Martin Doyle and his small but dedicated team have created numerous flutes throughout 2025. As this memorable year draws to a close, the flute that we selected to feature is a six key boxwood flute that was completed in August for a client in America.
More photos, including the one above, can be viewed on Martin Doyle’s photostream at Flickr.
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Question: Is there any kind of flute or whistle that is simpler than a simple system flute?
Answer: Well, as it turns out, yes there is. Known as the N’dehou, it is an end blown single note Pygmy flute that is made of bamboo.
Question: What can be done with one note?
Answer: One could mimic birds I suppose, but it turns out that, in the hands of the right person, much can be accomplished with a single note flute. A great exponent of the N’dehou is the Cameroonian composer, writer, and musicologist Francis Bebey (1929-2001). In the video below he demonstrates what a creative musician with a N’dehou might be capable of. In his words, it is a form of conversation that takes place between the flute and the player.
How joyful!
Martin Doyle recently visited Gandharva Loka in Dublin to drop off a pair of flutes made from native New Zealand timbers – the last of the ‘KiwiCelt’ flute line that Martin has produced throughout the years. Here is a video clip of Martin playing the flute made of black maire wood in the Gandharva Loka store.
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July in Ireland means many things to many people, no doubt. It’s mid-summer for one thing and the sun brings welcome warmth to the land, so there must be some joy in most hearts. For the Irish traditional music fraternity though, July means only one thing: the annual Willie Clancy Summer School which is held in Milltown Malbay, County Clare.
For a week or so each July, the small coastal town near Spanish Point is swamped with music teachers, students, aficionados and keen lovers of the great Irish music tradition for master classes, music sessions, concerts and all that comes with such activities. Milltown Malbay is synonymous with the famed Clare musician Willie Clancy (1918—1973) who was a great exponent of the uilleann pipes specifically and Irish traditional music in general.
Continue readingMartin Doyle‘s good friend Shardul has recently been featured in a short documentary produced by Nelson Myers-Daly. Shardul, who teaches meditation in New Zealand, has been playing Martin Doyle flutes since 2000 and is a student the spiritual Master Sri Chinmoy who Martin has also made flutes for over the years. Shardul specialises in playing Sri Chinmoy’s meditative music and plays a few pieces in various settings during the documentary.
The particular flute that Shardul is playing is a three keyed D-flat flute made from African Blackwood that was in fact originally made for Sri Chinmoy. It was commissioned by Maral Siegel of New York who is also a student of Sri Chinmoy, and was presented to Sri Chinmoy at the Royal Albert Hall in London by Martin himself after the Master’s peace concert there in 2003 at a post concert function. Unfortunately an injury to one of Sri Chinmoy’s hands prevented him from playing the flute for very long and it was returned to Maral who eventually gave it to Shardul as a gift a couple of years later.
Since that time, Shardul has played Sri Chinmoy’s music in a wide variety of public spaces including hospitals. Encouraged by Sri Chinmoy who once told him that soulful, meditative music would help to alleviate humanity’s sufferings, Shardul has played regularly in hospitals in Auckland and Christchurch – particularly in the large ten floor glass topped atrium in the central Auckland hospital where some of the documentary footage was shot.
We hope you enjoy the video clip and we would also like to offer everyone our best wishes for the New Year. May your hopes and dreams bear fruit and bring you joy, peace and fulfilment in 2017. Kind regards from Martin Doyle and his team.
September 26 this year saw Martin Doyle attend the 20th Sligo Festival of Baroque Music where he had been invited to have a instrument makers stall and offer a workshop on Baroque flute making.
Martin Doyle’s stall at the 20th Sligo Festival of Baroque Music, September 2015
Reflecting on the event, Martin commented that he had a wonderful time, met some lovely people and attended some excellent workshops and recitals.
Members of the Collegium Marianum offer a recital at the 20th Sligo Festival of Baroque Music, September 2015
One of the people who really impressed Martin was the Czech flute player Jana Semerádová, whose Baroque flute master class and recitals Martin attended. The following is a video clip of Jana performing a concerto in G major for flute by the Italian Baroque composer and violinist Giuseppe Tartini with members of the Collegium Marianum.
The three day 20th Sligo Festival of Baroque Music commences on September the 25th and Martin Doyle has been invited by the festival’s organisers to attend as an artisan exhibiter and to offer a flute making workshop.
Martin has been making simple system Irish flutes since the early 1980s and his first batch of Baroque flutes were crafted in 2000. Modelling his Baroque flutes on an eighteenth century Rottenburgh flute design, Martin has made several batches since and generally uses either boxwood or African Blackwood.
Martin Doyle Baroque Flute made of Boxwood
The 20th Sligo Festival of Baroque Music is being held at The Model in Sligo and Martin Doyle’s Flute Maker Workshop begins at 11 am on Saturday September the 26th.