WARNING: HALF BAKED ARTICLE
Construction of the Bamboo Flute
Basic Construction
Figure 1 shows the basic construction of the flute:
a cylindrical pipe with one end closed, the other end open
and many holes along its length.
Material Options
The pipe can be of any material and almost any wall thickness
provided it is strong enough to maintain shape.
Lighter the flute easier it is to play rapid patterns.
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PVC is a material of choice because of its availability,
price and ease of carving.
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Aluminum is another light and easy to cut material.
It dents easily though. It also oxidizes and produces some
black dust on its exposed surface.
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Bamboo/Reed is the traditional material, is light and gives a terrific timber.
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Steel is another option as long as the walls are thin.
Otherwise it becomes too heavy to play and difficult to machine as well.
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Other exotic materials include Terra cotta, Glass, Silver, e.t.c.
Pipe Sizes
Typical length range: 1ft to 3ft
Typical inner diameters: half an inch to one inch.
Hole Making
Holes can be made using a drill.
Make sure you clamp the pipe securely.
Hole Sizes and Positions
Some examples of hole positions and sizes are shown in Figure 2.
Fine Tuning
The flute is fine tuned by further widening the finger-holes just a little bit.
It is also possible to make the holes narrower by using some raisin based glue
which hardens, sticks to the material of the pipe and has volume even after drying.
But it is best to start with holes slightly smaller than required and keep widening
them gradually till they produce the desired notes.
The Blowhole