Help with my brother's flute - is it broken?
TLDR - is this flute broken or missing pieces? No sound comes out.
Hi everyone,
My brother got this flute about 25 years ago from somewhere in South Dakota. I am not sure if it was a gift or if he purchased it.
Back in Australia, we have been cleaning out our childhood home and I came across the flute. Excuse my ignorance, but is it broken or missing a piece?
In Google photos it looks like the totem bird is tied over a hole at the top. The top of the flute has a pointed tip, with a small hole in it. I couldn't see any like it when I Googled it.
When I tried holding the totem bird in place (based off Google photos I was looking at) with 1 hand and covering some notes with the other I couldn't produce a sound.
Is it broken/missing pieces or do I just need to secure the totem at the right spot? Also, the little hole at the very top is teeny tiny. (Australia in currency used for scale - not much help to many people in this subreddit, I imagine!)
If you can point me in the right direction or give me your advice I would really appreciate it. The sound of the flute on YouTube clips is just so beautiful and it would awesome to learn to play the instrument.
Thanks so much!