Native American Bamboo Flute Making

These two pages provided the starting point for many flute makers of the early 1970s.

Native american bamboo flute making.

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. This page provides some plans for making native american flutes. With this table in mind look at your bamboo how thick is it on the outside. Plans for making native american flutes.

Marking out the positions for the finger holes. Below is a picture of an ancient territories native american style flute that i have cut in half lengthwise. Select and harvest the bamboo. Walter ben hunt s plans.

You can carve intricate designs on the wooden surface to give your flute a more native american feel. They were published by walter ben hunt 1888 1970 in and later in. Partly due to the simplicity of the plant itself bamboo instruments are extremely easy to make and make well at that. Store prepare and cure the bamboo.

Top to bottom 1 7 16 inches. Make and put in the mouthpiece. Remove the tape and using sandpaper make the holes smooth. Bore diameter and length is available in this article.

You should recall the table with measurements for each key bore diameter and width of the sound chambers. It is tied on with elastic cord usually red or black with beads attached. 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. Work with the bore shaping sanding sealing and oiling.

Position and drill the sound holes. When making a bamboo flute in native american style the first thing to do is to define the key we want. The natural hollow culm of this giant grass makes it perfect for making woodwind instruments. Simple bamboo recorder side blown flute shakuhachi flute native american flute or bamboo sax.