Woodsounds flutes spreads ancient sounds around the world.

• Author: Felix, Devin
• Position: WASATCH/SUMMIT AREA

Mapleton--Brent Haines was working in marketing for a company in Bellevue, Wash.. in the early 2000s when something happened that would change the course of his life: One of his co-workers brought in a wooden Native American flute.

Haines was entranced by the look and sound of it. It took him back to college, when he so fell in love with the sound of the flute that he made a rudimentary one using wood he took from a fence post, a Dremel tool and a pocket knife. The result was a bit crude, but it sounded OK and he enjoyed making it. After his co-worker brought his professionally made flute to work, Haines got an idea. He'd make a few flutes and see if he could get good enough to sell them. He set to work, and by the time he had made three flutes, his co-worker wanted to buy one of them.

Someone suggested he start selling his flutes on eBay. Soon business online was brisk. Eventually an eBay customer proposed an exchange--he'd design Haines a website in exchange for a few flutes. Haines accepted. "It launched me into business," Haines says. "Within a year I quit my job and I haven't looked back." He named his new company WOODSOUNDS FLUTES. In 2006, Haines and his family relocated to a house in Mapleton with a shop in the back yard, where Woodsounds has been based ever since.

Some flute makers start by cutting a shaft of wood in half lengthwise, boring out the middle and then re-attaching the halves. Woodsounds flutes are made through a more difficult and...