Fluffs

acoustics & sound

Recently, when thinking about the characteristics of sound, I discovered a new species of magical creatures. They are called Fluffs and immediately caught my attention because of their special qualities. As luck would have it, they were looking for a home.

When I approached them, they were somewhat shy, pretending to be lifeless balls of wool, but with my experience with magical beings I managed to establish a conversation at last. They proved to be quite excited about my idea and we came to an agreement which would be a benefit for all of us: I offer them homes inside the handpans I make. Staying inside, they will feed on the sound, cleaning the tones from the sound chaos of the shell.

If you find a Fluff inside a handpan, don't be frightened. The are very kind and so soft-hearted that they never would do any damage to anybody or anything. Just keep in mind that, although seeming otherwise, it's a living being and it needs to be treated with care. It does not mind if you take it outside the instrument and play with it (I found out they even like that, though they don't admit it). They don't need to be fed regularly and they don't mind if you temporarily keep them outside to explore the natural sound of your instrument, but they are happy if they can feed on the sound chaos from time to time. They are sensitive, so if you use force on them or give it to your dog or cat you risk that they die.

If you find no Fluff inside your handpan, this means that this handpan does not provide an acceptable home for the Fluff. They are picky - probably there is too less sound chaos inside, and the sound of the instrument would not benefit from the help of the Fluff.

Be nice to your Fluff.

Fluffs are of spherical shape and are about 6-8 cm in diameter. Rare individuals may even reach a size of 9 cm. They are very soft and can be of any colour, mono-coloured or with patterns of stripes or sprinkles. Fluffs are mostly not recognized as living beings because of their unique ability to disguise themselves as balls of wool as soon they feel danger, which happens easily because they are very shy. Nevertheless they need humans as part of their reproduction strategy: Tempting humans to buy wool and to create them. This can cause a serious addiction by the humans. Rare cases have been reported of groggy humans being found in the midst of chambers full of wool, incapable to stop turning it into Fluffs. Nevertheless all of these humans were in good health state which proves the sincerely good nature of this species.

The creatures just recently caught the attention of weird sound obsessed scientists because of their remarkable ability to absorb sound, which they feed on. The research will put more light onto the nature of this fascinating species.