How to Make a Working Pan Flute

Pan pipes are traditionally made wooden, but PVC makes a suitable alternative.

The pan flute, or “pan pipes,” is a South American wind instrument. Pan flutes have a distinctively soft tone. Because they have no moving parts, it’s relatively easy to construct a basic working pan flute. Provided the pipes are of different lengths, you can create an array of notes. The amount of notes and types of pitches you produce depend on the amount of pipes, their thickness and length.

Things You'll Need

• PVC tube, less than 1/8-inch thick and less than 1/2-inch in diameter
• PVC sheet, less than 1/8-inch thick
• Fine-tooth hacksaw
• 80-grit sandpaper
• Handheld rotary cutter
• PVC glue
• Glue brush
• Bamboo, wicker or other binding material
• Measuring tape

Instructions

1. Cut the PVC pipe into five sections with the fine-tooth hack saw. Each section should be a different length. For example, cut the largest section to 6/16-inches to make a C note pipe. Cut the next largest section to 5 3/8-inches to create a D and 4 3/4-inches to create an E. Pipe length is a matter of personal preference, provided they vary.

2. Sand down the edges to make them smooth, using 80-grit sandpaper.

3. Place one of the pipes vertically on the PVC sheet. Draw around the circumference of the pipe. Repeat this process five times so you have circular outlines.

4. Cut out the five PVC circles with a handheld rotary cutter. Start by cutting around the edge of the outline, leaving approximately 1/8-inch clearance. Then, sand the circles down as far as the outline. This prevents you overshooting with the cutter and wasting plastic.

5. Glue a PVC circle to one end of each pipe. The pipes on a pan flute are enclosed. This allows the sounds to resonate inside before escaping from the hole where the air entered.

6. Lay the pipes down, side-by-side and measure their collective width.

7. Cut two pieces of binding material to a length double the size of the width of the pan pipes, plus 1-inch.

8. Measure the shortest pipe and note down the length.

9. Lay one piece of binding material horizontally. Lay the second piece parallel. The distance between the two pieces of binding must be equivalent to the length of the shortest pipe, minus 1/2-inch.

10. Lay the pipes over the binding material, in size order, with the tops of the pipes reaching 1/2-inch above the top piece of material.

11. Wrap the top piece of binding material around the pipes and make a gentle knot. Repeat this with the second piece of binding material.

Tips & Warnings

• For the best sound, blow over the pipes, rather into them.

References

• Phil Tulga: Pan Pipes

Resources

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