Wooden Flutes

  First, I would like to point out that there are some words that I have added a little JavaScript to that will allow you to click on and see a definition to that word.  These words are regular hypertext links, so should be underlined.  I know this is redundant, but I don't think there are many professional flute makers who are interested in making this flute except as academic.  I made this site for the guy who wants to know how one is made and probably has the materials at hand.

  The Flute and the Drum are the oldest instruments in the world.  Of these, the flute is Uniquely human.  There is no other being in the sphere of the Grandmother Earth, that has fingers to play the flute with.  The flute has taken thousands of forms, from a thin reed that looks like a soda straw, to a double barreled affair 6 ft. or 2 meters long.  The only place in the world that the flute and the Bow and Arrow were never invented is Australia, where the Dijeridu, and Boomerang hold sway.

  The Native American Indian flute is a two chambered tube of wood with a separate piece creating the windway, appropriately called the "Bird."  Traditionally the flute is made of any wood that is hollow, the best material of this type is bamboo.  Most Indian Nations in North America of course had no access to hollow materials, so used solid woods that were split, and hollowed out, then glued back together.  The finest wood for this flute is Red Cedar, eastern or western is unimportant.  The wood is superior, for it's fine grain, and resistance to water, not to mention its beauty.  Care should be taken to give full respect to the tree, when the subject is found, you should give an offering and prayers.  I will cover the rest of the process in the text.

  The traditional measurements for the flute were to use the hand, 1 hand width to the block and embrochure, one hand width to the first hole, one thumb width to the second, two fingers width to the third, and the thumb again for the 4th, and 5th holes, with around 1 hand width to the end.  The wood was split, then hollowed out by carefully burning with charcoal and a blowtube, then smoothed by scraping.  The 2 halves were then glued together with a glue made by boiling the hooves and dewclaws of Deer Sheep, Mountian Goats, and Bison, then wrapped in intervals down the length with strings made of Sinew; the tendons of an animal split while dry and twisted.  The Sinew was then soaked in a bowl of water to soften it and then the drying would allow the bindings to tighten and further pull the wood together.  I prefer a solid construction.  I have developed some easy to make tools for this process; techniques which I have also included in this document.

  Most Nations in the United States use Cedar to construct their flutes, but I find living in Florida where there is a ready supply of Bamboo that Cane works very well.  For this form of the flute, that is in the Pentatonic scale, Bamboo or Cane is traditional.  There is some conditioning that is necessary.  Though Bamboo is a good construction material and is used all over the world for making these instruments, it is rather soft.  The outer skin is really the best for the process and the inside is kind of pithy.  So when selecting the stave to create the instrument, you should try to find one that is around the size you are planning.  Figure on using a piece of material that will be about 3-5 millimeters thick in the wall.  I am still trying to find instructions to create the 6 hole flute, so I hope my readers will have some patience.

If you want to hear what one of these sound like, you can apply that there arrow thingy to the notation on the left.