Every year, Jan and I craft 125 Native American flute kits out of PVC pipe, wood blocks, and bits of leather and feather. It takes a couple of days, but it’s well worth it. See construction steps and the finished product in the gallery.
Fifth-grade students finish the flutes at an outdoor education camp. These are real instruments, tuned and softly melodious in tone.
This is a small contribution we can make to help these students appreciate the way that music connects us as people, and within and across cultures. While I wish we could craft the kits out of completely traditional materials, that would exponentially increase manufacturing time and cost.
A few years ago, I created a couple of simple jigs to speed construction, and to help provide more consistency in each batch of flute bodies. We buy 20-foot lengths of PVC and have the lumberyard cut them down to 10-foot lengths because they’re easier to get home. I then cut the 10-foot lengths into flute-length bodies on the table saw, using a sliding table and a stop fence.
Drilling the fingering holes and the two tone holes (near the mouthpiece) requires two different sizes of drill bits, so there are two sets of operations: drill six 5/16″ holes in each body for finger holes, then drill two 1/4″ tone holes in each flute. My jig uses a nail inserted into pre-drilled holes in a wooden base to provide consistent spacing.
The most difficult part of the manufacturing process is milling a flat spot in which the two tone holes are centered. I tried the belt sander, a file, and several other methods before figuring out that a table saw could do the job. But for several years, I could not quite picture how to create a jig to reduce errors. Last year, I made a jib, but I still didn’t have it clearly pictured how to use it. This year, it came together in my mind, and my simple jig allowed much faster milling of the flats. Jan reported that every flute worked, and that has not always been the case!
Jan cuts special foam plugs for the students to carefully insert into the flutes, secured by a dab of rubber cement. She painstakingly cuts special air guides from gasket material. While she’s working on those, I am usually cutting decorative wooden molding used over the air guides to move air over a tone hole.
Flutes are finished by students with fine-tipped permanent markers in various colors, leather ties, feathers, and beads. And then they play them!
Yes, it is actually quite an investment of time every year to provide this opportunity. This project adds a unique and interesting experience for many students. That warm glow inside we feel every year at the completion of this project is a great reward.
I’ll get additional photos of a finished flute posted soon so you can see an example of the finished product.
Quotes from students
I thought making flutes were hard to make. But afterwards I thought, “Hum, they are easy to make after all!”
It was so fun to make a flute, this was my first day making a flute and thank you for being there and have us making a fun activity.
I learned that when we do the flutes we can make songs out of the flutes. It was a lot of fun!
I loved making them and they are so much fun to make.
Thank you for being a great guitar teacher. Thank you for letting us make Native American flutes and for being so respectful.
It was fun making the flutes. It helped me remember my culture.
…and thank you to your husband for drilling the holes in the flutes. You are a legend to 5th grade camp and a legend to our school.
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