| Amon Olorin Flutes was founded in 1986 by myself
and my wife Anja Light. We live and work on a wooded hilltop near Arlee,
Montana, a small town on the Flathead Reservation of Western Montana. The name
for our business comes from the work of J.R.R. Tolkien--"Amon" means hill and
"Olorin" is vision or dream made manifest. Our small company bears this name in
appreciation for the piece of our Earth Mother that sustains and inspires us.
Our business specializes in the handcrafting, art, and music of the indigenous
North American flute. It represents not only a rebirth of an ancient but
obscure tradition, but also a contemporary refinement of traditional
flute-making techniques. My initial interest in obtaining an Indian flute resulted from a performance by Lakota artist, storyteller, and author Tony Shearer. |
 The shop in Winter |
 Tony Shearer |
The beautiful, haunting melodies produced by his 130-year-old cedar flute awakened an intense and compelling interest to experience for myself the personal enrichment so evident in Tony's work with this ancient instrument. Because at the time such flutes were very rare, most being museum pieces, I concluded that the only realistic way to obtain one was to make it myself, if indeed this was possible. Through research, trial-and-error (mostly error), and the incredible gift of being able to briefly study Tony's venerable "Lady", I created my first five-hole Lakota style flute during the winter of 1985-86. |
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| The decision to make more was as
compelling as the desire to make the first, but subsequent attempts were
extremely frustrating. It was as though the flute was encouraging me with
success, while at the same time giving a glimpse of the work it would take to
master this art. Driven by my fascination with the instrument, I continued the
painstaking process of teaching myself the technique of hand-carving the the
indigenous North American flute. To date, I have created over 3,500 flutes for customers throughout the world. I am pleased and honored that my care and love of my work is also blessing me with a reputation for producing the finest instruments of this kind available, noted for their fine crafting, sonority, and playability. |
 |
 Ken Light and R. Carlos Nakai - 1987 |
My instruments are the mainstay of many professional musicians including R. Carlos Nakai, with whom I have been working since 1987. I have also produced two well-received recordings, Songs of the Earth (1987) and From Where I Stand (1990). This perspective of being a musician and performer as well as an instrument-maker has resulted in flutes of exceptional tonal richness and playability. Most of my instruments, however, are in the hands of folks like myself, who have been drawn to the flute by the beauty of its music and who are interested in exploring this gift from the past as a tool for personal expression and enrichment. |
| Ken Light 1998 | |
 Amon Olorin Flutes goes online |
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