ABOUT THE FLUTES

In collaboration with Washington-based master flute maker Brent Haines, Robert Mirabal offers the finest Native American Flutes on the market today-prized by artists, musicians and collectors the world over. All Mirabal flutes are handmade with precision care. Each is expertly tuned to concert-quality standards to ensure perfect tonal blending with other instruments.

Mirabal Flutes feature a "bird nest," or totem platform designed with side rails to prevent twisting while strapping it to the flute. The air channel is sealed with an acrylic finish to reduce swelling of the wood in this moist environment. A satin-polished finish gives our flutes a silky smooth feel but tough-as-nails durability. This non-toxic process gives the wood a natural glow and deeply satisfying luster that is a joy just to hold. We have found no other finish to be as tough, waterproof or low maintenance.

Our mouthpieces are designed to achieve perfect fit. Trilling, tonguing, and other playing techniques can be easily achieved without the mouthpiece rolling from side-to-side-so common in other flutes. Using a 5/16th bore, we've also eliminated the unwanted sound of airiness caused by air passing through a tight passage. A beautiful flute bag designed with an internal pouch for the safekeeping of the birdie and leather strap is available for an additional $25.

It was a ghost that came to me… I became the flute maker… I became the flute player… I became the flute.

Robert Mirabal is one of the leaders of the Native American flute renaissance and for the past 20 years has been crafting instruments of such high quality that several have been acquired by the Smithsonian Museum.

When I was 18, I bought my first flute at a Powwow from Adam Trujillo, a man from the same kiva society as my grandfather. There's a reason when you're born that you will have certain friends and associations, that you will become part of the same society.

Studying the flute's design and construction, Robert began crafting his own instruments, experimenting with size, length, circumference and the placement of note holes.

I put a knife to it and laid it open. I followed the old man's style—from the tips of the fingers to the tip of the elbow—and there I found the social connection between tribes.

Finding a source for Western Cedar in nearby Tres Piedras, Robert brought two truckloads back to the Pueblo and started work.

This wood possesses immense spiritual content. We use it for cooking and in our kivas. It defines who Taos Pueblo people are.

Word traveled fast that there was a young flute maker rediscovering forgotten techniques. Musicians and collectors beat a path to his door. Soon he was not only making flutes but playing them. Using borrowed equipment he recorded his first album, Sistoli, and his sister, Denise, went from store to store selling them.

First it was just a few at a time… and then boxes at a time. We couldn't keep them in stock.

As he matured he took to the stage, and audiences discovered a man who played with soulful mastery. Touring became the focus of his artistic expression and he traveled the world playing his music.

When I got home I started incorporating all the music I had heard in my travels…

It was also at this time that Robert took a more scientific approach to flute-making. Following the theory of "fluid dynamics" he began to work with the complicated formulas that affect a flute's sound.

We create eddies with our breath and this unstable air produces sound. The flute becomes the tool for organizing this energy.

Today, collaborating with master flute maker Brent Haines, Robert now offers a line of Mirabal Native Flutes that combine centuries-old tradition with 21st century physics and manufacturing techniques—the finest Native American flutes available.