How to Make a Pan Flute With Household Items

Easily make a pan flute at home.

The pan flute is a musical instrument with a long tradition going back thousands of years to the shepherds of ancient Greece. The pan flute produces a different, more folksy sound than a standard flute, and the technique for playing it is also different. While you can of course purchase a pan flute online or in stores, you can also easily make one yourself using basic materials.

Things You'll Need

• Thin tubes of PVC pipe with a ½-inch hole on the inside
• Saw
• Glue gun
• Clay
• Metal slugs the same size as the outer diameter of your pipe
• Table
• Sheet of ¼-inch thick plastic

Instructions

1. Use a saw to cut your PVC pipe up to get the parts you need for the flute. You will need one 6-inch, one 5 1/2-inch, one 4 1/2-inch, one 4-inch and one 3 1/2-inch piece.

2. Plug one end of each pipe with clay. Glue a metal slug over the clay to seal it completely. Let the glue dry.

3. Place your tubes next to each other on a table, with the open ends lined up. Use the glue gun to glue them all together. Let the glue dry.

4. Cut a rectangular shape 1 inch wide and the same length as the width on your flute from a sheet of 1/4-inch thick plastic. Use the glue to glue this across the middle of the pipes to form a backing. Once this dries, you flute is ready to be used.

References

• Washington County Public Schools: How to Make Pan Pipes