PūRflutes

The Makers

Two hands, two mountains, one breath.

PūRFlutes is the work of Robert and Radenko, carving Native American style flutes by hand in the Bulgarian Rhodope mountains — a partnership built on craft, listening, and a love of instruments that play the player.

Co-founder · Voice & Vision

Robert — the listener.

Portrait of Robert, co-founder of PUR Flutes

Robert came to the flute later in life, after years working in code, technology, and the quieter end of music. The first flute he played was a borrowed cedar instrument at a breathwork circle. He didn't put it down.

What began as a personal practice grew into a partnership. He studied with elders and makers across Europe and North America, learning to read grain, tune by ear, and trust the wood to know what it wanted to be. Today he works alongside Radenko in the Rhodope workshop, voicing and finishing each flute before it ships to its player.

“A good flute doesn't play music. It plays the player. My job is to listen until the wood is ready to speak.”

Robert holds breathwork circles, leads occasional retreats in nature, and travels to events like TRYP EXPO Berlin to share the flutes with people who are looking for them.

CREATE

Wood, breath, time, and care.

HEAL

Sound that meets the body.

INSPIRE

A flute outlives its maker.

Robert playing a finished cedar flute, eyes closed, framed by traditional woven blankets
Robert at a recent gathering, playing a freshly tuned cedar flute. Most of the flutes you see on this site have travelled in his hands first.

Co-founder & Master Woodworker · Rhodope Mountains

Radenko Velinov — the maker.

Born in Bulgaria's musical heartland, sharpened by a decade in Scotland, returned to the mountains to carve instruments that sing in two traditions at once.

Radenko grew up surrounded by the modal melodies and ornamented breathwork of Bulgarian folk music — a tradition that, like the Native American flute, lives in long held tones and the spaces between them. The Rhodopes were the first instrument he ever loved.

He spent more than ten years in Scotland refining his hands as a woodworker, learning precision, patience, and the quiet language of grain. When he came home to the mountains, he brought those tools back to a question he had carried since childhood: what does it sound like when two ancient flute traditions meet inside one piece of wood?

“A flute is a small forest. You cut it carefully, and you let it keep singing.”

Every PūRFlute begins and ends in the Rhodope workshop — selected, bored, voiced, tuned, and finished by hand — before it ships to its player.

  1. 01

    Rhodope Origins

    Born in Bulgaria's musical heartland. Inspired by the region's rich folk traditions and melodic heritage.

  2. 02

    Scottish Woodworking

    Honed his craft during 10+ years in Scotland. Developed precision techniques working with various woods.

  3. 03

    Musical Innovation

    Returned to the Rhodopes to bridge Bulgarian and Native American traditions. Creates instruments with unique tonal qualities.

Radenko Velinov, co-founder and master woodworker, holding a finished flute in his Rhodope workshop
Radenko's Rhodope workshop — a wooden bench with four hand-bored flute blanks beside a wall of carving tools
Inside the Rhodope workshop. Four hand-bored blanks rest on the bench, ready to be voiced and tuned. The tools above the bench are arranged exactly as Radenko likes them — the way a player keeps their flutes within reach.

Want to play one?

Browse the current collection or come find us in person — Robert often travels to retreats and expos with a small selection of flutes to try.

See the flutesUpcoming events