Five days to go before the 60th Florida Folk Festival begins. Arlo Guthrie is scheduled to perform, along with many other accomplished musicians and artists. I hope to have a lively vending experience; I’m sure it will be.

Afternoon thunderstorms have again returned to Florida, the lightening capitol of North America. These seasonal storms add levels of excitement to outdoor vending/festivals unrivaled in other parts of the country. A few weeks ago, at the Musical Echoes Native American Flute Festival in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, the sky opened up and the rain poured down Saturday afternoon, forcing the management to cancel all evening performances for fear of electrocutions. Sunday afternoon strong winds blew the cover off the stage, ending the festival a few hours earlier than scheduled.

I got the white tent I use for vending a few years ago from just such a storm. Without warning it swept the parking lot of the Farmer’s Market with hail, rain, lightening and strong uplifting winds that sent a dozen vendor’s tents flying through the air. Some vendors that were trying to hold their tents down scrambled for safety, as the air became electrified and turned their metal tent frames into lightening rods.

The storm destroyed the market that afternoon in a matter of minutes. Afterwards I walked across the street to look at crumpled tents hanging in trees and drowned in puddles. They looked like giant squashed white spiders. A woman who owned one said that the garbage service was on it’s way to dispose of hers. I asked her if I could have it. She gave it to me and I repaired four broken struts with metal splints. The tent canopy was fine. That’s how I got my white tent and that’s how I learned about Florida thunderstorms. They can be nasty.

My sister, Betsy, has agreed to help me vend at the Florida Folk Festival. She’s never experienced a Florida thunderstorm without the protection of four walls and a roof. I’ve told her that all she has to bring with her is a positive attitude. I think all my camping/vending equipment is in order. I have big blue tarps, and lots of weights to hold stuff down, just in case.

Most small and empty univalve seashells encase spiral columns of air space that can be resonated to produce sound. The shell, Terebra Turritella, commonly known as the Screw Shell or Unicorn Shell, encases a conical helix air space. Experts report that Its shape has remained the same since the Jurassic Period.

The first eight whorls, counting from the shell opening (aperture) to the pointy end (apex), are hollow. After that the whorls are solid to the shell apex. A whorl is one revolution of the spiral. If one draws a lengthwise center line on the shell, one spiral revolution begins on the line and ends on the adjacent whorl line, either above or below the starting point.

The air space inside one spiral revolution of the Terebra Turritella shell increases or decreases in volume logarithmically. Diatonic musical notes also increase or decrease in pitch logarithmically. In the case of the Terebra Turritella shell the spiral logarithmic air space contains the logarithmic diatonic musical scale potential. Another way of saying that is the diatonic musical scale is dormant within the first eight whorls of theTerebra Turritella shell.

The Terebra Turritella shell releases the diatonic musical scale of notes when five pitch holes are drilled into whorls 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8, following the lengthwise axis line of the shell. The logarithmic shape of the shell’s air space corresponds to and contains the diatonic scale of notes. In fact, an octave and a half of diatonic and chromatic notes are available.

No mathematical measurements or calculations are required or necessary to create this musical instrument. All other musical instruments in the world, capable of releasing the pentatonic, diatonic and chromatic scales of notes, require the use of mathematical calculations or measurements in their construction.

The Turritella Shell Flute is a primal and natural musical instrument. I consider it to be the Mother of Music and Musical Instruments. It’s spiral shape, along with the five pitch holes, releases an octave and a half of pentatonic, diatonic and chromatic notes. The shell contains all the mathematical calculations required to make this happen. Why a snail created this shell shape is a matter of conjecture.

Conch by E B White:

Hold a baby to your ear

As you would a shell:

Sounds of centuries you will hear

New Centuries foretell.

Who can break a baby’s code?

And which is the older-

The listener or his small load?

The held or the holder?

Last week I made a lot of seashell spiral flutes. All but a few played diatonic musical scales. Those few were somehow misshapen – they were elongated more than normal Terebra Turritella shells. I assume something in the environment caused this.

To the eye, these elongated shells are still pleasing to look at. But to the ear; they are not pleasing at all. When the five pitch holes are drilled through the shell they produce an ‘out of tune’ scale of notes.

A normal Terebra Turritella shell will produce pentatonic, diatonic and chromatic scales of notes when five pitch holes are drilled through whorls number 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8. The two half steps of the diatonic scale are in whorls 2 and 6. In fact, each of the five pitch holes produce sharps, flats and micro tones, giving the player the ability to play the chromatic scale of notes. Slight variations in the force of the breath make this possible.

The shape of the tube has everything to do with the range and sensitivity of the instrument. As it is the first conical helix shaped flute ever made nothing is known about it, scientifically, except what Rollins College Physics Dept has discovered, and they haven’t published their findings yet. (They’ve been studying the instrument for over five years.). More research needs to be done to explain why this instrument works.

A couple of years ago I recorded ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ in a professional sound studio on a seashell flute in the key of B. The sound engineer added a reverb effect to the recording. He said it made it sound better. I’ve practiced more since then and can probably do better now, but the recording will give you an idea of what the instrument is capable of.

The next time I record seashell flute music I’d like to be accompanied by other instruments. I’ve played with Native American Flute musicians. The two different types of flutes sound good together. I’ve also played with a steel drum musician at a farmer’s market I vend at. Again, the instruments sound good together.

Last year brought two new experiences my way: I was asked to play my seashell flute over a PA system at the New Smyrna Beach Farmer’s Market during the Christmas season. The Beau Sister’s were singing Christmas songs and during one of their breaks I played ‘Greensleeves’. I remember being a little nervous but it sounded good and people seemed to like it.

I usually can’t get away from my vending booth long enough to play tunes with the hired musicians because I don’t have any help. So I just play along with them from a distance. I find it’s a good way to advertise my wares. People hear me and are attracted to the sounds. They’re curious and want to find out what’s making that soft flute music.

I’ve gotten a lot of practice over the years playing my seashell flutes along with different musicians at the markets. That’s one of the main benefits farmer’s markets have given me. Lot’s of practice. It’s how I’ve become a Shellist. Practice. I tell everyone that the seashell flute is not an easy instrument to play. It’s just like any other instrument. You have to practice a lot to sound any good.

The first time I played in front of an audience using a PA system was at the Silverhawk Native American Flute Festival last year. That was also my first NAF event and I feel I will always remember it as the best. You know how that goes. Anyway, the MC at the event announced that it was open mic and anyone who wanted to could come up and play a tune. I played Amazing Grace and something Celtic sounding.

This spring I am scheduled to vend at four or five music festivals. I’m excited to be able to play along with many excellent quality musicians, from a distance, of course. A few of the festivals are NAF events. I really like the sound of NAFs and the quality of the music. It’s a soothing and soulful style of flute music.

I will be vending at the 60th Florida Folk Festival this Memorial Day weekend and expect it to be my biggest event. It certainly is an honor to be part of that great musical tradition. I have been asked to be a ‘demonstrator’ also. I think that means showing folks how I make the instruments, talk about how I discovered them and perform a few tunes, away from my booth. I sure hope my sister, Betsy, is able to help me vend.

Why wasn’t the seashell whistle flute discovered or made before 2003? The shape of the seashell species,Terebra Turritella, which I use to make into whistle flutes, has remained the same for millions of years. A few people comment that surely, during all that time, someone else would have discovered how to make one before I did. That is precisely what the physicists that study acoustic musical instruments thought when I presented them with my discovery in 2007.

Before Rollins College Physics Dept. began analyzing the seashell whistle flute, as a new musical instrument, they searched the world for a precedent. None was found. Why not? People have been making musical instruments out of naturally occurring objects since the dawn of time. To find a new one now, one that releases the diatonic and chromatic musical scales without the use of measurements or calculations of any sort, is unprecedented. Here’s what I think:

The snail species that makes the shell,Terebra Turritella, inhabits many coastal areas of the world’s oceans. Warm and tropical waters that surround the Philippine Islands allow the species to grow much larger than it does in cooler, subtropical waters, such as those surrounding Florida. Shells between four and seven inches long are needed to make whistle flutes in the keys of B, C, D and E and only grow that large in the tropics.

The ‘acorn cap whistle technique’ is used to resonate the air inside the hollow, tightly coiled, spiral Terebra Turritella shell. This technique is an ancient and somewhat obscure signaling skill originally employing large acorn caps as whistle devices. Oaks trees that produce large acorn caps don’t grow in the tropics. So it stands to reason that people living in the tropics, where Terebra Turritella shells grow large, never learned of the acorn cap whistle skill or applied it to their local shells. It’s a temperate climate skill of origin.

Modern high speed rotary drills and split tip titanium drill bits used for drilling small holes through ceramic tiles are relatively recent inventions. These kinds of tools have only become available to the general public during the last fifty years or so. Before that they were probably available for other industrial applications, but at higher costs than $65 now.

People drilled holes into shells prior to the invention of high speed rotary drills, but it took a long time to drill each hole by hand. One would think that the maker of the hole would have to have a very good reason for performing the time consuming task. Shells are extremely hard, crystalline objects. I suspect holes were drilled through shells for more utilitarian purposes, such as making buttons, jewelry, tools, wampum and the like.

The business of selling seashells from around the world in small ‘mom and pop’ shell shops, is a relatively recent development due to advances in the shipping industry. Now, ordinary people living in temperate climates have access to tropical seashells.

The seashell whistle flute was discovered/developed by applying the temperate climate ‘acorn cap whistle technique’ to a seashell from the tropics. A straight line of five pitch holes, following the lengthwise axis line of the shell, makes it possible to play an octave and a half of diatonic notes. No mathematical calculations or measurements are needed to accomplish this. The shell takes care of the math.

I’ve been told by physicists that the shape of the Terebra Turritella seashell is an Archimedean or logarithmic spiral. I’ve also read that the diatonic musical scale of notes is a logarithmic (or geometric) progression of frequencies. Anyone can repeat my experiments and produce the same results every time.

People often ask me about my background training in Music. I wouldn’t call myself a musician. I never learned to read music and couldn’t tell you how the circle of fifths works. When I was twelve years old I took seven weeks of guitar lessons. That’s it. I taught myself to play piano, violin, banjo, mandolin, harmonica and hand drums.

Everything changed for me in 1992 because of a construction accident. Three surgeries and long hours of physical therapy couldn’t repair the broken middle finger on my left hand. It is now permanently bent and crooked and I am unable to close it into a fist. I gave up playing stringed instruments. The fingers I use for fretting don’t work properly anymore. 

This kind of accident would have been catastrophic for a professional musician. I thought it was pretty bad also, until I discovered how to make and play the seashell flute, twelve years later.

There are five pitch holes in a seashell flute. They follow the straight lengthwise axis line of the shell and are drilled through whorls 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8, counting from the shell’s opening (aperture) to it’s pointy end (apex). The reason I put the pitch holes where they are is simple: that’s where my finger tips naturally touch the shell. I had to leave a space between pitch holes 4 and 6 because of my broken middle finger.

As it turned out, the space between pitch holes 4 and 6 is absolutely necessary for the flute to release a proper diatonic scale of musical notes. A pitch hole through whorl 5 releases a sharp/flat note. Same for whorl 7. Any deviation from the pitch hole placement pattern results in a less than perfect scale of diatonic notes. That’s just the way it works.

I considered calling my business ‘Broken Finger Flutes’, to honor one of the deciding factors leading to the discovery of the diatonic scale of musical notes inside a seashell. Accidents can be catalysts for discoveries. What appears to be a tragedy one day may turn out to be a blessing the next. In my case, it took twelve years to find the blessing.

Michael’s new family of seashell wind instruments continued to amaze and delight visitors at his farmer’s market vending booth in Florida and Massachusetts. That was the year, however, that the housing market collapsed and a world wide recession began. Both he and Dana struggled to grow their businesses in a rapidly shrinking economy. He wondered what he should do next.

An accident provided Michael with an opportunity he wasn’t expecting. His father fell down and broke his hip. Michael moved to Winter Park, Florida to care for him during his long recovery. While there he began to vend at a local farmer’s market in downtown Orlando. That’s where he found out about Rollins College and their Physic’s Department.

A music major at Rollins College told him that Rollins College Physics Department studies how acoustic musical instruments work and that he should ask them if they would study his new instruments. He made an appointment with the Dean of the department. They met several times and eventually his seashell flute was accepted as a research project.

The Dean told Michael that there are only a few college level physics departments in all of North America that have labs equipped to study how acoustic musical instruments work. Michael’s father just happened to live ten minutes away from one of the top physics labs in the country dedicated to doing this type of research.

Over the following year Michael met with the research team many times. They analyzed the sounds produced by the seashell flute and eventually submitted a research paper to the Journal of Sound and Vibration for publication. The research paper was rejected after peer review, because more research needed to be done to fully explain why the seashell flute works.

The conclusion of the research paper states: “we do not have a firm understanding of the air resonances of a pipe in the shape of a logarithmic spiral. Our data indicate that a simple model that works well for straight pipes, and pipes with few toroidal bends, does not accurately predict the impedance of a logarithmic spiral cavity with holes. This anomalous behavior will be the subject of future research.”

Five years later they still don’t know why it works. Perhaps someone reading this article may be able to explain it. The author will respond to any research inquiries.

Thank you for taking the time to read this story. Dana and Michael continue to be friends. She cares for her parents and their properties on Cape Cod. She also is a personal chef. He cares for his aging father in Florida and continues to vend his new family of seashell musical instruments at farmer’s markets. He has become a skilled ‘Shellist’. That’s one who plays seashells as musical instruments.

Happiness is being surrounded by good friends that share life’s ups and downs together. Having enough money to enjoy the ride doesn’t hurt either.

Michael began to feel an acute sense of dearth that fall. The summer cottage was closed for the winter. He and Dana moved off Cape, into her sister’s house, where he continued to create his new family of seashell musical instruments.

He desperately wanted to discover the economic value of his new products and decided that a test market would be just the thing. His first venue was the Delray Beach Farmer’s Market, open every Saturday morning, from late November through early May. The execution of his market research plan, however, left much to be desired.

His sister, Kate, had a spare bedroom in her Delray Beach condo, which she offered to let him use for the vending season. Dana felt hurt and confused by his abrupt decision to leave one cold December morning, while she was away from the house attending a business meeting. He left a letter for her to find when she returned to the empty house.

Dana’s father, Howard,  found the letter first. He understood the passion, drive and risk-taking behavior required to start a new business. Her parents had owned several successful ones. He had made mistakes and poor judgements along the way, but he also had the love of his wife and life long partner, Dana’s mother, to sustain him.

Howard called Michael in Florida a few days later. They spoke in earnest. He told Michael that he considered him family and convinced him to return the following spring. Dana and he eventually came to terms, during a trip she made to see him that winter. She forgave him. But he didn’t forgive himself…

Dana and Michael left Provincetown and returned to the cottage, where he immediately began to experiment with his twelve new Screw Shells.

He bought a high speed rotary drill and split tip titanium drill bits used for drilling through ceramic tile. Without these modern tools he never would have continued his experiments. Shells are just too hard to drill holes through, using a conventional carpenter’s drill. (It must have taken indigenous peoples a long time to drill holes through shells, without the benefit of electric drills and metal drill bits.)

Michael drilled five small holes through the shell, under where his finger tips touched the shell (while using the acorn cap whistle technique to resonate the air inside the shell). His finger tip pads naturally touched whorls 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8, counting from the shell opening (aperture). He heard the musical notes Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti and Do when he uncovered the pitch holes, in sequence, beginning from the pointy end (apex). The notes didn’t sound perfect to him, at this point in the experiments, but they were close.

It wasn’t until he straightened out the line of pitch holes, following the lengthwise axis line of the shell, that the musical notes became perfect. Further experiments with pitch hole size released the chromatic musical notes. He then discovered how to play the second half-octave of notes. Incredibly, the shell released an octave and a half of perfect diatonic and chromatic musical notes, all without the use of mathematical measurements or calculations of any sort.

There is a relationship between the logarithmicspiral shape of the Screw Shell, the straight line of five pitch holes (in whorls 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 that follow the shell’s lengthwise axis line) and the diatonic scale of notes. Approximately sixty five million years before Michael drilled the five pitch holes, the shell contained the latent ability to release, what is known today as, the Western scale of musical notes.

The first song Michael learned to play on his new seashell flute was ‘Amazing Grace’.   The second was ‘Take Me Out To The Ball Game’. And he wondered if other people would be able to play this new musical instrument.

The Shell Shop in Provincetown, MA had just what Michael was looking for: Great Screw Shells at reasonable prices. He bought a dozen. Dana liked this shop much more than the one in Florida. It smelled good, was well lit and breezy.

Provincetown is a thickly settled, historic, maritime community bordering Provincetown Harbor. It hosts a large population of Portuguese fishing families that have lived and worked there for many generations. It was also once home to a bohemian chef, named Howard Mitchum, who wrote the ‘Provincetown Seafood Cookbook’. Dana wanted to find out more about him from the locals, for an article she was writing about him.

They spoke with the owner of a small book store that carried a few of his books. He told Dana that the deaf/mute cook had been quite the character in Provincetown and that the staff at his favorite drinking establishment, ‘Ye Old Colony’, might be able to provide her with more information.

The letter ‘Y’ had fallen off the word ‘Colony’ over the entrance way into the old and decrepit pub. An empty row of hard stools hugged the bar. They ordered two beers from the bartender and asked if she had known Howard Mitchum.

The bartender said she had worked there for over fifteen years and was well acquainted with Howard, before he passed away, ten years ago. She proudly pointed to the window booth he held nightly court at and plied them with colorful stories. The most controversial one concerned his well attended memorial party, which was held at the pub shortly after his death.

She confided, or perhaps confessed, that Howard’s daughter and she had carried out his final wish that day: they surreptitiously mixed his cremated ashes into a large bowl of French Onion dip, set out on the tabletop of his favorite booth for all of his guests to enjoy.

Was Howard Mitchum’s last act on earth artistic licence, sheer devilry or a contrivance?  I don’t know. If it was true he must have felt it was a fitting end for a chef to be consumed by his dearest friends. In life he enjoyed creating new and exotic dishes. Why not also after death?