Do-it-yourself wooden flute. PVC shakuhachi flute

How unpredictable and ornate are the paths that lead us to life’s milestones! So my interest in the Shakuhachi flute came quite unexpectedly. What is even more unexpected (for myself) is what I want to offer you on this page. Namely, making a flute with your own hands from PVC. The Shakuhachi type flute is a fairly simple instrument, structurally speaking. If it could be made hundreds of years ago, now, having modern materials and tools, as well as means for calculations, anyone with such a goal can make a flute.

A PVC flute has a pleasant, deep, thoughtful, fairly strong sound (subject to all the recommendations outlined on this page). The nature of the timbre of PVC is of course different from babuk, it is no worse or better, it is just different. But for beginners, as well as for those who want to experiment with scales and keys, this is an excellent opportunity to realize their creative impulses. Besides everything, as has already been written a lot in other materials on PVC flutes, they are unpretentious to environmental conditions and can be a constant companion wherever you go. From my own experience, I can say that making a flute is no less enjoyable than actually playing it. This is already a game, this is already a sound, a melody of inspiration, aspiration realized in such a wonderful instrument as the Shakuhachi type flute.

Start

Having received my first flute (bamboo) in the key of F (Shakuhachi 1.5), I thought that this was not quite what I expected. It turned out that I ordered a flute before I figured out their sizes and tonalities. Oh, these sudden impulses of the soul!!! Well, okay, let's leave the lyrics for later. So, ordering a new flute was financially expensive, but I still wanted something more meditative. Thanks to Evgeniy's materials (), I became interested in the possibility of making a flute from a simple PVC pipe. “What, it’s inexpensive, accessible, you can experiment, it’s enough for the first time, and then, lo and behold, I’ll be able to buy a bamboo flute.” That's what I thought.

Practice?

Having purchased everything necessary, I proceeded to... What? For thoughts.

The fact is that the recommended flute sizes and hole locations varied greatly depending on the source. I am still more of a supporter of the European system of notes, and therefore the accuracy of sound, and therefore the accuracy of the size of the flute, is an important issue for me. This was especially felt after the first attempt (I still tried to use the recommended sizes) in the process of tuning the flute by cutting holes. I clearly noticed correlations between the holes, while I was adjusting one hole, the other immediately floated in tone, a little, but it floated. Bending the flute, of course, evened out the deviations of the notes, but all this seemed inconvenient.

Theory

If you want to do something, do it yourself.

I started by finding out about the resonance properties of air column oscillations. It turned out that the frequency of oscillations of the air column in a pipe open on both sides is equal to: the speed of sound divided by the length and divided by 2, and for a pipe closed on one side, divided by 4.

Having cut out a piece of pipe corresponding to the calculations and turned it out, I discovered that I had not hit the right note. The Shakuhachi flute is not a doubly open pipe and is not closed on one side! She is something “in the middle”. Empirically, it was possible to calculate the division coefficient; it is equal to 2.20031. Now my trumpets sounded exactly on the right note. But what to do with the holes?

Having calculated the holes according to the required frequencies (notes), it turned out that something was clearly wrong. It became clear that the position of the holes needed to be calculated differently, taking into account their diameter and, possibly, the thickness of the pipe wall. After all, the hole also forms a small pipe. I’ll omit the tedious descriptions of my ordeals in this field, although they really captivated me and were about to threaten to give birth to a “eureka”... The materials helped again, to whom I am very grateful!

Now it's practice

Pipe

In a plumbing store I came across a pipe with an internal diameter of 21 and a wall thickness of 5.4. It allows you to immediately grind utaguchi without additional, thickening attachments, which has a very positive effect on the aesthetic appearance of the flute.

Flute "2.9" in the key of F (F) with standard Minie tuning. Pipe 22.5 internal diameter, 6.7 wall thickness. The sound is deep and quite loud. The holes are located in places convenient for spreading. Grooves were made for the holes to reduce the wall thickness. Sound sample

Happy making and happy playing!!!

A self-made flute is a wonderful gift! She will give you many minutes filled with enthusiasm in attempts to blow out the sound! Especially when the subject heard and saw how they had just played it, and how wonderfully it sings, and how easy everything looks!!! ;-) I have already given away almost all the flutes, except those that I play myself, and the number of people who want them is not decreasing. Go for it!!!

Gift copies

From left to right:
1. Flute "1.8" key D(Re) with standard Minie tuning; Sound sample
2. Flute “2.0” in the key of C (C) with standard Minie tuning.

Today we will make a pipe with our own hands from wood. In this master class you will be presented with a step-by-step description and everything will be demonstrated in photo instructions. I’ll say right away that the craft is incredibly difficult for beginners. Only experienced carpenters and people who know how to work with wood can do this. The flute is also called a sopilka or a pipe; it is all one instrument, but sometimes it differs in the number of holes or length.

Let's prepare the following tools and material:

1. Vise;
2. Sandpaper;
3. Pencil;
4. PVA;
5. Knife;
6. Wooden sleeve, length 4 centimeters and diameter 1.5 centimeters;
7. Regular ruler;
8. Drill;
9. Needle file;
10. Two clamps;
11. Tuner;
12. Semicircular cutter;
13. Wooden blocks, approximately 30x2x1 centimeters in size.

There may be some other things that will be needed, we will discuss them as production progresses.

How to make a pipe from wood with your own hands

We take two bars and make markings on them. On one side of the piece of wood we measure 1 centimeter from the edge, and on the other end 1.5 centimeters. The pipe will narrow. We connect the two ends with lines.

We take one block and clamp it in a vice. We cut out the sketched area and make a small semicircular channel.

Take your time, the cutter should go straight and the grain should follow the drawn line.

We do the other half in exactly the same way. Then we use sandpaper to sand.

AND instruments: a vice, a plane, a hacksaw for metal (or wood with a fine tooth), a sharp knife (best retractable with break-off blades), needle files, an emery wheel (it is convenient to use the attachment on an electric drill in the form of a circle with replaceable sheets of sandpaper), an electric drill and a long a wood drill with a diameter equal to the inner diameter of the pipe, glue (any kind that glues wood, Moment, for example), wood stain or varnish (you can use natural wax)

M material: in principle, a straight trunk or branch of any tree, without knots, is suitable, but it is best to use hazel, it is both smooth and easy to process. A freshly cut tree should be allowed to dry for about half a year - a year. Therefore, it makes sense to stockpile material for future use. I wouldn’t recommend making it from raw wood, it’s harder to process, and it might crack later when it dries. You can also use purchased wood - a block of suitable size. But coniferous wood (and this is what is mainly sold) has clearly defined annual layers and therefore, during processing, it is easy to chip or scuff. And it’s too soft, you’ll have to make the walls of the pipe thicker.

So. Let's look at manufacturing using a small pipe as an example. We make a wooden tube. We take wood that is obviously larger in length and diameter than the expected dimensions of the pipe. For example, if you need a pipe with an internal diameter of 14 mm and a length of 30 cm. then take a piece of wood with a diameter of 35-40mm. This is needed for this reason: no matter how straight you place the drill, it will still go slightly crooked. If you don’t have a drilling machine (and you don’t have one, like me :))), you won’t be able to drill perfectly plumb. And so you have room for maneuver. This means we clamp the workpiece vertically in a vice, place the drill as evenly as possible and drill. You can make short tubes about 15 centimeters long without any problems, but the longer you plan the tool, the thicker the workpiece you need to take. If the drill is very bent and comes out from the side of the workpiece, it’s not a problem, just saw off the lower unsuccessful part, and use the upper one for a shorter pipe.

Let's lower it and drill it, everything is fine. Now saw off the drilled piece to the length of the pipe (this tool has a length of 160mm). And, holding it in a vice, begin to process it with a plane until the wall thickness is 2-3mm. Final finishing is carried out on a grinding wheel. So you have a wooden tube. There should be no large burrs inside it. If they are present, you need to either use a large round file or use the same drill to remove them. Since condensation will settle in the instrument when playing, it is necessary to protect it from moisture from the inside. To do this, plug one end of the tube (you can use your finger) and pour a little stain or varnish inside through the funnel. We plug the other end of the tube and shake it vigorously so that the stain evenly covers the inner surface of the tube. Drain off the remaining stain and leave it to dry for an hour.

After it dries, we make a whistle. Let’s mark the workpiece: you can use the given dimensions, or you can use your own, it doesn’t matter, the whistle will still work. First the center line is applied, then everything else.

Using a sharp knife, first cut the line marked in the photo with the dimensions in red 1.5-2 mm deep and then diagonally cut off this entire semicircular wedge. This is in order to remove excess wood and then there will be less work with a file. We re-mark the rectangular hole and cut it out with the same knife. Next, take a flat file and carefully begin to form the wedge of the whistle. You can finally finish and smooth it with a piece of sandpaper - zero grade, but that will happen later, when the whistle is finished.

Now, with the same flat needle file, you need to sharpen a rectangular whistle slot inside the tube, 0.5-0.8 mm deep. Closer to the entrance it should expand slightly.

Then you need to make a so-called insert. We take a piece of wood and first use a knife and then use emery to adjust it to the inner diameter of the pipe. It should be difficult to insert, but just don’t overdo it, otherwise you will split the tube. It should be the length from the red line to the entrance to the pipe, do not saw it off from the base yet, it will be more convenient to glue it in, there will be something to hold on to and you can rotate it inside until the glue has dried in order to select the best sound. Now the insert needs to be slightly ground off on one side, the one that will be adjacent to the internal slot of the whistle. Closer to the wedge just a little bit, closer to the entrance to the pipe it’s larger, about 1mm. with more.

Now insert it into the pipe and blow into the slot. Adjust the sound by moving the insert, or changing the size of the wedge. The thickness of the gap at the entrance should be about 1.5 mm. If you like everything, take out the insert and cover the inner slot of the whistle and the part of the insert adjacent to it with stain. After the stain has dried, glue in the insert and adjust until the glue is dry. After the glue has completely dried, saw off this protruding part of the insert along with part of the tube diagonally, plan this part of the pipe with a knife so that it would be convenient to hold it in your lips, and clean it with sandpaper.

After this, you need to make holes in the flute, clamping which will change the height of the air column inside and, thereby, the pitch of the sound. The holes should be cut with a knife, not drilled. When drilling, burrs are formed inside the tube, but when cutting, this can be avoided. Here are the sizes of the holes and the distance between them on my pipe. It was not configured in any way, they were cut out as it seemed necessary to me (well, I have no ear for music, no! :)). If you are a musician, then it will not be difficult for you to tune your pipe by changing the size of the holes. You need to start cutting from the lowest hole (the one farthest from the whistle).

Svirel (pipe)- an ancient musical instrument. It was usually done by shepherds to entertain themselves during monotonous work. A pipe (pipe) was usually made 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 reed stalk (it grows along river banks or in wetlands) or a PVC tube. You will also need a tuner or some kind of musical instrument for tuning the sound, a hacksaw, a wood burner, a sharp knife, “Moment” glue, a needle file, sandpaper and a piece of wood for the whistle.

Progress of work on making a pipe (pipe) from reeds

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

Then we clean the internal channel using sandpaper wound on a stick:

Now it is necessary at a distance of approx. 2cm. Cut the whistle hole from the edge. It has a rectangular shape. Its width is 0.7 cm, length 0.5 cm. This is approximate. It can be finalized with adjustments. Mark the hole with a pencil and cut it:

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

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

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

insert the wad into the pipe, first trying it on:

We saw off the excess, leveling the edge:

Coat the wad with glue and insert it into the pipe. When it dries, we form a bevel of the edge of the pipe for ease of playing:

Now, using a tuner, we check the tonality (first sound) of our flute. I got "D". Next you need to burn the first hole. First, we burn a hole of small diameter, check with a tuner and adjust the holes, widening it. The wider and higher the hole is to the whistle, the higher the note. The tuning of the pipe is diatonic, i.e. major or minor scale. With all the holes closed, the note “D” is obtained, which means the first hole will correspond to the note “E”, the second to the note “F sharp”, the third to “G”, the fourth to “A”, the fifth to “B”, the sixth to “C sharp”, and lower "D". This is a major key. Below I will post a diagram with hole measurements and the whistle device.

The flute (also called “nozzle” or “tsevnitsa”) is one of the types of longitudinal flute, common in Rus'.
According to Slavic legend, Lel, the son of the goddess of love, played the flute. Therefore, it was believed that the pipe could awaken mutual feelings.
Materials and tools for making pipes
To make a wooden pipe with your own hands, we will need a rather impressive arsenal:
sandpaper
small wooden sleeve (diameter 1.5 cm and length 4 cm)
ruler
pencil
tuner
small vise (not necessary, but much more convenient with them)
something that can be drilled with (drill, drill, engraver) and drills of different diameters: from approximately 0.8 to 4.2 mm
file knife
semicircular incisor
pair of clamps
PVA glue
two wooden blocks 30x2x1 cm.


Making your own pipes
First, we take wooden blocks and mark them. You need to draw the boundaries of the internal channel of the pipe, on one side of the bar this channel is 1.5 cm wide, and on the other, 1 cm, that is, the channel will narrow slightly towards the end of the pipe.


Now we clamp one of the bars in a vise and begin to cut out a semicircular channel. On my workpiece, the area that will need to be removed with a cutter is shaded.


Carefully and slowly remove the shavings, watching the direction of the wood fibers. They may not always go along the workpiece, so be careful, otherwise the cutter may go crooked.


We try to cut the channel to an even semicircle along its entire length. We do the same with the second block.
Once both halves are cut, you need to sand them. Using a piece of sandpaper we pass along the inner surface of the channel, achieving smoothness.


After sanding, we move on to the whistle. Having retreated 4 cm from the top edge of the workpiece (where the wide end of the channel is), draw a rectangle 5 by 7 cm, preferably exactly in the center.


Using a 4.2 mm drill, we make three holes close to each other, so that we get an oval window.


Now we take a file and bring the window to a rectangular shape, according to the markings made.


After this, use the same file to grind one side of the window at an angle of approximately 30-45 degrees. This is the most important part of the work: the sound quality will depend on the sharpness and smoothness of the edge.


It's time to connect the halves. We coat them with PVA glue and fold them, carefully aligning the channel. Press with clamps and leave to dry for a couple of hours.


When the glue dries, unscrew the clamps and take a knife. We cut off the top of the small wooden sleeve, about 1.5 mm, so that we get a flat, even edge. Look at the photo and everything will become clear.


After this, lubricate the bushing with glue and insert it from the upper end of the flute, forming a whistle. With the cut edge up, exactly to the edge of the whistle window.


We wait until the glue dries and take the knife. Carefully planing the workpiece, we give it a rounded shape, then smooth it with sandpaper.


To make it easier to play, we will make a cut at the back of the upper end of the pipe.


Now the fun part is the setup. Try blowing into the pipe, listen to the sound and check with the tuner. If you did everything carefully, you will get A sharp. This is the lowest sound that our pipe can produce.
In total we will have seven notes and six playing holes. Let's mark them: the very first hole will be 6 cm from the lower end of the pipe, the remaining holes will be in increments of 2 cm.


Armed with drills of different diameters, we begin setting up. The pipe is often tuned in natural major. This means that we should have the following series of sounds: A sharp - Do - Re - D sharp - Fa - Sol - A.
The general principle of tuning is this: the larger the hole, the higher the sound. Therefore, first we drill a very small hole and listen. If you need the sound a little higher, drill it out more. The main thing is not to overdo it, because making the hole smaller will not work.


We start drilling from the lowest hole. When it is configured, we move on to the second. The second hole is adjusted when the first one is open, and so on. That is, when you listen to sound from a hole, this very hole and all the holes below it must be open.


OK it's all over Now! The flute is ready, you can start playing. And you can decorate it to your taste. I simply covered my pipe with stain.