How to Make a Pan Flute in the Key of C
Making pan pipes in the key of C is an enjoyable craft project and allows you to make an instrument out of bamboo. Pan flutes are simply collections of tubes cut to different lengths, which produce a sound when you blow over the top of them. Most pan flutes are made from bamboo, but you can also make them from other materials such as PVC pipes. One end of each flute has to be covered for the instrument to work.
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Things You'll Need
- Dry bamboo sticks with 1/2 inch inside diameter
- Saw
- Belt sander/sandpaper
- Paraffin
- Duct tape/spare bamboo and string
- Pencil
Instructions
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1
Identify the locations of the nodes on the bamboo. Each individual flute has to have one open end and one closed end. This means that you can cut one section just on the outside of one node and the other on the inside of the next one. Remember that nodes are the visible ridges in the bamboo.
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2
Measure the required lengths for each note from the node on a bamboo stick and make a mark using a pencil. The low C pipe has to be 6 inches long from the node, D is 5.375, E is 4.725, F is 4.442, G is 3.864, A is 3.415, B is 2.958 and the high C is 2.772 inches. Make a mark at these points on the bamboo sticks. These are the notes in the key of C major, and also allow you to play in A minor.
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3
Saw each piece of bamboo on the opposite side of the node to where you made the mark. The node is the natural stopper on one end of the pan pipe. Saw the other end of the pan pipes on the inside of the next node (the one further down the pipe than your mark). Don’t worry about cutting to your mark yet.
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4
Sand down the node ends of your pipes. Sand any excess material down to the closed section at the node. Dip the node end of each piece of bamboo into some hot paraffin. This forms a seal on the end. Suck on the open end of the tube to help the paraffin fill the pores in the bottom of the bamboo node.
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5
Pour a small amount of paraffin into each bamboo tube. Slowly tip the paraffin back into the pot, rotating the bamboo tube as you do. The paraffin will coat the interior of the pan pipe as you pour it back out.
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6
Cut your bamboo tubes so that they are around a 1/4 to a 1/2 inch longer than your mark. This is because minor differences in the inside diameter of the tubes can affect the pitch. Blow across the top of each pan pipe (remembering that from longest to smallest they go C, D, E, F, G, A, B and C) and compare the note produced with one on a tone generator (see Resources).
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7
Sand down the end of each tube bit by bit until the note produced matches the note’s tone on the tone generator.
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8
Arrange the pan pipes from longest to shortest. Attach them together using duct tape if you wish to make the process easier. Otherwise, lay a piece of bamboo horizontally across all of them and secure it to each using string. Use two bits of bamboo for extra sturdiness.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
