IPOH: The dulcet tones and the undulating melodies from the hauntingly beautiful sound of the flute greeted visitors to Kellie’s Castle, which is perched on top of a hill in Batu Gajah, Perak.
The distinctive warmth, refinement and subtlety to its tone were simply irresistible for this writer, who was on vacation here recently.
Kellie’s Castle was built in 1905 as a symbol of love from Scottish rubber planter William Kellie Smith to his wife (Agnes).The three-storey mansion was modelled after the architecture of a Moghul palace in Agra, India.
Kellie’s Castle was the last destination for this writer, who spent her holidays with six other friends to various must-visit locations in the state.
At the lobby, a musician was immersed in his performance as he played the flute to the mesmerising crowd who stopped by to drop some cash into a box nearby.
Homemade flutes
This writer waited for the musician to take a short break from his performance before approaching him. Among the numbers he played were Yesterday Once More (The Carpenters), Derita Cinta (Datuk Jamal Abdillah) and Jampi (Hael Husaini).
The flutist introduced himself as Faiz Azmi, 42, from Batu Gajah, and is married with five children aged eight to 20.
Faiz, who became a street busker since 2017, said he is currently focussed on his musical career as a flutist.
“I will be at Kellie’s Castle during festive seasons or school holidays and will play several songs on the flute from 10.30 am to 5pm.
“On normal days, Saturdays and Sundays, I usually perform for visitors around Ipoh city. I also do shows on invitations outside Ipoh such as Penang and Kuala Lumpur,” he added.
Faiz, who makes his own flute made of PVC pipes, said there are two types of flute that he produces, namely a side-blown flute, which is commonly used today and an end-blown flute.
Materials used for making flutes include pipe poles, scissors, small knives for piercing holes as well as sandpaper to facilitate the pipe cutting process.
“The size, tone or length of a flute will depend on my own experiment based on the tuner app on my phone,” said Faiz, who uses 12 pieces of flute for each performance.
Each piece of flute carries a different key tone and the latter is based on the diameter size and length of the PVC pipe.
“A long pipe produces a bass sound. The shorter or thinner pipes will produce a sharp sound. A flute using pipe poles has an edge over bamboo type as it is more resilient especially during dry or humid weather. A high degree of discipline must be observed when using the bamboo flute especially in its care and maintenance aspects to ensure high quality sound.
“In terms of voice tone, the PVC flute or bamboo flute is the same. The difference between the two is only the technique used by the flutist to produce unique voice tones,” he said.
Faiz did not start his career as a musician. For nearly 20 years, he was in the film industry, performing death-defying acts as a stuntman.
On reflection, Faiz said he migrated to Kuala Lumpur at 19 years old to work as a choreographer in local dramas and movies in the stunt division, with various stunt acts to his credit.
“In the stunt (action) field, I was working as a fight choreographer. Here, there were many fields for action which were performed by actors like me. These include pyro (explosion and fire arms), wyre and rigging (hanging, dangling and flying) as well as motoring (motor vehicles).
“You need to be physically fit to be a stuntman. While this job poses high risks, it is enjoyable and provides lucrative income,” he said.
Faiz was a cast in the drama series on Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) titled ‘Psikik’ in 2000 and has acted in local films such as Badang, Jiwa Taiko, Chowrasta, Balun as well as animation film Vector 58.
Sharing his experience in the acting world, Faiz said he has collaborated with a Thai stunt team for the Chowrasta film in 2015, serving as stunt coordinator and choreographer.
“Among renowned stunt teams today are those from Thailand and Indonesia who are highly regarded in Hollywood.
“Stunt actors in Malaysia are under the auspices of the Professional Film Workers Association of Malaysia (PROFIMA) and are recognised by the National Film Development Corporation of Malaysia (FINAS) and the Australian Stunt Academy,” he said, adding that he valued his working experience with well-known drama and film activists such as Osman Ali, Kabir Bhatia, David Teo and Datuk Yusry Abdul Halim (Yusry KRU).
Enjoyed working as street performer
However, Faiz’s career path as a stuntman was halted due to health reasons.
In 2017, while undergoing a medical check-up for a stunt job interview at the Movie Animation Park Studios (MAPS), Ipoh, he was informed that he needed to go for an angioplasty, a medical procedure that opens up a blocked or narrowed artery around the heart.
Faiz took the news in his stride and accepted God’s will that he could no longer pursue his career as a stuntman and decided to return to his village in Batu Gajah.
In fact, street busking, which has also its own uniqueness, is also close to his heart.
“Due my heart problem, the doctor has advised me to stop my stunt work. My job now is a transition from a heart-pounding world as a stuntman to a less stressful and calm profession. I am grateful to Allah for this smooth and beautiful journey.
“In fact, I truly enjoyed this job (busking), sitting at a place in a relaxed and leisurely atmosphere while entertaining the crowd. My focus is more on tourist spots, as besides enjoying the beautiful scenery, I’m able to exude a positive aura to attract tourists to the place,” said Faiz, who plays between 40 to 50 songs daily including Malay, English, Chinese and Indian hits.
However, playing the flute has its own challenges, Faiz said, especially in getting the melody of a song.
“As a singer, you can feel the music to help find the right pitch but with the flute, it is rather static and it is not as easy to manipulate the notes to get the right pitch. I have to choose songs that are not too high-pitched, lest they will not be soothing to the ears.
“The choice of songs is also based on the age group of visitors at a particular place,” said Faiz, who also sells his own homemade PVC flutes for RM50 each. Faiz can be contacted via his handphone at 019 6860 149 or his Instagram faiz_musik. – BERNAMA
