Question 1

Aftercare: How do I set up and look after my flute after purchase?

Accepted Answer

Watch our "getting started" videos here . They cover how to set up your flute to get a sound, playing your first notes, general flute care and how to oil / wax the wood on your flute.

Question 2

What Country are Gaia Flutes built in and who by?

Accepted Answer

The flutes sold on www.gaiaflutes.com are hand built on the Isle of Anglesey, Wales, UK by British Engineer, Flute Musician and Founder of Gaia Flutes Lawrence Libert. We do not "import" the flutes from foreign countries or use "overseas labour".

Question 3

Are Gaia Flutes easy to play and learn?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Compared to other instruments, our flutes are very easy to play and are beginner friendly! Our Gaia Flutes are designed and built by experienced flute musician Lawrence Libert. They are designed with "medium" length and finger hole sizes, meaning that you don't have to strech your fingers very far to cover all of the holes. Perfect for beginners. Lawrence also designed our flutes to have a nice shape, balance and weight, so that they are easy to hold and have a comfortable grip.Our Online Course students often go from complete beginner to playing comfortably within 4-8 weeks!

Question 4

Are Gaia Flutes hand made?

Accepted Answer

The terms "hand made" and "hand crafted" can have different definitions to different people. Our flutes are all individually made by Lawrence Libert in the UK with care and attention. Many of the stages of building the flutes are done completely with hand tools and materials. Some of the stages require power tools  such as a "Lathe" or "Drills", however, at every point of our flute building process, Lawrence is carefully operating these tools live and working on the flutes with his hands whilst it is in the tool.  At Gaia Flutes, we do not use large scale automated manufacturing processes like CNC machines, which are often used in factories to make products on mass automatically at the touch of a button. We do not produce flutes on mass, in factory "automated production lines". We do not use "overseas" labour. Every single one of our flutes is built individually with care and attention using high quality woods. We only produce a small number of flutes compared to other musical instrument makers. We focus on quality and love in the process, rather than volume.

Question 5

Are Gaia Flutes Vegan?

Accepted Answer

Yes - Gaia Flutes sold on www.gaiaflutes.com are 100% Vegan.

Question 6

Do Gaia Flutes sound good?

Accepted Answer

How good an instrument sounds is subjective. Something that sounds good to you might not to someone else. However, at Gaia Flutes, we have many happy customers that love the sound of our flutes. Our flutes have been specifically designed to have gentle and soothing tones, making them especially good for Sound Healing Practitioners to use in Sound Bath environments. Listen to samples of our flutes: click here and scroll down the page to see the videos.

Question 7

Are Gaia Flutes safe to put in my mouth?

Accepted Answer

At Gaia Flutes, we truly care about the materials that our flutes are made from. Not only are they Vegan, but we also finish our wood with a food safe grade 100% pure mineral oil and plant based Carnauba wax. Our flutes can be placed onto your lips and played. Of course, this does not mean that you can "eat the flute" so please don't do that!We do not build our flutes out of toxic plastic or use finishes that are full of toxic chemicals.

Question 8

Are Gaia Flutes made of Allergen free products?

Accepted Answer

To the best of our knowledge, our Gaia Flutes and materials to make them are free from the UK/EU 14 main food allergen categories. However, we can not 100% guarantee this is the case 100% of the time for products we receive on behalf of our suppliers. We do not use wood oils such as tung oil, walnut oil or linseed oils to finish our flutes, all of which contain known allergens. If you have any serious allergies, we advise you get in touch with us before purchase of a flute.

Question 9

Are Gaia Flutes Expensive?

Accepted Answer

Expense is subjective! Consider this: All of our flutes are individually crafted by experienced Flute Artist Lawrence Libert in the UK.We are commited to sourcing the highest quality woods, oils and materials we can find.Our woods are hard and tough, meaning that when looked after, you can enjoy it for life!We put extra energy into making sure our flutes have a non-toxic, food grade quality finish.Our woods are selected to have incredibly beautiful grains and each flute is distinctly unique!Each flute is given the same level of care, attention and quality throughout the process.We do not use "overseas" labour.  We do not use factory automated production lines to build flutes on mass. We focus on quality not quantity.Our flutes are specifically deigned to be easy to play, comfortable and sound soothing!Also consider what value does this instrument bring to your life? Many of our customers are very happy! We have Sound Healing Practitioners that are using our flutes now in their Sound Baths, with their own clients loving the sounds! We also have customers who simply wanted to start a new, fun hobby that are loving their flutes! Hence, at Gaia Flutes, we believe our flutes are very fairly priced! Why not check out our Online Course and Flute Bundle Deals, where you can get even more discounts when bought together!

Question 10

Will my Gaia Flute look exactly like the one in the product pictures?

Accepted Answer

Not exactly but close! Our Flutes are all uniquely hand crafted. Although your flute will look and sound similar to that shown on the website, each piece of wood and hence each flute is unique and may differ slightly in colour, wood grain patterns, pyrography detail and musical tone. We think this is a beautiful part of hand-built instruments. The same also applies to the Amazonite crystal beads on the flutes. Each flute may also carry some tiny marks from the hand build process and tooling. Together we call all of these features “Birthmarks”, and no 2 flutes will ever be exactly the same.

Question 11

What does flute "Scale" and "Key" mean?

Accepted Answer

Each flute is designed and built to play certain musical notes depending on how you place your fingers on it. When you learn how to move your fingers in the correct way, you will be playing a series of musical notes that all "fit together". This is called a "scale". When played as part of a piece of music, the scale will generate a certain emotive feel. For example a “Major” scale will make the music sound “happier”.The musical "Key" is basically the “home base” or tonal centre for which a specific collection of notes in a piece of music are built around. The "higher" the key, the higher pitch the instrument will sound in general. The "lower" the key, the lower pitch and deeper the instrument will sound in general. Our flutes are built in the key of A4 and are designed to play the "Minor Pentatonic Scale".  The Minor Pentatonic Scale is the most commonly used scale that modern Native American Style Flutes are built in, and is one of the things that gives the instrument its classic sound on records. You can also play notes from a "C Major" scale on our flutes. Our flutes match the Key, Scale, Tuning, musical notes and frequencies of many Crystal Singing Bowl sets used in Sound Healing. This, among other factors, is one of the reasons we call our flutes "Sound Healing Flutes". To Learn more about this, we recommend joining our Online Course, which teaches you all of this plus much more, even if you are a complete beginner with no musical background!

Question 12

What does "432hz" or "440hz" mean?

Accepted Answer

To make a musical sound that we hear, your flute must create an energetic vibration. The rate of vibration of a sound wave is called it’s “frequency”, and it is measured in units of “Hertz” (Hz). Whenthe sound wave vibrates faster, this means it’s frequency is higher and the “Hz” number will be higher. This is perceived to our ears as a musical note with higher pitch. In general, musicians have to decide and agree upon which frequencies map to which musical notes so that they all sound "in tune" with each other when playing together. This is done by taking the musical note A4, deciding which frequency it will map to, then all of the other musical notes are worked out from that point. At Gaia Flutes, we call this point the "Tuning Calibration". The two most common tuning calibrations you will find is "432hz" and "440hz". There is no right or wrong. "432hz" sounds slightly lower pitch than "440hz" and is often said to feel more "grounding". Though the change is so small, many people cannot hear the difference. There are also theories that "432hz" harmonically aligns more closely with the Earth's natural resonance known as the "Schumann resonance". Our Gaia Flutes are all built / tuned to the "432hz" tuning calibration. Instruments used in Sound Healing and Sound Baths can be tuned to both, but are much more commonly tuned to "432hz". Our flutes match the Key, Scale, Tuning, musical notes and frequencies of many Crystal Singing Bowl sets used in Sound Healing (432hz). This, among other factors, is one of the reasons we call our flutes "Sound Healing Flutes". To Learn more about this, we recommend joining our Online Course, which teaches you all of this plus much more in an easy to understand way, even if you are a complete beginner with no musical background!

Question 13

What is a Sound Bath / Sound Healing?

Accepted Answer

A Sound Bath is an immersive, meditative experience where the attendees are “bathed” in sound waves, produced from instruments such as Crystal Singing Bowls, Sound Healing Flutes, Gongs, Chimes and more. The session is delivered by a “Sound Healing Practitioner” sometimes referred to as a “Sound Healer”. Although Sound Healing is classed as "alternative or complementary medicine" many people go to Sound Baths simply because they enjoy them or find them relaxing.

Question 14

Why are Gaia Flutes referred to as “Sound Healing Flutes”?

Accepted Answer

Instruments used in Sound Healing and Sound Baths can be tuned to both, but are much more commonly tuned to "432hz". Our flutes match the Key, Scale, Tuning, musical notes and frequencies of many Crystal Singing Bowl sets used in Sound Healing (432hz). Your flute builder Lawrence Libert is also an experienced musician in the genre of relaxing music and plays regularly in Sound Baths. He has used his experience to design Gaia Flutes with Sound Healers in mind, optimising the design for more gentle frequencies, soothing tones and comfort. These are some of the key reasons why we call our flutes "Sound Healing Flutes". To Learn more about this, we recommend joining our Online Course, which teaches you all of this plus much more in an easy to understand way, even if you are a complete beginner with no musical background!

Question 15

5 vs 6 Hole Flutes. What is the difference?

Accepted Answer

All of our flutes at www.gaiaflutes.com are 5 hole flutes and are designed to play the "Minor Pentatonic" musical scale. Sometimes, you may see Native American Style Flutes that have 6 holes. The extra 6th hole is located towards the middle of the flute. In practise, there is very little difference. The musical notes on the 6 hole flutes are essentially the same as their 5 hole equivalents, apart from the addition of the 6th hole which plays an "extra musical note".However, this "extra musical note" when played in the general sense of lifting the fingers one by one from the bottom often sounds "out of scale". So, it can sound strange unless it is used in combination with more advanced techniques such as "cross fingering". For this reason, many beginners will never really use this hole. We observed that most people just keep their finger covering this hole all of the time. For more advanced players, this hole can certainly have its benefits. However, for beginners, it can cause problems. An extra hole means more risk or air leaking out by accident and sounding bad! This is why a lot of people actually choose to cover this hole with a piece of leather to lower the risk. At Gaia Flutes, we wanted our flutes to be super easy to play and beginner friendly! Hence, we decided to build simple 5 hole flutes. 5 hole flutes still have the full musical scale and sound incredible and soothing! You can play in your Sound Baths without the extra air leak risk and without having to think about "what do I do with that extra hole?".It is worth noting, you can still achieve that "extra musical note" on a 5 hole flute itself by using advanced techniques such as "half-holing". In our opinion, the 5 hole flute is the best option if you just want a simple, easy to play flute where you can play soothing melodies that sound in a "musical scale", in a simple way!

Frequently Asked Questions