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From these humble and wonderful beginnings, bamboo musical
instruments will grow.
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Yarrow and Kathryn outside a majestic stand of bamboo,
preparing harvested pieces for transport.
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We only harvest the dead stalks, thinning the patch
and giving it more room for healthy growth.
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All the sticks must be trimmed and carefully bundled
for transport. Here Rob helps out Yarrow and Gaea with
the process. |
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This is Yarrow. She is bundling up the harvested stalks
in preparation for loading the truck.
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Rob and Scott loading the truck. You can get an idea
of just how long these sticks really are! |
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There! Now all we have to do is cut, burn, tune, finish
and make the carrying cases.
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We always clean up our act. In this picture, Rob is
tossing something up onto the truck, while Kathryn strides
to the other side to catch the overflow.
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The last load! Scott and Yarrow are ready to cart off
the last of the cleanup and head for dinner. |
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Scott cuts bamboo to size to prepare it for burning
while Rob tunes flutes. |
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This is a dijeridu in production. Here, Yarrow shapes
the mouthpiece insert needed for the larger instruments. |
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Rob uses super-hot metal rods to burn the holes in each
flute, utilizing an ancient technique passed down from
master to apprentice over many centuries. Note the stroboscopic
tuner through the haze of bamboo smoke.
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This is a great photo, because it shows several steps
of the process at once - Rob is burning holes in a flute,
Kathryn is making flute bags while Yarrow helps. You can
see unburned flutes, burned flutes and even a small portion
of Rob's stroboscopic tuner.
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Rob Yard is shown testing the meditative properties
of a freshly made flute.
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The last step of the process. Planting new plants creates
a sustainable, continous harvest from a healthy and well-tended
bamboo stand.
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