Native American Bamboo Flute Making

Remove the tape and using sandpaper make the holes smooth.

Native american bamboo flute making.

Top to bottom 1 7 16 inches. Store prepare and cure the bamboo. It is tied on with elastic cord usually red or black with beads attached. Partly due to the simplicity of the plant itself bamboo instruments are extremely easy to make and make well at that.

You should recall the table with measurements for each key bore diameter and width of the sound chambers. Simple bamboo recorder side blown flute shakuhachi flute native american flute or bamboo sax. With this table in mind look at your bamboo how thick is it on the outside. Position and drill the sound holes.

This page provides some plans for making native american flutes. Walter ben hunt s plans. Below is a picture of an ancient territories native american style flute that i have cut in half lengthwise. The fipple or bird on these flutes see photo below is made of curved bamboo to give the flute a streamlined outer edge making easy to pop into a bag or backpack.

Marking out the positions for the finger holes. You can carve intricate designs on the wooden surface to give your flute a more native american feel. Plans for making native american flutes. Work with the bore shaping sanding sealing and oiling.

The natural hollow culm of this giant grass makes it perfect for making woodwind instruments. A 3 4 inch bore is used on native american style flutes in the key of b and c side to side at maximum width 1 9 16 inches. These two pages provided the starting point for many flute makers of the early 1970s. Select and harvest the bamboo.

Bore diameter and length is available in this article. Make and put in the mouthpiece. Over time various cultures have developed a variety of bamboo flutes pipes whistles and general noisemakers. When making a bamboo flute in native american style the first thing to do is to define the key we want.