How to make a Bamboo Flute

For a couple years now, I've been making flutes. Out of all the instruments to make by hand, the flute is as a reasonable choice. Although professional flutes are complicated contraptions made of hundreds of small pieces made of metal, a simple transverse flute can be made with just one length of hollow pipe, and some simple tools.

As long as you have a way to seal one end of the tube, and the ability to accurately drill holes of different sizes into the instrument, you can to make an instrument with a great sound. Up until now, however, I had only ever attempted to use PVC plastic tubing, but this time, I chose to try using a much more beautiful (although finnicky) material: bamboo.

The first challenge in the process of making a bamboo flute is to hollow out the inside of the bamboo, which is divided by tough material at each joint. To do this, I used a drill bit extender to reach the inside. A perfectly smooth and even shape is required for the best sound, so I worked through all the burls to get as much excess material out as possible.

Next, I drilled a hole a few centimeters from the head joint to serve as the embouchure (sounding hole) of the flute, and tested the tuning of the lowest note of the flute. I got lucky, and was just barely on the mark for my goal of a Low D flute.

Next, I used an online calculator to determine the locations of the fingering holes, based on the diameter and thickness of the bamboo, as well as the precise tuning I was looking for. Using my drill, I carefully made the holes, doing my best to avoid splintering, which bamboo is prone to do. Half the holes went through with no problem, and I concealed the splinters on the others with filing, to avoid dangerour sharp splinters in the final product. I hope to avoid these in the future, but the lighter areas around the affected holes do give an interesting character to the piece.

I hope to use this an other soon-to-be-finished flutes in future recording projects, as it has a warm and clear sound. I love this kind of project, which lets me combine music with crafting skills.

In addition to staying cool in the hot weather here, I've been making an effort to read as much as I can in Japanese. Recently, I've been reading through the works of Hiro Arikawa, some of which have also been translated into English and made into feature films.

Her books feature elements of daily life, and the tiny interactions that make life interesting. I was especially moved by The Travelling Cat Chronicles (旅猫リポート), which features the adventures of a man and his cat around Japan.

The other day, I realized that I had accidentally matched my book cover to my sweater, as I was reading another famous book from Arikawa, Hankyu Railway (阪急電車)!