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10 years ago Mr. Holl planted this bamboo patch in his back yard expressly for the purpose of making flutes and pan pipes. It took 5 years for the bamboo to get big enough and plentiful enough to harvest for class projects. Every 6th grader in his classes made a set of pentatonic pan pipes and some kids got to make beautiful bamboo flutes. |
| The bamboo is cut and sorted by size. The indivitual stalks are covered with heavy, leafy branches. |  |
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The bamboo can grow to be more than 30 feet high. This piece is big enough to make some flutes. |
| The bamboo is trimmed by hand with a small hatchet.... |  |
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until all the branches are trimmed off. |
| The bamboo pole will be cut into sections to make tubes for the pan pipes. Mr. Holl will store the bamboo for several weeks while it drys out before it can be used for pan pipes or flutes. |  |
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After the bamboo is dry the flute making begins! First the holes are measured and marked. They have to be in exactly the right place so the flute will play in tune.
The mouth hole and finger holes are drilled very carefully. Each hole has to be tuned before the rest of the holes can be drilled. The holes are placed in an offset pattern to make them easier to reach with the fingers. |
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