I bought a bamboo flute in 1971 shortly after my discharge from the service. The flute I bought was very large and was a bit difficult to learn to play because of it's size. I got the flute before going to the bottom of the Grand Canyon with a good friend on a five day camping trip. Half way down the one mile descent I found a place to sit on a narrow ledge. I began to play and was delighted to here a tremendous echo from a cliff face several hundred yards in front of me. I played simple songs to please myself for several hours. When I finally quit I turned to see a gentleman sitting on the ledge with me. I hadn't heard or seen him approach. He said that he had enjoyed my music while climbing out the canyon. I was surprised that my playing carried that far. I wasn't very good at making music, this was my first experience playing a musical instrument, but I knew that I was hooked.
Over the next few years I taught myself to make flutes. The one that I had bought was simply too large for me to play comfortably. I made several for myself and began to give them away to people who showed an interest in my new love. While living in Denver with my younger brother in 1974, I decided to make ten bamboo flutes for sale. While I was making these first ten commercial flutes my brother came up to me and said "You'll never find ten people who will give you money for a bamboo flute". I had put all of my capitol into buying two bamboo poles and a propane torch for about ten dollars. To make bamboo flutes in the traditional way, metal rods are heated red hot and used to burn out the inside and to make the mouth and finger holes. The only other things I needed were a hacksaw (my brother had an old one) and some iron rods that I found in the alley. I came across a small weekend crafts market on Colfax Avenue that would trust me for the space rental and sold all ten flutes. I took the profits from that weekend and bought more bamboo and propane. Shortly after that I met my wife Ginger and together we have built a successful company.
At Sound Creations we believe in customer satisfaction. That philosophy has never failed us.