These tracks are played on the whistles and flutes that I make and sell. You can find them on my website, DrJohnLaurence.com/Takahe-Flutes. Also on my Etsy store TakaheFlutes, or search eBay for Takahe Flutes! In New Zealand, try TradeMe. Some instruments also feature in YouTube videos https://www.youtube.com/DrJohnLaurence/videos

Takahe Flutes, Whistle Demos

I arranged this traditional tune for piano and Takahe big-bore low-C whistle. The recording uses the full range of the whistle, C4 to C6.

The Water Is Wide, Low-C Whistle

Hear me play my Blues for the Rifleman on a 'Rifleman' Bb Penny Whistle, from Takahe Flutes. The blues was adapted from my piano blues 'Back to Work Blues'. The 2nd and 3rd verses were improvised. Note that the piece is almost entirely in the upper octave of the whistle. Note also that a penny whistle is great for the blues in the key corresponding to the first tone-hole, in this case a blues in C on the Bb Rifleman.

Blues for the Riflemqn

Blues For The Rifleman, Piano & Bb Whistle

A weird Mazurka for high-C and low-C whistles, backed by piano, bass and drums. The whistles are my Riroriro wooden high-C and Takahe PVC wide bore low-C, available online from Takahe Flutes.

Takahe Toccata

Lear's Macaw Mazurka

A version of my Cantabile as  demo for my Native American Indian 'Peace Pipe' flute. You can buy this unique new flute from my Etsy Store here: https://www.etsy.com/nz/listing/567928041/peace-pipe-handmade-north-american-style

Just Whistling Thanks!

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Kiwi Cantabile

Demo of my Bluebird flute in Gm pentatonic, dedicated to the Spix's Macaw, sadly now extinct in the wild. There is some hope that a breeding program will be successful.

Spix's Macaw Blues

A piece for low whistle and piano, in particular, my 'Matuku' large-bore low-D whistle. This is the prototype. The production whistles are now available. Matuku is the Maori name for the Australasian Bittern, which is endangered in both Australia and New Zealand.

Matuku Pastorale

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A demo of my Skylark soprano flute in G pentatonic minor. The music is a trio for the flute, piano and cello. Apologies to Vaughan Williams for nicking his title.

The Skylark Ascending

A blues for the extinct Pouakai Eagle (AKA Haast's Eagle). The song features my Pouakai low Eb penny whistle, playing in Fm. 

The Pouakai was the biggest and most powerful eagle that ever existed, as far as we know. They lived on the ostrich-like Moa. When the Maori people became established in New Zealand, they preyed on the Moa until they became extinct, leaving the Pouakai to the same fate. By about 1300AD there were none left.

Pouakai Blues

A cheerful instrumental in Celtic style, featuring my Kokako Chrome, an alto-G penny whistle. The piece is based on a riff played on a Harmony archtop four-string tenor guitar, with bass line and a bass solo on a fretless P-Bass clone. Piano is from XLN audio, and the last verse includes harmony from my Kereru II low-D whistle. The intro birdsong is played on the Kokako whistle which sounds remarkably like its namesake!

The Kokako is from a unique family of wattle birds native to New Zealand. They were in peril of extinction, but are recovering thanks to conservation efforts. With about 1600 pairs, they are now enjoying something of a Kokako Spring!

Kokako Spring

A raindance featuring American Indian style tom-toms. The theme and one variation were played on a Bluebird four-hole pentatonic minor flute. Backing harmony and another variation were played on a Kakapo low-C whistle. Piano by XLN audio and bass by Ample Sound.

"After being pushed to the brink of extinction by unregulated hunting and loss of habitat to just 21 wild and two captive whooping cranes by 1941, conservation efforts have led to a limited recovery. The total number of cranes in the surviving migratory population, plus three reintroduced flocks and in captivity, now exceeds 800 birds" (Wikipedia).

Whooping Crane Raindance

My Enya is an alto-G penny whistle using the Arabian scale. Fire Snake is a tune that I improvised for a video about the instrument. The piano part was added afterwards.

Fire Snake

This gavotte was composed on traditional lines. The piece features my Tui alto-G whistle, along with alto and concert flutes, cello and piano. It ended up quite polyphonic!

Godwit Gavotte

Demo of my Ruru SP (Saint Patrick) low-D whistle. The song is Hebridean Dream by the Tannahill Weavers, arranged by me..

Hebridean Dream

Hebridean Dream, Tannahill Weavers Cover, Low-D Whistle

"Aging rock legend in my mind."
johnlaurence@drjohnlaurence.com
John Laurence is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and singer/songwriter, with a wide range of influences from Heavy Metal to Mahler, Folk to Baroque, with a healthy dose of Blues, Classical and Jazz. Instruments he plays include keyboards, acoustic and electric guitars, bass guitar, ukulele, Godin Merlin, dulcimer, recorders and whistles, and brass including cornet/trumpet, mellophone and trombone.
  
In 2011 he was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) which had affected him undetected since childhood. Although he has a PhD and has had two successful careers, he has begun to see life with a whole new perspective. He has always been a musician at heart and is making up for lost time with a new career as a musician and composer. His music is  influenced by blues, jazz, folk, classical and rock. Given his eclectic tastes and creativity, it is not surprising that John's music has evolved in to a World Music style. A new EP has just been released, named "Last Song of the Dove".  Feedback on the album has been encouraging, especially from countries such as Canada, USA, Mexico, Japan, Israel, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. John is now producing a full length album "Takahe Toccata" building on the style of the EP and dedicated to the World's endangered birds.