How to Make a Paper Pan Flute

Crafts, such as paper models, can be used as part of teaching.

From windswept mountain tops to formal concert halls, people perform music with one of the world's oldest musical instruments, the pan flute. Also known as panpipes or the syrinx, the shape and size of the pan flute varies by culture, but the basic design is a series of hollow tubes that are bound together and closed at one end. Making a model of the pan flute with paper and other materials found around the house is one way of studying this instrument.

Things You'll Need

• 1/2-inch wooden dowel
• Printer paper
• Tape
• Scissors
• Tissue paper
• Crayons or colored pencils
• Double stick tape

Instructions

1. Cut a piece of paper to the dimensions of 1 1/4 inch wide and 6 inches long.

2. Cut another piece to the dimensions of 1 1/4 inches wide and 5 inches long

3. Cut a third piece to the dimensions of 1 1/4 inches wide and 4 inches long.

4. Cut a fourth to the dimensions of 1 1/4 inches wide and 3 3/4 inches long.

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5. Cut a fifth piece of paper to the dimensions of 1 1/4 inch wide and 3 inches long

6. Decorate the four pieces of paper with the colored pencils or crayons. Use the dowel to poke a small wad of tissue paper down to the bottom of each tube.

7. Roll one piece into a tube using the dowel as a base, with the decorated side facing out. Tape both ends and the middle with the tape. Slide the tube off of the dowel. Repeat for the other pieces of paper.

8. Cut a rectangle of paper to the dimensions of 2 1/2 inches long and 1 inch wide, and decorate it with the crayons or colored pencils. Cut a piece of double stick tape that is as long as this piece of paper and attach it to the piece of paper.

9. Align the tubes of paper right to left from smallest to largest, making the ends or "tops" of the pipes even with each other. Gently but firmly place each tube of paper onto the loop of tape in the way they were aligned.

Tips & Warnings

• If you don't want to use double stick tape, cut a piece of regular tape that is twice as long as the rectangle of paper, then make a loop with it, sticky-side out.

References

• Phil Tulga Music Through the Curriculum: Panpipes
• Pan-Flute.com: History of the Panflute