Tyler's Flutes

Tyler Martin came to me looking for help with Search Engine Optimization. I don't ordinarily do this kind of work for people who haven't purchased a website from me, but he seemed like a rather interesting guy and was really easy to get along with. During our first phone conversation I learned a bit about what his website was all about. Our conversation felt comfortable to me, since I happen to be a musician too, although I didn't divulge much of this to him right away.

Tyler makes genuine bamboo flutes by hand from within his boat. I checked out the video on his web page and felt immediately interested in knowing more about this rather interesting guy who had come to me looking for help. He invited me to come on board so he could show me first hand how its all done. I couldn't resist.

I must admit, this was the first time I have ever boarded a boat that was docked on dry land. Tyler explained to me that this boat was recently acquired and he's still in the process of fixing it up. This will serve as his office or headquarters for his flute-making business. His real boat was out on the water and by the expression and enthusiasm, I knew that sailing was probably one of Tyler's fondest endeavors.

I could see some of Tyler's bamboo flutes laying around the boat near the helm along with a pile of fresh bamboo pieces still waiting to become musical instruments of their own someday. I cracked a joke about a "three hour tour" as the boat itself reminded me a bit of the S.S.Minnow.  It's an older boat, badly weathered and beaten, but still loved.

After showing me around, Tyler grabbed a few flutes and started jamming. This was my first time really listening to a flutist, but I soaked in the experience, absorbing every tender breath that Tyler exhaled into the hand made instruments. I particularly enjoyed the Shakuhachi flute with its slightly deeper tonality. Although I'm certain it's not nearly the same, it reminded me of the flute played in "Kung Fu", the 1970's television show starring David Carridine. When Tyler asked me which of the flutes I would like him to make for me, I quickly reached for what I called the "Kung Fu flute". Tyler educated me about the flute while gathering the components.

I watched closely as Tyler went through the steps. First, he selected the piece of bamboo. The piece would need to be a certain size and width in order to produce the correct tones. He explained too that the tuning of the flute is based on the dimensions of both the width and length. While cleaning the inside of the bamboo with a sort of pipe cleaner, he explained the necessity of buffing out the inner walls. I grabbed my camera and decided to take some photographs while he worked.

Using a hack saw, he trimmed off a bit of the end to make sure the instrument was just the right length. Meanwhile, Tyler kept a propane torch's fire lit while heating up a couple of metal pokers. Care was taken to sand the end down to soften the texture. Each movement through the various steps were fine tuned and precise. Lining the bamboo rod up with a finished flute, he made pencil marks to indicate where he would need to put holes.
Once the pokers were hot enough, I watched as they burned holes through the pencil markings. I could smell the bamboo as the hot metal paved a path through the thin wooden walls.

Within just a few minutes Tyler brought the still unfinished instrument to his lips and began blowing the first notes from the newborn flute. My excitement grew as I anticipated practicing the new instrument later.

Tyler asked me how I'd like to see the flute finished. He started explaining the various choices, but I had already been eyeballing the finish on another flute that he'd played earlier.

The effect was achieved by splashing water droplets onto the flute and then carefully blowing fire from the propane torch onto the moistened wood. Tyler was careful not to over heat the wood so as to produce an even pattern of droplet shaped residue across the wood. He went back and forth across the new instrument until everything looked perfect, but there was still one more thing left to do before the flute could be finished.
To be honest, I'm not sure what he used to wax and polish the finished piece. But the finishing effect was spectacular. The newly crafted instrument shined in the brilliant sunlight. The smell of freshly burned bamboo still lingered in the air. Tyler handed the flute to me and beckoned me to try it out for myself.

Of course I was unable to make any musical tones, but the flute maker was prepared to give me a quick lesson to help me get started. He grabbed one of his own flutes and began showing me the basic technique. Before long I blew my first note!

Up until now, Tyler still wasn't really aware that I happen to be an accomplished musician with over 25 years of experience on the guitar. Tyler has an old beat-up guitar on his boat, and when I finally took a hold of the guitar and started strumming a few chords, we broke into a nice jam. It was really cool to connect like this with someone who I would be doing business with in the coming months.

After our impromptu jam, we discussed the business at hand and shook hands. I think we were equally satisfied with the new friendship that emerged on that day and we're both looking forward to more jams in the future as well as a lasting friendship and business relationship.

For more information about Tyler's Flutes, please visit his website at http://www.tylersflutes.com/

Brenda Paquette of Angel Guided Hands

Brenda Paquette came to me a few years ago looking to build a new website to help promote her holistic health classes and services. At the time, I had never even heard of Reiki before, and was completely in the dark about the various forms of angelic healing available today. Brenda had a vision in mind of a soft pastel theme for her website; Angel Guided Hands. She came to me with a couple of basic graphic ideas that we transformed into her own personal vision.

Working with Brenda has always been a good experience for me. It's nice to know folks who are grateful and who offer positive uplifting conversations. After building her website, Brenda has done her best to keep her site up-to-date using the Downeast Design: Content Management System that I include with all of my websites. Every once in a while, she might call for a little assistance, or hire me to help straighten out problems with her home computer. Our friendship has been friendly and courteous since day one.

I remember typing out all of the initial pages of content on her website. At the time, I was new to the terminologies of her field. I really had no idea that there were classes that you could take to learn spiritual healing methods like Reiki, Meditation, Lightarian Rays and Attunement to name just a few.

Rhad Davis solo Musician

I used to list stuff for sale on eBay for a local pawn shop in Biddeford. One day, while doing my work, a gentleman walked into the store to solicit advertising to the store owner. This is how I met Rhad Davis, a salesman, local musician and one of my longest standing customers for websites.

It wasn't something I would have ordinarily have done, but when Rhad discovered that I was a professional website developer, he worked out a special deal with me for advertising. He paid for my ad for the first year in exchange for a website for his own music act. It ended up being a good deal for both of us.

I invited Rhad to my place, where we sat down together and collectively designed the visual outline of his new website. Since he is a pianist, we set the theme of his website around the piano. Rhad didn't even realize until he came into my home that I am an accomplished musician too. We jammed a little bit that day, and really connected both musically and as new business companions. It turned out that Rhad is a very talented musician, and we had a lot of fun that day creating music and graphics for his new site.

The finished website was nice for the time period in which it was constructed. It's been quite a few years now, but the site has really served him well.

Fisher James Discount Office Furniture

One of my longest standing clients is Fisher James Discount Office Furniture in Biddeford, Maine. I met Robert Hayward, owner of Fisher James, back in 2006 when we first started doing business together. As I remember, I was hungry for a website client who could take advantage of my unique shopping cart software. Fisher James made a good candidate because they have thousands of individual products which they could easily showcase on their website.

We worked out a fair deal where I could further enhance my software using his website as a sort of sandbox. Bob saved lots of money, and I was able to complete my software.

While working with Bob, I learned a bit about the office furniture business, and even picked up a couple of similar clients as a result of gaining experience in this field.

A couple of years ago, Bob needed some website updates. I just so happened to need a new office chair. The chair that I wanted would have cost me several hundreds of dollars. It was good timing for both of us. We worked out a fair exchange, the website was updated, and I ended up with a great office chair. It's nice to have a connection in the world of office furniture, and Bob has always treated me right.

Because of our friendly relationship, I am always eager to help Bob with whatever small requests he has for me. He doesn't call that often, but when I do hear from him, we spend more time gabbing about our personal lives than the work at hand. Sometimes, I like to drop in on him just to see how he's doing. To me, this is the best kind of customer, because it never feels like work, regardless of what needs to be done.

An Inside Glimpse of a Web Developer's World

Downeast Design is my own website development company. I have been building websites since the Internet was still new. I began in 1995 while working on my own personal projects and by 1997 I was employed as a full time web developer by a local Internet Service Provider. I began building websites under my own name in 1998 and have upheld an excellent business reputation since.

I have built many hundreds of websites over the years. As many sites come and go, there is always a constant flow of new ideas and business models which has given me loads of experience in the website design industry. As a web developer, I am hired to build sites in a wide variety of interests from real estate to car dealerships, from restaurants to local bands and so on. I've built sites for photographers, decorators, artists, furniture stores, massage therapists, spiritual healers, non-profit organizations, rental companies, business firms, plumbers, printers, and many other fields of interest too. The list is really too long to elaborate.

The point being, web masters get to see the inner workings of a lot of different types of businesses. With each website that I have built, I have learned a variety of new things about each of the businesses that I have worked with. It's fascinating to me to be able to reflect back on so many colorful experiences. I thought it would be an interesting concept to share some of those experiences with the general public.

The experiences that I want to share are always going to be positive. I'm not the kind of writer who would slander or reveal trade secrets. I'll provide links to the customer's web pages so that my readers can get a further glimpse of the subject that I am sharing my experiences about. Sometimes, my stories could be funny, other times strictly informative. I might share clues about individual's personalities or highlight non-related insights about things that intrigue me while working with new clients.

It's nice to learn new things, and I guess that's what this blog is really going to be about. In most cases, I suspect that I'll share new things that I picked up along the way. While these things could be new to me, they could be old knowledge to a lot of other people out there. So, the nice thing about blogging is the fact that the reader can contribute to the post with their own comments. I'd like to encourage discussions, so long as they are on target with the blogs that I write.