CARVED BY HAND · AMAZON & ANDES
We carry what makes sound: native drone flutes carved from Amazonian hardwood, ceremonial frame drums, maracas, and the sonidos — rattles strung from sheep hooves. Every one of them made by hands we have shaken.
THE FLUTES
A drone flute carries two chambers side by side: one holds a single steady note, the other plays the melody over it. One player, two voices. Ours are carved from muracatiara — a dense, striped Amazonian hardwood — and tuned by ear, one at a time, in keys of Am, F and G. No two sound exactly alike, because no two pieces of wood are alike.
Opening the case…
Looking for a key we don’t have in hand? Edwin carves to order — tell us what you are after.
WHERE WE PLAY THEM
The video at the top of this page was filmed at El Tatio, the geyser field on the Chilean altiplano, on a February morning at 10:44. Thirty-one minutes later we were standing at the edge of the canyon in this photograph, still carrying the same flute.
We take the instruments with us. That is how we learn what each one does — how it holds a note in thin air, how it answers a canyon wall. A flute that has never been played outside is only furniture.
The recording on this page is unedited apart from levelling the volume. The wind and the water you hear behind the flute are the geysers.
HOW THEY ARE MADE
Edwin carves in the north of Brazil, close to where the wood grows. The bore is cut, the block is shaped, the holes are opened one at a time, and after each one he stops and plays. The tuning is not measured — it is listened into place.
Turn the sound on and you can hear the workshop behind him: the blade, the sanding, and the short test notes between cuts.
Filmed in his workshop, July 2026. We buy directly from Edwin — no middleman, no wholesale house.
FRAME DRUMS
Ceremonial frame drums, made in Brazil: a single hide pulled over a wooden hoop and laced at the back, played with the hand or a soft beater. Deep, dry, and loud enough to carry outdoors.
Checking the wagon…
MARACAS
Dried gourd filled with seed, handle bound in thread or hide. Each one is voiced by what is inside it — a few seeds give a sharp tick, a full chamber gives a wash. We choose them by shaking, never by looking.
Shaking the basket…
SONIDOS
Known across the Andes as chajchas or simply sonidos. Cleaned sheep hooves are tied in rows onto a woven band; shaken, they make a dry cascade that no shaker can imitate. Nothing is wasted and nothing is raised for them.
Untangling the band…
THE WAITING LIST
We bring instruments back in small numbers, and they usually leave at markets before they reach the site. Leave your e-mail and the family you want, and we will write to you when the next ones arrive — before they go on the shelf.
