Between the Notes

It may seem strange that a musician would tap into a vein of calm to bring power to his work. But it makes perfect sense to Bill Neal. He has to block out the ruckus of everyday life to capture the mood for playing his traditional Native American flutes.

“We’re becoming numb to all of the manufactured sounds that invade our space on a daily basis,” said Neal, who counts Cherokees among his ancestors and performs under the name Elk Whistle. “Sadly, we just seem to accept all of the man-made noise as being part of our modern way of life.

“At the same time, we’re losing touch with our land, the sun and the sky. Can you remember the last time you went out somewhere, away from everything, and did things you don’t normally do anymore--like listen to birds chirping or feel the wind blowing over your face? Sometimes you have to re-sensitize yourself . . . and that can be a very enriching experience.”

Neal plays a variety of Native American flutes, including the cedar flutes of the Lakota, Kiowa and Comanche nations and the cane flutes of the Choctaw and Cherokee. Subtle, brief pauses are as essential to his style as the notes.

“The music can be very gentle, and it’s meant to played and heard with the heart,” explained Neal, who performs tonight at the San Juan Capistrano Regional Library. “Sometimes you have to play quietly enough so the audience can feel the music in a more emotional and spiritual way. If you listen deeply enough, the flute can carry you away to another place and time.”

During a show, Neal talks to the audience about the origin and construction of his flutes and tells traditional Cherokee stories. A favorite bit of folklore explains how the flute came to the Lakotas hundreds of years ago. The tale involves forest animals and birds and a lost hunter who uses the instrument to find his way back to his village.

“From that [story], I hope people will understand the message of how important our natural elements are and that we should strive to live in harmony with them,” Neal said. “I try not to lecture people . . . but I think that because of the dominant role technology plays in our lives, we’re at a point in history where more and more people are realizing that things just have to change.”

Neal’s awakening came about five years ago through his activities with the local Native American community. He began participating in powwows, fund-raisers, ceremonial events and other programs benefiting the Southern California Indian Center.

His interest in traditional music grew after the Red Spirit Dancers, a Native American drum group, invited him to sing. Then the 54-year-old Yorba Linda resident heard the flute recordings of Carlos Nakai and learned of the flute’s importance in Native American culture. Neal was hooked.

Around the same time, his job as a project manager for an Orange County environmental engineering company led Neal to what he calls a “value shift.”

“We were engaged in guerrilla-type tactics, always looking for an edge over a competitor or any way we could to ‘close the deal,’ ” Neal recalled. “It just wasn’t the Indian way of doing things.”

So he almost celebrated the pink slip that came in 1994 with a corporate downsizing.

Neal has since recorded two collections of flute music, “Songs From Turtle Island,” which also features flutist Jon Sherman, and “Heart Song.” The latter, newly finished and without a distributor, has Neal playing with a slightly more aggressive edge. That shift, he says, was intentional.

“It’s still just pure classic flute music without synthesized sounds or added effects,” he said. “But I didn’t want to make elevator music . . . you know, where it’s all so soothing and soft. I was after a stronger, more powerful sound.”

* Elk Whistle performs today at the San Juan Capistrano Regional Library, 31495 El Camino Real, San Juan Capistrano. 7 and 9 p.m. $3-$6. (714) 248-7469.