can be tuned by selecting among the available tubes. One tube can be easily changed for another to vary the scale. Under development.
SOUND SCULPTURES are uniquely designed and priced.
Flute-like acoustic systems are incorporated into larger ceramic sound sculptures, sometimes for multiple players. The sounding elements may be space whistles, howlers, large harmonic flutes or clay-doos. Each of these flutes is unique visually and sonically. Contact me for additional details if interested.