In a village of Nijmegen, Netherlands, a boy of 15 discovered his passion for making pendant-sized whistles, ocarinas. Quietly in his little workshop at Lent, he would shape clay and ceramics into small sound-producing vessels. As his soul aligned with his path, his love for clay instruments started to deepen. And thus, started the journey of a sculptor and a musician, Hans Houkes.
Hans owns a small atelier named Stonewhistle where he makes and sells clay and ceramic flutes that are simple aerophones used to produce polyphonic sounds and create healing music. The handmade wind musical instruments are available in five categories and sold under unique brand names including Innato, the popular three chambered vessel, inspired by the traditional Huaca. The single chamber instrument Ova, large sized vessel is used to produce both drum and flute sounds of low frequencies.
One of the unique creations of Hans is Natey, which is the fusion of Native American flute and his old favourite – ocarina. Natey has earned the title of ‘pocket’ NAF due to its being compact and easy to play. A modified version of Natey is Double which is like two native flutes joined side by side.
However, the first creation of Stonewhistle was the ZENflute inspired by traditional Chinese Xun and is ideal for breath meditation as the emphasis has been put on sound rather than making music. Hans says that it can be played best only during relaxation and in private.
The most challenging step in the making process is tuning the flutes. It took three years to get the perfect tune out of Innato. And today, Hans is able to tune every instrument just as he desires.
This is the art of Stonewhistle. And a snapshot from the story of the artist, Hans Houkes. Stay tuned for his upcoming works – Instagram: @stonewhistle_instruments. Website: https://stonewhistle.com/
