How to Make a Pitched Pan Flute

Although traditionally wooden, you can make pan flutes from PVC.

The pan flute is a traditional South American wind instrument with a distinctive, soft, breathy tone. It consists of an array of differently sized closed tubes. Each tube is a different pitch, with longer tubes creating lower notes. Because the pan flute contains no moving parts, it’s relatively easy to create a basic melody as there is no way to hit a bum note. You can build your own inexpensive pan flute using basic tools.

Things You'll Need

• PVC pipe 1/4-inch diameter or less
• PVC sheet 1/8-inch thick or less
• Small fine-tooth saw
• Dremel tool
• Circle cutter
• 80-grit sandpaper
• Glue
• Bamboo, wicker or other binding material

Instructions

1. Lay the PVC pipe on a piece of paper.

2. Draw on the paper to mark out the sections for cutting the pipe. Each of your pipes must be of a different length to create different pitches. For example, mark the largest piece 6 6/16 inches to create a C, the next largest piece 5 3/8 inches to create a D and the next one 4 3/4 inches to create an E.

3. Cut the pipe into sections, using the paper markings as a guide. Saw horizontally across the pipe, from top to bottom. If the teeth on your pocketknife are dull, buy a new one. This job calls for a sharp knife.

4. Place one of the pipes end-down on the PVC sheet and use it as a template. Make six outlines on the PVC sheet.

5. Slot the circle-cutter guide onto over the blade of your dremel tool. Adjust the circle-cutter guide so it is same diameter as the template. Hold the guide over the PVC. Turn the dremel on and press the blade against the PVC. The guide positions the blade so it cuts only the selected circle shape.

6. Sand down the edges of the PVC circles to make them smooth.

7. Glue a circular piece of PVC onto the end of each pipe. The pan pipe must have closed-chambers, because this is where the sound resonates. If the ends are not enclosed, the air will escape and only a minimal sound will occur.

8. Put the pipes side by side and measure their collective width.

9. Cut two pieces of binding material, both equal to twice the collective width of the pipes, plus 1 inch. The extra inch is for knotting.

10. Lay the two pieces of binding material horizontally. The bottom piece should be the positioned beneath the top piece by a distance equivalent to the length of the shortest pipe, minus 1/2 inch.

11. Lay the pipes, in ascending size order from left to right on top of the binding material. Position the pipes so the tops are level and the binding material is approximately 1/2 inch from the top. Make sure there is equal binding material on each side of the end pipes.

12. Wrap the top piece of binding material around the front of the pipes and knot the ends. Repeat this process with the bottom binding.

Tips & Warnings

• When playing, blow across and not into the pipe.

References

• Phil Tulga: Panpipes

Resources

• Pan Flute Jedi: A Worldwide History of the Pan Flute; by Douglas Bishop