How to make a bamboo flute. Flute and other musical instruments made of bamboo. Good luck and happy playing

Article written by Robert E. Kramer

Materials:

1 propane or butane torch or fire to heat the metal rod
1 steel rod approximately 1/2" in diameter
1 oven glove or hard cloth
1 well-sharpened cutting object such as a hacksaw
1 pencil or magic marker
1 fine sheet sandpaper
1 old 1/4" drill
1 pliers
1 old bamboo rod
1 ruler
Linseed oil and a rag

Manufacturing

Cut from the end of the old rod a piece of bamboo about 45.7 cm to 50.8 cm long, with a diameter somewhere between 1.9 cm and 2.54 cm. Make sure you cut the bamboo so that one end remains blocked by the fibrous material that fills the bamboo between sections(see fig 1).

Measure and mark a point 2.54 cm in diameter from the closed end of the bamboo tube. Next, mark a distance of 15.24 cm from your first mark, then make five more marks 2.54 cm apart. When you are done you should have a total of seven marks (see fig. 2).

Your next step is to use a steel rod (diameter - 1.27 cm) to burn off the unwanted fibrous material. To do this, heat one end of a steel rod to red heat. *WARNING* - REMEMBER TO USE THE OVEN GLOVE OR HARD CLOTH WHEN HOLDING THE UNPINLED END OF THE ROD AS IT WILL BE VERY HOT TOO. When the rod is hot, insert it into the open end of the bamboo tube and apply moderate force to burn through the fiber layer. Don't forget to leave the last layer fibrous material(at the closed end) intact (see fig. 3).

Next, you need to heat the drill (diameter - 0.635 cm) to redness. Use pliers to hold the drill bit and burn holes in the places you marked. Do not drill holes in the bamboo tube with a drill, as this may cause cracks in the bamboo (see fig. 4).

Take a piece of fine sandpaper about 7.62 x 7.62 cm and twist it. Use rolled sandpaper to remove the black burnt bamboo from and around the holes you burned. You can also use sandpaper to widen the playing hole. This will help you pick up the sound more easily, not only don't make the hole too big (see fig. 5).

Wipe the finished flute with a cloth dampened linseed oil. Close the remaining six holes with the index, middle and ring fingers each hand. Blow into the sound hole ( nearest to the end - approx. translator) as if you were trying to make a sound by blowing into glass bottle from coca-cola. Keep trying until you get an even note. Now you can remove one finger to get a different sound. Experiment and practice. Good luck with your fun!!!

© Copyright 1998 Backwoods Home Magazine
© Translation 2004 Alexey Parfenov

The easiest musical wind instruments to make from bamboo are the flute and clarinet, and the xylophone from percussion. Masters high level saxophones are made from bamboo.

The flute is one of the most ancient musical instruments on Earth. The wind, falling into the empty trunks of dried trees, made sounds. This was noticed by ancient people who started making flutes.
The flute is the most common musical instrument made from bamboo. She is found in the most different peoples peace. It occupies an important place in the Taoist practice of Feng Shui.

Flute

In the old days, it was easier to make a flute from bamboo than from wood, since it is naturally hollow inside and did not need to be drilled all the way through. It remains to make holes for the fingers along the length of the stem. In addition, bamboo has good resonance.
Each piece of bamboo stem, even of the same plant, is unique, so each flute has its own sound.

The length of the flutes varies from 5 cm to one and a half meters, but most often in the range of 46-50 cm. The diameter should be in the range of 1.9-2.6 cm.

There are several basic types of bamboo flutes.
With side inlet. Most common in many countries and cultures.
Of the eight types of Japanese bamboo flutes, the most famous is the shakuhachi. It has 5 slots. They write that playing the shakuhachi contributes to the restoration of a person's spiritual strength. Originally, Japanese monks of Zen Buddhism played such flutes while meditating. In the 1980s, shakuhachi became popular in Western pop music.

Flute of the American Indians (Pimak). Traditionally it was made from wood, but more recently it has also been made from bamboo. Inside the Indian flute is a partition that prevents direct hit air from the inlet to the whistle.

Chinese Di. A special feature is the presence of an additional hole located between the row of playing holes and the blown one (whistle). It is sealed with a special thin film to give the flute a special (Chinese) sound.

Making your own flute

You can make a simple bamboo flute yourself. You need to pick up in some company that sells whips, a suitable cut in diameter and quality, and then proceed to manufacture. You will need the same tools as for ordinary wood.

Here is an approximate instruction for making a flute. The result will depend on the quality of the so-called bamboo wood and on the thoroughness of the work.
Cut a piece from the trunk 40-50 cm long and 18-25 cm in diameter. In this case, one end should be blocked by the partition of the trunk assembly. In addition to it, one or two more partitions will remain on the segment.
Step back from the blocked end 2.5 cm and make a mark. There will be an inlet hole here. Step back from it 15 cm and make 6 marks with a distance of 2.5 cm between each. There will be blow holes.
Heat a rigid iron rod with a diameter of 15 mm so that one end of it is red (the second end, which will be in your hand, must be wrapped with a rag so as not to burn yourself). Pierce the partitions in the bamboo trunk with a rod, leaving intact only the one that is at the end of the trunk at a single mark.
Pierce with a hot rod or, for example, a drill with a diameter of 6 mm, holes at the marks.
Clean holes and barrel inside sandpaper. In this case, the holes should become round shape. Do not make the inner diameter of the flute too large.
Wipe the outside of the flute with linseed oil.

Other musical instruments

In addition to the flute different countries you can see others musical instruments from bamboo.

Saxophones are quite common in the west. Unlike the flute and clarinet, which are almost constant in diameter over their entire length, the saxophone must have a conical shape, which will give a greater richness of sounds.
Since bamboo stalks have cylindrical shape they have to be connected in such a way that a segment of a smaller diameter is inserted into a segment of a larger diameter. Gradually, the pipe increases in diameter and turns out to be pseudo-conical. The upper bend is made rectangular, and the lower one is curvilinear. The whole saxophone usually takes 14-17 sections of bamboo. The diameter of such sections is much larger than that of the segments from which flutes are made.

Xylophones. Vietnamese bamboo xylophone "chung" consists of hollow stems different size loosely tied with rope. The xylophone is hung from a stand.
When struck with two soft wooden sticks bamboo tubes, selected in a certain sound sequence, can simultaneously sound one and two voices in the original mode.

Organ. The only bamboo organ in the world is located in the Philippines. The European priest Diego Sera de la Virgen del Carmen, who arrived in Manila in 1816, was the initiator of the construction of this amazing instrument, which is played to this day.
The construction of the organ lasted eight years due to the fact that much, if not all, had to be done for the first time and various experiments with the material had to be carried out.

Since recently, every year in the town of Las Pinas, part of the Greater Manila, an international festival of organ music is held. It's called Bamboo.

The last musical instrument in this article is Sho. It is not widely distributed, mainly found in Japan. Made from 17 thin bamboo and reed tubes tied into a bundle. Its sound is similar to that of an organ, but of course it is not as powerful.

Svirel (pipe) is an ancient musical instrument. Usually shepherds made it to entertain themselves during monotonous work. They made a pipe (pipe), as a rule, from reeds, reeds or other hollow material. In order to make such a pipe, you will need some kind of hollow tube approx. 30cm with inner diameter approx. 1 cm. This is a stalk of reeds (it grows along the banks of rivers or in wetlands) or a PVC tube. You will also need a tuner or some kind of musical instrument to adjust the sound, a hacksaw, a wood burner, sharp knife, Moment type glue, needle file, sandpaper and a piece of wood for a whistle.

The progress of work on the manufacture of pipes (pipes) from reeds

First you need to saw off the tube along the length (I have it 27cm), align the edges and remove internal partitions(if any) with a knife:

Then we clean the internal channel with the help of sandpaper wound on a stick:

Now you need a distance of approx. 2cm cut a whistle hole from the edge. It has rectangular shape. Its width is 0.7 cm, length is 0.5 cm. This is approximate. Finally, it can be brought up when adjusting. Mark the hole with a pencil and cut:

Now we form the corner of the whistle hole with a file (on the side closer to the exit). It should be at a 45 degree angle. This angle is very important because he is directly involved in the formation of sound, cutting through the air stream.

Now you need to make a wad from a piece of wood, and fit it to the diameter of the internal channel (the diagram of its device is below). It should reach the nearest edge of the whistle hole.

You can tighten the edge of the pipe with a thread so that the reed does not crack:

we insert the wad into the pipe, after trying it on:

Sawing off the excess, aligning the edge:

We coat the wad with glue and insert it into the pipe. When it dries, we form, for the convenience of the game, a bevel of the edge of the pipe:

Now, using the tuner, we check the key (the first sound) of our flute. I got "Re". Next, you need to burn the first hole. At the beginning, we burn a hole of small diameter, check it with a tuner and adjust the holes, expanding it. The wider and higher the hole to the whistle, the higher the note. The flute system is diatonic, i.e. gamma major or minor. With all the holes closed, the note "Re" was obtained, which means the first hole will correspond to the note "Mi", the second note "F sharp", the third - "Sol", the fourth - "La", the fifth "Si", the sixth "C sharp", and lower "Re". This is a major. Below I will lay out a diagram with hole measurements and a whistle device.

Making a panflute is a tricky business, but don't let that scare you. We will help you with this with our advice.

The first problem you immediately face is the material. Exclusive Tools are made from bamboo and are very expensive because bamboo is taken High Quality. It is extremely difficult to find bamboo tubes that would be evenly tapered, and even absolutely round. In this regard, it is easier with a tree - it is enough to process it competently. As for plastic, an unpleasant problem arises here - pipes of only a strictly defined diameter are offered for sale. Ideally, each panflute tube should be individual in size - this is the uniqueness of this instrument.

Here are some tips for making wooden panflutes:

Clay panflute

If desired, you can make a panflute from clay. We present to your attention several options for manufacturing tools:

1. A flute is molded from a piece of thick clay. Then, using a stick, make holes in it. This method is simple, but only suitable for very small and "high" instruments.
2. First, a set of sticks is made. They must match the shape. internal surfaces channels in the panflute. These sticks are usually made from wax. Then the sticks are fastened by the tips not covered with wax. Further, this structure is covered with clay, that is, the panflute itself is made around the holes already assembled together. When fired, the wax melts and flows out of the clay.
3. We wrap a steep clay batch around a separate stick. Then the clay-wrapped tubes are pressed against each other and fired. It turns out a flute.
4. Prepare very liquid clay. Separate sticks are made, then these tubes are dipped into clay. You have to dip a few times. As a result, layer by layer, desired thickness and the panflute is ready.

Here are the basic ways of making a panflute that are known among amateurs and, we hope, will be useful to you. Good luck!

One of the most significant and effective feng shui tools is bamboo flutes. Since ancient times, bamboo has been considered in China as a symbol of happiness and good luck. His rapid but strong growth earned him a reputation for calmness, peace, as well as protection and strength. That is why it is still so loved in this country and placed in the house. This is one of the few feng shui symbols that is a universal talisman for all areas of life.

You can get wonderful results using bamboo flutes. Their purpose is to:

— contribute to the establishment of a peaceful and secure life. In China, bamboo is valued for bringing good luck and strength. It is best if it grows close to home;

— provide support. Bamboo is one of the strongest and hardest plants. It symbolizes support for any action;

— drive away evil spirits. Negative energy, called spirits, ghosts, is felt by many people. With the help of a flute - a symbol of a sword - one can eliminate negative energy and contribute to the establishment of a calm and peaceful state of consciousness;

— drive away evil, negative and scandalous people. Application of the bamboo flute effective remedy to remove or destroy negative energy received from such people.

Flute Angle

The angle at which the bamboo flute should be hung is very important (the angle at which it hangs is related to the angles of the Feng Shui Octagon). For example, place the Octagon on the wall, and the flute in the center, opposite the zone that is responsible for life and needs to be activated. Suppose, in order to improve your financial situation, the flute should be hung opposite the “Wealth” zone.

The flute should also be hung opposite this zone to increase its strength. This, at first glance, an insignificant detail, is actually very important.

Wealth Zone or Helpful people — At an angle of 45°; left side down, right side up;

Zone of Love and Marriage or Knowledge— At an angle of 45°; right side down, left side up;

Kids or Family Zone- vertically; down side with smaller flute sections;

Career or Fame Zone— Horizontally;

Health Zone- You can use any of the above directions.

Before buying and using a flute, read the following tips:

2. Bamboo sections are separated by clearly visible ribs. These ribs symbolically represent the energy and strength of the flute. Do not use a flute with worn ribs, as it has much less power. When placed on a wall, shorter segments should be lower and longer segments higher;

3. It is best to hang the flute on a red ribbon with two red tassels, one on each side of the ribbon attachment. The tape should not be removed even if you hold the flute vertically. Do not forget that the length of the tape must be a multiple of 23 cm (23, 46, 69, etc.);