Ice Age Flute found in a cave in Germany

Erik the flutemaker's Ice Age Flute can be found at eriktheflutemaker.com/collecti...
Inspired by an Ice Age Flute found in a cave in Germany. I passionately sought to make some to see what it would sound like. By blowing up the picture in the article to the stated length I had a great place to start. The last hole on the relic was only partially present so I included that hole and cut the instrument where it was in tune with itself. Later I went wider for better tone. The original was made for a vulture bone. Eventually the flute would have moved into a more mellow sound using wood. Erik the flutemaker.

[@j.m.mitterando471]

It has an, almost, ..haunting, voice. Beautiful.

[@austriahungary4935]

Have you ever feeled this "Strange" nostalgia when listening to old musics? even If you didnt lived there in that century? that makes you want to Live there?

[@jackcraven7979]

Gregorian chant makes me think of the middle ages I'm catholic & I've been to the Latin mass & they use Gregorian chant & incense it's been unchanged since 1570

[@hudaarifathul6950]

True

[@Robbie-pc1dl]

yeah

[@vedantsridhar8378]

Yeah it gives me chills as if I'm shivering or freezing during the cold ice age nights. In a dark cave

[@grippatherippa3909]

"even if you didn't live in that century?"buddy, we're talking over millennias ago

[@user-id3uj3db6o]

1:38 so cool

[@coltzstar5954]

Yea

[@huldrrrr9486]

Not only the sound of the flute, but the melody you came up with is incredibly beautiful. You truly have a great talent

[@egfloggygoggy]

incredible indeed.

[@boomgraffiti6134]

Yeah I need a 1 hour version of this 🤩🤩🤩🤩

[@FullmetalAngyl]

"A grin, not a pucker" So they played with a smile. :) It's a nice visual.

[@xfrombfb616]

1:22 mr incredible becoming old

[@iOSalltheway]

Damn this flute sounds hauntingly beautiful, the melody has a Japanese/Korean feel to it

[@kevinmencer3782]

Glad I'm not the only one who heard that.

[@orirune3079]

Pentatonic minor will sound like that!

[@huldrrrr9486]

This is genuinely beautiful, both the sound and the melody. I even dream of it sometimes, just something about it hits something deep in my soul

[@miketaylor6869]

When i hear this melody it gives me memories i don't have about ancient times, maybe its in our genes who knows.

[@chickenmine778]

not alot of comments

[@SirMrShanks]

@@miketaylor6869 this is not an accurate replica of the flute that was played thousands of years ago. So your communt is mute.

[@JustinSeara]

Generic memories. Our human ancestors probably took comfort in this kind of music

[@robinwitting2023]

"The ghosts of our father's calling from the land far beyond... " Bob Dylan

[@lazybigboy]

1:22 The flute sound is so sweet

[@egfloggygoggy]

pretty incredible

[@farizbowo]

Need 1 hour of that

[@Federal_Bureau_of_Investigatio]

evolution of music @@egfloggygoggy

[@clippedwings225]

After half a year I still can't stop coming back to this video.

[@michelnagumaqmorton]

Nice One Erik , EPIC ! its funny I stumble upon this video as I am making my first Eagle bone flute . I will always remember staying at your place , visiting your shop, feasting with your friends and family . I have always been a flute maker and in love with the spirit since . God bless you my brother .

[@gregoryorshortestfilmsanim635]

2016:Nice Ice Age Flute! 2022 mr. Incredible memes:I can milk you

[@Federal_Bureau_of_Investigatio]

i came here from evolution of music

[@somebody2116]

Quite literally the sound of my ancestors

[@palhairthegreat7643]

1:38 the best part

[@SamsajasHang]

This is SO beautiful, thank you! So great that you made this flute!

[@vedantsridhar8378]

How is this music giving me perfect memories of being in a dark cave at night during the ice age, with a fire on!

[@mouseavi1906]

1:21 i found the part of mr incredible becoming old

[@trollface8877]

Thank you

[@mouseavi1906]

No problem

[@118Oganesson]

Sometimes my brain plays this sound that isn't from the modern world. For example, the sounds in the video. I think once in my life my brain played these sounds and when I listened to the sounds I feel nostalgic.

[@kingjsolomon]

One of my favorites!!!

[@ColossalView]

I really enjoyed this video. I got this flute years ago and love the sound and history behind it. Great instrument for experimenting too.

[@mrmister1657]

Even the room your in gives me ice ageish vibes for some reason, the walls look blue and white like ice

[@skydomeblue]

Vibes zaman purba 🗿

[@niya8520]

This gave me chills. So beautiful

[@WeKnowPipeSmoker]

Very beautiful Erik

[@mreyeball3085]

This guys whole channel is amazing

[@sekipkoc4856]

its like hearing a old friends voice

[@perfectlypurepinkpompompan3467]

EPIC!!! I love this.

[@rogerroger730]

Superb.

[@alfasatu7543]

Beautiful

[@deathroman13]

I bought this flute a few days ago and I love it.

[@Maria22__]

what name this flute please tell me i can't understand English so much

[@SaadKhan-yw3dg]

@@Maria22__ check the description there's a link

[@espositolaurent5741]

This is a beautiful flute

[@farizbowo]

I need 1 hour of this

[@maxvegabond3766]

Why does this give me nostalga?

[@clippedwings225]

Maybe a great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandparent of yours played this flute!

[@gallevitikusgenderlordmigo6324]

Danke Erik, hat mir als Hobby-Musiker viel Inspration gegeben ;)

[@davidcoates5732]

It looks and sounds like a Japanese Shakuhachi, lovely sound

[@SpiderMan_ptptpt.com64]

So INCREDIBLE (Only gods can understand)

[@SpiderMan_ptptpt.com64]

1:21

[@pierrevicenzovt1191]

Mr incredible becoming old

[@SpiderMan_ptptpt.com64]

@@pierrevicenzovt1191 gg

[@lancecooperrivera3381]

That was magical

[@lancecooperrivera3381]

I love this

[@hi-xp4hw]

1:22 so incredible

[@bearshield7138]

nice job

[@ErikTheFlutemakerCom]

Thanks!

[@Agus_tol_Cipularang]

Mr incredible

[@warantis8953]

the natural elements are still cool

[@kishascape]

I wonder what kind of music and styling they had and would play back then though. Honestly would prefer an exact representation too instead of the hole on the back “because easy” since that would have an influence on how and what would be played on it.

[@DunaBallCountryBall]

1:21

[@rachelgohlman3582]

Its like a shakuhachi

[@bernardinelermite1133]

Hi Erik, and thanks for your interesting videos ! I have just ordered one "Ice Age" flute from you, but more because I Iike how small and portable it is versus having a great sound too (I like to play in the forest) than the fact it is an "Ice Age" inspired instrument : indeed, what's left from the Ice Age instrument if neither the material, nor the size of the pipe (both length and diameter), nor the holes position are the same ?? Just asking, lol.

[@jean-loupringot5940]

Yes you are right, neither the size or the shape of his flute are the same as those of the "flute" of Hohle Fels (Which was certainly not a flute but a reed instrument!)

[@arnoldashraf528]

cool 😎

[@roblux3789]

This sound is very liminal. Very... strange. It sounds so familiar yet so distant. It sounds so alienic. Like a exotic type of sound. It sounds absolutely familiar. But yet so strange ailenic. It is so liminal yet uniquely nostalgia. It rushes nostalgia.

[@ErikTheFlutemakerCom]

I agree. There are times when I play the Ice Age Flute it seems I am sitting in a cave looking out at a forgotten landscape sitting by "A Mammoth Poet."

[@roblux3789]

@ErikTheFlutemakerCom Same. I grew up in Mongolia. Where ice age hit its Northern land. We have a similiar type of music. And a very cold country. This all combined just makes me feel liminal. I feel like im travelling in a caravan in Siberian ice age 24,000 years ago. Great skills

[@nmuGame]

Thanks for dah for making this music in 1800bc

[@m0mesdanky360]

18000 b.c

[@AshKhenir]

Beautiful sound, question ... Does the flute have a block like that naturally present in a cane flute by the wall or does the v notch restrict the air to allow for resonance?

[@ErikTheFlutemakerCom]

The V mouthpiece creates sound. We open the bottom for good tuning. Erik

[@aukua5512]

To me, the flute almost sound like Native American to me. But it is not, it is an ice age flute.

[@drock55551]

They use the same scale. So does the Shakuhachi.

[@aukua5512]

drock55551 Ok, I get it now. It just sound like a Native American flute to me, but your right, they use the same scale.

[@palhairthegreat7643]

Aukua I knew it prehistoric flute

[@macart5429]

@@drock55551 It doesn’t sounds have that “Japanese” sound type like the Shakachi which is made of Bamboo

[@A-G-F-]

There are theories that native americans come from Altai, its plausible that theyre an evolution of the same instrument, or just a big coincidence

[@gorem101]

1:22 Evolution of music

[@ikbalcoeg9273]

Its sounds like shakuhachi

[@Beijingcorn_aviation]

Here is what it sounds *Insta Mr incredible becoming old*

[@modo5091]

hello Erik I was wondering have you made a ice age flute out of vulture bone or as close as you can with bamboo.

[@ErikTheFlutemakerCom]

+Mo Do Hi Mo: Our fist ones were made with extremely thin bamboo and sounded awful. Once we found good tone we had something. So consider my flute to be inspired by their flue. I once made a bone flute. Rather yucky and smelly when sanding and extremely high pitch with no resonance. Bamboo fills the shop with incense when I burn it. Sounds great and pretty easy to play after some practice. Regards, Erik

[@modo5091]

+Erik The Flutemaker thanks for the reply. I was thinking about the ice age flute. Maybe they made better ones back then. perhaps the flutes that were made out of vulture bone around the camp fire was for their children or just for practice.

[@michaelboylan5308]

Very interesting, The Hohle Fels flute was made from the wing bone of a griffon vulture c, 38000 B,C, Eric says the original flute was kinda pentatonic, But is it/isnt it? If when Eric made a replica in bamboo it was too high then in what key was the original flute? Erics version is of wood & wider than the original so the tone is richer.mellower Could this tone be achieved on the original? Scholarly articles/references appreciated

[@ErikTheFlutemakerCom]

Hi Michael. The original flute would have been extremely high pitch. Imagine playing a straw. But the acoustics in the cave would have made it interesting to listen to. The wider bamboo version would have been much lower. Erik the flutemaker

[@jean-loupringot5940]

The original insttrument was rather a reed instrument (like a small clarinett) than a flute!

[@beowulf4100]

You gotta start making. The neanderthal flute

[@ErikTheFlutemakerCom]

Isn't that the small Bear bone 2 or 3 hole flute? People like a flute with at least 5 or 6 or more notes. Regards, Erik

[@beowulf4100]

@@ErikTheFlutemakerCom just intresting

[@ploypanaruk3397]

he play perfetly

[@ErikTheFlutemakerCom]

Thanks

[@chariotrequiem6552]

Hi

[@lancecooperrivera3381]

Woww

[@johnhamilton4816]

Get an idea of ?

[@renthehopepowerofst496]

0:14

[@benplant286]

What type of flute is this so I can buy it please? 😊

[@ErikTheFlutemakerCom]

I call it the ice age flute. The above link in the description will take you there. Erik

[@awesomekidgaming7535]

Boss music

[@yellowhumanearthlover608]

💜🌟🤩✨

[@ThePLONY]

1:22 Mr incredible becoming old

[@joymailed]

Fascinating! Thank you! I was researching a novel and trying to imagine what this would have sounded like. This was so helpful to get an idea of it. In my story-this music is important so I had to really imagine. This is so beautiful and helpful.

[@teaprofessor3521]

It plays really well. I feel like a Neanderthal. Congratulations...

[@hafizperdana5967]

Looks like quena

[@alangonna6021]

Music 18000 BCE

[@daveman5860]

How do they know where to drill the holes for the right tuning? Did they practice with Clay first,,, And then you get it tuned, and then replicated the clay prototype in wood? 🤔

[@ErikTheFlutemakerCom]

Hi Dave: In my own experience of making flutes in time they kept sounding better and better. and when you had a good master flute you wanted to copy it. Some of the marking on the Ice Age flute revealed that the flutemaker may have marked that flute from a good one he already liked. I have many master flutes now that make my others. As to clay and wood here are some thoughts: The cave men ate big animals and birds and after dinner had time to relax and create with the bones. I imagine many bones were tossed to new tamed puppy wolf that became their dog and other bones became drilling tools to make clothing and other things. Some bones became a few instruments. Some to bang on a drum with the animal skin and others became small, thin flutes that sounded nice in the cave acoustics. I suspect blowing hot air into their hands to warm them and one day hearing sound inspired them with the concept of air splitting and resonating in the hands could be done with other materials like clay. When I think of the best cave to live in, it would have has some water dripping. Using mud, rocks, leaves one could create a basin for that water to contain it. Soon I would have used mud, clay to make a bowl to hold water, soup, dinner. In time you had experience working with clay and clay whistles to use as a warning and to call your dog or the clan to come and eat and later ocarinas for after dinner music. Flutes from bones were longer and the holes could be made from a sharp thin stone tool. Where bamboo grew the flute culture is amazing. India, China, Japan. Cane grew around the Mediterranean and there was a flute culture there with it. As there was no bamboo in Europe one would have to create a machine to hollow out wood to make it hollow. So wood flutes would have come later. Thus an Industrial revolution to survive in that cold area and eventually bringing us the sophisticated metal silver flute and saxophone. I imagine a good flutemaker in every place in ever era wanted to reproduce his best flutes. Erik

[@KevinMorgan]

How could they know what the right tuning was?

[@daveman5860]

@@KevinMorgan buy ear, what sounded right to them, to play a happy little tune. No more than a handful of notes, on a little prehistoric flute. Find a lead note that you like and work up or down, in steps, from there. I imagine that if a person were to drill random holes along the tube, one will get different notes, I'm sure, but what would become of a melody? 🥰

[@ErikTheFlutemakerCom]

Hi Dave, when an ancient harp is found they did not know the tuning because the strings are deteriorated and gone. But a flute has holes and has a length so it can be reproduced. In the hand of a musician a broken flute can be tweaked into a decent tuning like this one, where the bottom was missing. At the end of the day, a bone flute is very high and shrill. And a wider bamboo flute is mellow with tone, so I say my Ice Age flute is inspired by the blown up picture to the measurements mentioned in the article about this find. There is even a flute maker's marking on the original. When I make my flutes I use good Master Flutes to copy, so my master flutes have lines. I suspect a cave dweller would have blown into his hands to warm them on a cold day and would eventually discover he or she could make sounds with air. As the cave with water would have had mud and stones to make a reservoir to collect more, they could have used mud to make bowls and dishes and also to reproduce what their hands could play and eventually would have a whistle to call their new pet wolf puppy who stayed behind, to become their dog. The whistle could call the dog, imatate birds to hunt and warn of danger. But after dinner, when they had time and light from a fire, holes could be placed in a mud whistle to become an ocarina. And by stretching it and leaving it by the fire to bake it would have become a clay flute. But they ate birds like storks and vultures and hunted bears and small flutes were found in caves made from their bones and wings.

[@alexiboo7309]

Isn't the song at the beginning also at the start of the first ice age film? 😂😅

[@laquesadilla6927]

No

[@Konte1]

Do you ship to Greece?

[@ErikTheFlutemakerCom]

HI! Not right now. All international shipping had to be suspended when a customer after buying a $135 sax had to come up with over 500 Euros for customs. a bit later we will reopen again to the world, stay safe, Erik

[@sambac2053]

How did you establish the tuning?

[@ErikTheFlutemakerCom]

Great question. From knowing how long the flute was, from the picture being stretched and noticing one 1/2 hole was cut off and never found. That hole is in my flute. We decided to cut the flute at the place where it was in tune with the other holes. This was my inspiration in my tuning. As bone was very thin the sound would have been very shrill. But I heard deep in the cave the acoustics were very nice. Our bamboo flute is much wider so it would have much more of a lower tone. Erik

[@reapersend2383]

@@ErikTheFlutemakerCom The orginal ocarina. Commonly observed within the game Zelda.

[@fedor261]

I wanna version without comments

[@reapersend2383]

The orginal ocarina.

[@Donpepecapo]

Looks like a quena.

[@twanhams2635]

Water tribe music 🎶

[@reapersend2383]

The orginal ocarina.

[@colddarkness1798]

Neanderthal made the flute and they say they were not cultural

[@closetdemonproductions1890]

Scuse me is the music copyrighted

[@ErikTheFlutemakerCom]

no : )

[@closetdemonproductions1890]

Erik The Flutemaker yeeeeeeeesss

[@calon_sopir_trans_jogja]

1:23 meme mr incredible becoming uncanny

[@grubhubdad2.079]

Are u sure "brcoming uncanny"

[@chrisfr2358]

I know I'm kinda late, but could you help me with the name of the song?

[@ErikTheFlutemakerCom]

Most of the time when I am playing I am simply improvising. No names to most of my music unless it was a song on a cd or on Sound Cloud or Itunes. Regards, Erik

[@chrisfr2358]

@@ErikTheFlutemakerComthe melody at 1:38 is sooo beautiful it hurts, I've been trying so hard to find anything that closely resembles it. Instead I just always comeback and listen to that little section over and over.

[@ErikTheFlutemakerCom]

@@chrisfr2358 Interesting how music can reach deep into us. All the best, Erik

[@oaxacachaka]

I call it “Cave woman leave me and mammoth has flat leg blues...”

[@WhyBrk]

A oh guys 1:22 mr incredible

[@ifyoureadthisurfatherless6579]

Ooga booga

[@AR-oy9li]

Ice age ?we were spart enough to play music already ?

[@denissaliaj9459]

Birds make music. Its not about development its in the species most of animals sing somehow

[@mohamedosman8504]

1:22 That's incredible . . . . . . . . Only the legends will get it

[@RunoRansom]

This sounds like native-american scammer music. You're not playing it right. European flute melodies are completely different.

[@thebaldeagle17]

Not a real ice age flute. Thumbs down!

[@sasuncion2519]

That is disrespectful

[@thebaldeagle17]

@1 1 12

[@thebaldeagle17]

@@sasuncion2519 that's what I was going for.

[@reapersend2383]

@1 1 The orginal ocarina. Commonly observed within the game Zelda. The bone flute or trumpet.

[@jean-loupringot5940]

@@sasuncion2519 No, that is right!

[@user-wp4lj2hu4x]

1:22

[@mariviccuenca7053]

1:22

[@simplyguychannel]

1:18