ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a brief collection of memories, thoughts, and anecdotes of a musical instrument maker. The first instruments he made were a couple of ceramic harmonic flutes. Several distinct impressions remain with him in utter clarity from the experiences of making those first ceramic flutes. First was the amazing tone color of the ceramic. He knew that different materials affected the resonance and production of soundwaves. He was astonished by the unusually hollow and haunting sound these ceramic musical instruments produced. His studies included hundreds of hours in museums and collections documenting ancient instruments as well as ethnographic field work in rural communities throughout Peru. Most of the instruments he made, have gone through countless generations of improvement. Voicings in the ceramic ensemble through the years include single, double, and multiple whistles and flutes, a variety of invented horns, reeds, strings, microtonal bells, percussion ranging from bullroarers, rattles and rainsticks, to directional congas, djimbes, and invented percussive forms.
